Dodge wrapped up Dart production back in September 2016 at their plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Since then, a handful of these cars have popped up in sales reports year after year. In 2020, seven Darts got sold. The next year, that number went up to ten. Then it dropped to four in 2022 and three in 2023. Now, in 2024, one more Dart has left the lot.
These long-lasting sales aren't just a Dart thing. Car fans call these "zombie cars" - new vehicles that keep selling long after the factory stopped making them. Earlier this year, someone even bought a Dodge Viper, another car that's been out of production for years.
When the Dart was still fresh off the line in 2016, it started at $18,990. Today, that price tag looks pretty good. Cheap cars are getting harder to find these days. Kia's Rio and Chevy's Spark are gone, and the Mitsubishi Mirage and Kia Forte might not be far behind.
Right now, if you want the cheapest new car in America, you're looking at the 2025 Nissan Versa. It'll set you back $18,330. That's a lot less than what most people are paying for new cars. In July, the average price tag on a new car was $48,401. That's down from the all-time high of $49,929 back in December 2022, and prices have been dropping for ten months straight compared to last year.
So why would someone buy a brand-new car that's been sitting around for eight years? Maybe the dealer really wanted to clear out old stock. Or perhaps the buyer got a sweet deal. It's also possible they just really liked the Dart.
Source: Motor1
