Running Out of Pontiacs

Posted: Nov. 12, 2009 10:11 a.m.

If you’ve been considering a Pontiac, get moving.  They’re almost gone.

Last spring, General Motors announced plans to close the Pontiac brand by the end of 2009.  With just two months to go, the brand appears to be making a smooth exit from the marketplace.  On the brand’s official Twitter feed, it has provided an update of what’s left – and the total works out to barely 3,600 cars nationwide.

Many consider the Pontiac G8 to be the best car the brand has built in years, but there aren’t many left.  Autoblog reports, “If the G8 sedan is what you fancy, there are only 570 GT trims left, and only 16 examples of the top-tier G8 GXP.”  The GXP carries a V8 borrowed from the Corvette and a sport-tuned suspension package.

The sleek little Solstice roadster and coupe are going, but not as quickly.  Motor Trend reports, “there are 139 base model Coupes, 160 Coupe GXPs, 23 SCCA Convertibles, 59 Street Editions [from model year 2009], and more than 800 convertibles from coast to coast.”  Motor Trend believes that “some models -- particularly the Solstice Coupes and G8 GXPs -- will be collector's items in the not-too-distant future, especially if they're low mileage.”

Some of the less impressive Pontiacs may be a little easier to come by. Jalopnik notes that there are still 400 Torrent SUVs and 1,500 examples of the economy G5 left to sell.

The orderly exit from the market means that we haven’t seen reports of fire sale prices on remaining Pontiacs.  When GM shut down its Oldsmobile brand in 1992, some shoppers found jaw-dropping deals in the last few days as dealers looked to get rid of their last remaining stock.  There’s little sign of a similar last-minute rush at Pontiac. 

GM also plans to shut down the Saturn brand at the end of December, but so far the company has not provided an update on the number of Saturn vehicles remaining.

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals. 

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