FCA Dealers Perpetuate The Zombie Car Trend, As Some Of You Keep Buying Dodge Vipers And Jeep Patriots

Where are you guys finding these cars?

Even in the topsy-turvy year we’ve just had, an interesting and fun sales trend keeps popping off. Even years — hell, sometimes even up to a decade — after an automaker discontinues a model, it still reports brand new sales. That sometimes happens with high-end, high-dollar sports cars, like the Lexus LFA. Speaking of which, the LFA does make an appearance in the “zombie cars” list yet again. But even more mundane models like the Dodge Dart, Chrysler 200 and Jeep Patriot keep finding buyers. In fact, FCA is one of the main perpetuators of the trend, as is GM.

Exactly why some models have taken years to sell could boil down to several different scenarios. As a new model came out, people overlooked the old version. After years of heavy discounts and going unnoticed on car lots, willing buyers finally took them off dealers’ hands. Whatever the reason, these cars are finally on (off?) the books, but here are the zombie cars that popped back up on the 2020 sales charts.

Zombie cars: 2020 edition

Some of the cars on here aren’t too surprising. Cars that were recently discontinued, like the Ford Flex, will still have some dealer inventory kicking around. However, someone managed to find a Honda CR-Z, which went out of production four years ago. The Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 also went out of production nearly four years ago, yet dealers are still reporting new sales.

Here’s the full list: