An ignition switch defect can be quite a big deal – especially when it has the potential to kill you. Something like that will definitely hurt the value of any car. And, coincidently, GM has several older and discontinued models to choose from that have been plagued in recent months by that deadly defect. Vehicles such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac G5 and Solstice, and Saturn Ion and Sky have all seen their values go down more than double the average when compared to similar cars.

Jalopnik, as originally reported by iSeeCars.com, noted that "on average, the prices for the Cobalt, Ion, G5, HHR, Sky and Solstice have dropped by 14 percent from March through June, compared to similar cars that dropped 6.7 percent in the same period." It's basically now a buyers' market for any of the above. A slightly used Solstice or Sky can now be had for a pretty good price, we suspect. We'd still avoid the Cobalt and the rest. They just represent everything wrong with old GM.