Here's a contrasting tale. When my Accord lease was almost up dealerships were hot to buy me out early regardless of whether or not I went with another Honda.

I did end up trying out the new '06 Civic but it is too smallish and about 100 hp short. As I've been looking to move this Honda I've run into a couple dealerships that can't take it in because trade-in is still within $500 of what I paid 16,000 miles and 14 months ago. They figure people will buy a new one if they can find one.

I guess the point is that cars don't have to plummet in value, but those that don't can still be a little tough to move.

Everyone has their own buttons that get pushed when considering a car. For me, I always take resale into consideration as I like to change 'toys' more frequently than most.