Over the weekend, we noticed that reports were circulating that several “brand new” Dodge Darts were sold in 2025. This led to an abundance of speculation regarding how these models, discontinued nearly a decade ago, managed to see an uptick in deliveries this year. However, after some light investigation, we learned that Dart sales have held relatively steady since about 2019.
For those who may not recall, the Dart was among the last batch of small and affordable cars sold by American automakers. Companies wanted to see more sales and were pivoting to larger models and crossovers to exploit emissions loopholes created during the Obama-era. Those vehicles likewise offered juicier profit margins, meaning the industry could effectively move the bottom of the market up along with their revenues.
In its final years of production, the compact Dart started around $17,000 and came with a 160-horsepower 2.0-liter inline four, six-speed manual, and front-wheel drive. However, customers had the ability to swap to the larger 2.4-liter Tigershark and/or 6-speed (Powertech 6F24) automatic transmission.
There was also a Fiat-derived 1.4-liter Multiair turbo that saw more widespread use in other markets. But most agreed that it was horrendously underpowered (likely not offering as much oomph as claimed on paper) and actually managed to burn more fuel than the larger alternatives if you weren’t driving as conservatively as humanly possible. While Dodge did plan on building a sporty SRT4 variant of the car, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (now Stellantis) opted to eliminate the model before development was completed.
The Dodge Dart was officially discontinued in 2016, netting itself just over 44,000 U.S. sales as it drove off into the proverbial sunset. The previous year the model saw 87,392 deliveries on the same market. But what’s interesting is that the economy sedan still managed to pull in about 10,000 customers in 2017.
While it’s relatively normal for dealers to continue moving old stock, especially if the model wasn’t particularly popular, holdover sales are usually fairly modest and don’t stretch too far beyond the year following the one that ended their production run. But the Dodge Dart still saw 389 U.S. deliveries in 2018, sixteen in 2019, five in 2020, ten in 2021, five in 2022, three in 2023, and at least one in 2024.
After a very brief respite, the model has again managed to drum up some modest business in 2025 by selling six “new” models. According to The Drive, half of those sales came in during Q3. This presumably suggests that someone just came across a few that had been stored and forgotten about.
It’s certainly not unprecedented for automobiles to see a few sales a couple of years after they’ve been pulled from the market. Dodge even managed to move a few examples of the Caravan and Journey this year — both of which were discontinued for the 2020 model year.
Meanwhile, the Dart was seeing a handful of sales a whopping seven years after Dodge stopped building them and then came back to garner another six deliveries a couple years after that. That’s kind of impressive, even if the same cannot be said about the vehicle itself.
Carrying the same moniker as the passenger car built between 1959 and 1976, the modern Dart had very little in common with its older brother. Originally envisioned as a cheaper alternative to the company’s more luxurious full-size models, the older Dart shrank in size between generations. By the late 1960s, the fourth-generation Dart was considered relatively small for an American-built model.
But it still came with a wide array of inline-six or V8 motors. Frugally minded individuals could option the smallest 107 (2.8-liter) “Slant-6” or any of its similarly configured siblings. Meanwhile, those interested in a V8 could have it in just about any size they wanted. Dodge offered the model with everything from the 273 (4.5-liter) to the 383 (6.3-liter). But for those who wanted the absolute most insane experience, some Darts were equipped with the rare 426 (7.0-liter) HEMI and 440 (7.2-liter) V8s.
Considering that for a few years of its life, the Dodge Dart could be bought as both a sensible family car or one of the fastest models to roll out of any factory, it’s pretty easy to see why its successor failed to live up to the hype. But it doesn’t explain why dealerships keep finding them in storage, only to turn that into a sale.
Here’s hoping those buyers got an exceptionally good deal on their brand-new, old-stock Darts. While we can debate whether the original model was worth the $17,000-$24,000 dealers were asking in 2016, nobody should be paying anywhere near that on a model that’s been sitting around in storage for the last ten years.
The fifth-generation Dart presently scores a goose egg on the automotive collectability meter, although that could theoretically change someday. Perhaps the people still buying them are looking deep into the future and truly believe the car will eventually become valuable. But it’s more likely that these are just deal hunters hoping to avoid a lot of the undesirable tech found in other vehicles. There is certainly a growing demographic of drivers that tell me they wish they could simply repurchase their basic, old beater with zero miles on the odometer and this is one way of accomplishing that.
[Images: Dodge; Gestalt Imagery/Shutterstock]
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Consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulations. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, he has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed about the automotive sector by national broadcasts, participated in a few amateur rallying events, and driven more rental cars than anyone ever should. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and learned to drive by twelve. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer and motorcycles.
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It’ is mad mad mad world
Where are these randomly coming from? Only thing I can think of is one or more new dealer parties picked these up at the last Chrysler factory sale and then hoarded until now… but why would someone hoard this for so long?
Btw unless something changed used cars can be sold as new cars if they still possessed their certificate or origin from the mfg. They are “new” because they have never been titled, not because they are actually new. In addition to floorplan which somehow never gets sold this also happens because of direct to new dealer factory sales at Manheim. Example, Ford builds and gives/leases Expeditions to executives with mfg plates. Those trucks are returned and if not held for whatever reason are typically sold at the factory sale to new dealers, occasionally they make into regular retail but from what I remember they usually become a plum for industry insiders (“new” car for used money).
