In trade-ins, special edition cars usually end up worth a smaller percentage of their original sticker price than regular versions. Even when they hold up better, they still don't retain their value well enough to make up for the added original cost, according to data from Kelley Blue Book..
At the request of CNNMoney.com, Kelley Blue Book looked at 14 different special edition vehicles produced since 2001. In all cases, the special edition version lost more value, in dollar terms, than the standard version. Most lost more in percentage terms, as well.
Kelley Blue Book's analysis was based on the new cars' sticker prices. Buyers usually pay less than sticker price for new cars but often pay closer to - or even more than - the sticker price for special-edition versions. That means the actual dollar gap between special-edition and plain-vanilla versions may be even wider than KBB's figures suggest.
Some of these cars might eventually be worth more than the standard car as collectibles, said Larry Batton, president of the Auto Appraisal Group. But, he said, "You're not going to have any evidence of them holding their value better until later down the road."
Following are a few examples:
