Detroit ? At 789 Chrysler lots across America sit 44,000 potential bargains, cars and trucks that are stuck between shellshocked dealers and a troubled company that no longer wants their services.

The dealers have just a few weeks to sell the Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps or risk losing thousands of dollars on them, giving people who want a car on the cheap a serious chance for a deal.

On Thursday, Chrysler LLC asked a New York bankruptcy court to end its franchise agreements with the dealers, including Jim Clark Motors in Lawrence, Kan., casting them aside so the automaker can move forward as a new company with a leaner network of about 2,400 showrooms.

General Motors Corp. took a similar step on Friday, giving notices to 1,100 dealers that it no longer wants them. On their lots sit 65,000 Chevrolets, Buicks, GMCs, Pontiacs and Cadillacs, but at GM, the dealers’ situation isn’t as dire.

GM isn’t in bankruptcy — at least not yet — so its dealers have more options to fight the move, which the company doesn’t plan to implement until October of 2010.