New Car Buying Tip #1 (Part One): Do You Really Need Those Features?
Have you ever wondered why the average car people purchase is well over $30,000, yet if you look at the average base car price it is generally $26,000 to $29,900? The answer to this is upgrades and features. Adding special features onto a new car can add as much as $5,000 on up to $15,000 for some luxury vehicles.
With the economy in the shape that it is right now, you really have to ask yourself if that $5,000 over base price is really necessary. Let’s take a look at a few of the popular features being sold as optional equipment and discuss the reality of their necessity.
Convenience Item #1 (GPS/Navigation System)- With the average cost of a portable GPS unit at around $150 to $400 right now, compared to the cost of a dealer installed unit at $1,500 to $2,000, you really have to wonder if the price of having it embedded in your dash is really worth the extra $1,000. How about using Velcro strips to secure it to your dash for 0.59 cents.
Best of all, the portable units allow you to transfer it from car to car and that includes a rental, with could save you as much as $15 a day on rental add-ons. Plus you have to consider that there may come a day when either the unit breaks or becomes “outdatedâ€. It would be so much simpler to go out and buy a new one rather than try to replace an existing factory installed unit.
Ego Booster #1 (Sport Packages)- Manufacturers right now are really taking advantage of the popularity of the “sport package”. These typically involve an upgraded suspension, decals, hood scoops, exhaust, a few badges, and a little chrome “bling†on the inside and out. These come at the consumer as an increase of anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 depending on the car.
What you really have to decide is whether or not having a factory built sports package is worth the thousands of extra dollars, when you could take your car down to a body shop and have the same upgrades installed for much less. You will have to make sure that nothing you do will effect your warranty, but generally most of the upgrades that manufacturers do are relatively simple and non-invasive to the vehicles basic functionality.
(to be continued…)
