← Continued from Page 5 of "Automotive Industry Gotchas. Buying a Good New Car Without Getting Screwed"I came to the dealership to get a small car and left with a large one!?
Unfortunately, one of the auto industry’s problems is... size. Apparently, size doesn’t matter that much (or does it?), so manufacturers take great care to make cars a bit larger every 5 to 10 years, completely disregarding the ever increasing traffic on the streets.
Why does this happen? Usually, it’s done to make room for smaller models in the same series that would otherwise compete with existing models and therefore not make much sense. And so, major manufacturers end up offering tens of models, with very similar sizes and designs, making sure at the same time they differentiate them in terms of... features.
Possibly taking some cues from certain African-American related myths, some manufacturers outright force buyers to choose larger models if they want to have certain features considered to be “luxurious”. This includes the very ordinary parking sensors which are simply a must in crowded cities or lots jammed with carelessly parked vehicles. What can I say, anything to sell more expensive cars!
And so, you may very well go into a dealership bent on getting a small city car with a few perks and advanced features and discover, thanks to the helpful salesman, that what you want is only available in superior models which, incidentally, are not only feature-packed but priced differently as well.
You may even end up very disappointed after finding out the car you wanted is terribly lacking in features and getting some quality is going to cost you two times what you expected. This happens quite often, in fact, and there’s no easy fix, mainly because most manufacturers prefer to do this in order to lure potential clients, hoping they’ll eventually buy something.
At this point, it’s important to stay focused and not steer away from your path. Don’t allow yourself to be influenced too much; otherwise you’ll end up getting a car that’s not a good fit for you, plus tons of regret.
For me, it’s simply unforgettable how BMW chose to sell the X3 and the X5 some years ago. A friend of mine gave up on buying an X3 after getting really flustered by the fact that, among other things, the popular “angel eyes” and “aero” wipers were not available for it. The car salesman explained that if he wants those “special” features, he’ll have to get an X5, a car that was a lot larger, more expensive and overall inappropriate for my friend’s requirements. A few years later, BMW finally realized they were making a huge mistake and added those features to the poor X3 they had initially crippled in order to sell more X5 units.
This brings us to another interesting fact: auto manufacturers follow a very annoying trend of making cars of ever increasing size and, just for that reason, make the prices just as high.
You’ll also notice another stupid tendency of intentionally removing features from models manufacturers consider “cheap”, but are in fact quite expensive. My advice? Switch to another auto maker!
In this respect, the Mini Countryman left us quite bitter. This is a car that goes above 40,000 Euro if you’re generous with your optional features selection, and yet electric adjusting seats and front parking sensors are not available at all. And these are just two of the limitations BMW put in place in order to avoid cannibalizing 1 Series sales.
We were told this was the “Mini policy” and that none of the clients complained about those missing features. Isn’t that strange? We had just complained but, apparently, we’re just a minority amongst a sea of people who buy whatever gets tossed in front of them without debate, even though they pay an arm and a leg for cars that sometimes are easily surpassed by other models that don’t benefit from the “cool factor” of being part of a long-standing brand.
If you find yourself in such a conundrum, just step away and look for alternatives. You may find “less cool” cars from auto makers who actually put a prize on their clients’ satisfaction. Your determination will be rewarded tenfold when you finally find a car that’s not only cheaper, but also has more features and a longer warranty than what some renowned manufacturers pass around almost in disgust.
This kind of rational and sensible behavior will help steer the auto industry towards benefits for clients as well, not just for manufacturers. As long as you’re paying, why not get as much as possible for your buck? And don’t get discouraged; there’s always an alternative, you just have to be patient and avoid impulse buys by all means, as that’s exactly what marketing departments love the most. They get paid top dollar for knowing your weaknesses and exploiting them to the max.
And finally, don’t forget about cars from Asian manufacturers (except China). They usually have straightforward equipment packages and make the car hunt easier. Prices are generally quite decent, compared to those from renowned manufacturers, especially German.
Unfortunately, one of the auto industry’s problems is... size. Apparently, size doesn’t matter that much (or does it?), so manufacturers take great care to make cars a bit larger every 5 to 10 years, completely disregarding the ever increasing traffic on the streets.
Why does this happen? Usually, it’s done to make room for smaller models in the same series that would otherwise compete with existing models and therefore not make much sense. And so, major manufacturers end up offering tens of models, with very similar sizes and designs, making sure at the same time they differentiate them in terms of... features.
Possibly taking some cues from certain African-American related myths, some manufacturers outright force buyers to choose larger models if they want to have certain features considered to be “luxurious”. This includes the very ordinary parking sensors which are simply a must in crowded cities or lots jammed with carelessly parked vehicles. What can I say, anything to sell more expensive cars!
And so, you may very well go into a dealership bent on getting a small city car with a few perks and advanced features and discover, thanks to the helpful salesman, that what you want is only available in superior models which, incidentally, are not only feature-packed but priced differently as well.
You may even end up very disappointed after finding out the car you wanted is terribly lacking in features and getting some quality is going to cost you two times what you expected. This happens quite often, in fact, and there’s no easy fix, mainly because most manufacturers prefer to do this in order to lure potential clients, hoping they’ll eventually buy something.
At this point, it’s important to stay focused and not steer away from your path. Don’t allow yourself to be influenced too much; otherwise you’ll end up getting a car that’s not a good fit for you, plus tons of regret.
For me, it’s simply unforgettable how BMW chose to sell the X3 and the X5 some years ago. A friend of mine gave up on buying an X3 after getting really flustered by the fact that, among other things, the popular “angel eyes” and “aero” wipers were not available for it. The car salesman explained that if he wants those “special” features, he’ll have to get an X5, a car that was a lot larger, more expensive and overall inappropriate for my friend’s requirements. A few years later, BMW finally realized they were making a huge mistake and added those features to the poor X3 they had initially crippled in order to sell more X5 units.
This brings us to another interesting fact: auto manufacturers follow a very annoying trend of making cars of ever increasing size and, just for that reason, make the prices just as high.
You’ll also notice another stupid tendency of intentionally removing features from models manufacturers consider “cheap”, but are in fact quite expensive. My advice? Switch to another auto maker!
In this respect, the Mini Countryman left us quite bitter. This is a car that goes above 40,000 Euro if you’re generous with your optional features selection, and yet electric adjusting seats and front parking sensors are not available at all. And these are just two of the limitations BMW put in place in order to avoid cannibalizing 1 Series sales.
We were told this was the “Mini policy” and that none of the clients complained about those missing features. Isn’t that strange? We had just complained but, apparently, we’re just a minority amongst a sea of people who buy whatever gets tossed in front of them without debate, even though they pay an arm and a leg for cars that sometimes are easily surpassed by other models that don’t benefit from the “cool factor” of being part of a long-standing brand.
If you find yourself in such a conundrum, just step away and look for alternatives. You may find “less cool” cars from auto makers who actually put a prize on their clients’ satisfaction. Your determination will be rewarded tenfold when you finally find a car that’s not only cheaper, but also has more features and a longer warranty than what some renowned manufacturers pass around almost in disgust.
This kind of rational and sensible behavior will help steer the auto industry towards benefits for clients as well, not just for manufacturers. As long as you’re paying, why not get as much as possible for your buck? And don’t get discouraged; there’s always an alternative, you just have to be patient and avoid impulse buys by all means, as that’s exactly what marketing departments love the most. They get paid top dollar for knowing your weaknesses and exploiting them to the max.
And finally, don’t forget about cars from Asian manufacturers (except China). They usually have straightforward equipment packages and make the car hunt easier. Prices are generally quite decent, compared to those from renowned manufacturers, especially German.
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