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If I were in the market for "brand new" I'd probably take a Mercedes C250, starts around $29,000 and looks really cool. Why would I spend $45k on a Maxima or an Infinity Q50 if I can have the flash and bragging rights of a brand new Benz for under $30K?
What about the larger size (more material = higher cost), higher quality of materials used, more powerful drive train (usually), etc. There is no denying that margins are higher on many of these higher tier vehicles but it would be ignorant to say that the price different is explained purely by BS.
A moronic associate of mine recently bought a Bentley Mulsanne I suppose for about $370,000.00 and there is no way that this vehicle is $335,000 better than a $35,000 Toyota Camry, Honda Accord or a Volkswagen Passat.
Man, I understand the argument that a car is an appliance and if it does what it is supposed to do, that's all you need. I love to hit 100,000 miles in a well-maintained but aging Chevy or Ford.
But I want a convertible with AWD that seats four, and as near as I can tell, Audi is it (without going into six figures, or to a Jeep.) I've been on test drives and I noticed right away, it ain't no Chevy or Ford.
So I can see both sides. Don't know if I'll ever be able to blow the excess loot on a "luxury" car.
A moronic associate of mine recently bought a Bentley Mulsanne I suppose for about $370,000.00 and there is no way that this vehicle is $335,000 better than a $35,000 Toyota Camry, Honda Accord or a Volkswagen Passat.
Again, there is no question that the margin is greater on higher tier products. That said, the Mulsanne is easily $200k+ better than a $35k car. It's important to note that when you get into higher priced products you also get closer to the law of diminishing returns because there comes a point where each additional percentage of improvement (whether that is power, stitching, material quality, paint quality, etc) is increasingly more expensive than the last. So although upon first glance the stitching on one car may not appear to be three times more costly than the stitching on another it starts to make sense when you realize that it’s done by hand or to a higher (and more costly) standard. The development costs for these vehicles are also spread over far fewer vehicles because Bentley does not sell 500k+ vehicles annually (they sold under 9k last year).
BTW, I know that talking about stiching seems like a small detail but the way you get to the development and production costs associated with these high price vehicles is by adding up a million small details. Part of what makes these vehicles so nice is that Bentley can afford to worry about a million small details.
A moronic associate of mine recently bought a Bentley Mulsanne I suppose for about $370,000.00 and there is no way that this vehicle is $335,000 better than a $35,000 Toyota Camry, Honda Accord or a Volkswagen Passat.
Shrug, depends on how high a value you assign to a car and its features.
I remember when the McLaren F1 came out, back in 93/94. Road and Track editors raved about how ingenious it was, from the use of exotic materials for strength and to keep weight down, to the structural components. One of the things they said was that even if the Big Three automakers bought one, they'd save money by how much they'd learn about building a car.
As for me, $35k isn't going to buy me a new car that would satisfy, so price is relative. Your moronic associate is no different, he just has a higher budget.
I think almost the opposite. The consumer brand cars (Camry for example) have about the same amenities as the fru fru brands. Same safety features for the most part. And, after the first month, a vehicle is just a way to get to work. Heater, Air conditioner, stereo, forward, backward, ...that's 98% of the driving experience right there.
Save the $15K and invest it.
Sorry but i disagree completely.
Pretty sure that if money would not be an issue, there would be no argument that you get what you pay for.
After owning more than 25 vehicles (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Acura, Infinity, Cadillac, Buick, Chrysler, BMW, Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Chevy, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Jeep), I can say that the drivability of European brands is still unmatched.
Even though a Camry is superior automobile in every way to most of the so-called luxury brands, people don't perceive a Camry as having the ability to make them cool.
Until they redesigned it last year it was my Toyota of choice. Now it's an ugly damn thing I wouldn't be caught dead in. And cool has nothing to do with it. I couldn't stand to have to look at it in my garage.
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