Topic: Feature: Cheap new cars

[hemusbull]

Very good article in terms support of the topic - each car section ends with the real price! It will be even more useful to know what percentage of particular price applies to the real sales instead real prices without data how many cars are sold at that price (if any in some cases!). It gona be better consumer protection from manufacturer's gimmicks!

[aaronk]

...
As for automatic transmissions in small cars, this is probably the best way to destroy any fun factor you would get from a small engine in a light weight car. Do yourself a favour, learn to drive a manual and keep  1 or 2 thousand dollars in your pocket.

I agree. If every penny counts and we're talking about stripper models here, $1500 is big money - like 10% of the vehicle cost. There is also the common advantage of better fuel economy, potentially saving another $1000 over the life of the vehicle. It's not like it's hard to learn manual, it takes an hour to learn 'the basics' and maybe a week to get comfortable. I was taught on a Tuesday and Friday I drove the car to the east coast by myself for a week...through Montreal! There may have been a few moments of grinding gears and rev limiter bouncing but it was a Honda Civic so it probably made the car stronger somehow.

[alpineskier]

I completely agree with the author. Most car dealers never have the base models with no options. Sometimes they don't even have higher trim levels with no options! For example, when I was shopping for a new car, Toyota didn't have any base Camry SE V6s. The only ones they had were with 5,000$ of options with leather/sunroof/etc... When I got my Ford Fusion this spring they didn't have the SEL V6 FWD with leather package/moon&tune package/driver vision package, they only had the AWD one. They told me they would have to order one to be built from the factory/ tried to persuade me to upgrade to AWD version. I made such a fuss that they gave me the upgrade for free. All of these dealers completely disregard lower models and try to make you upgrade to higher models by not having lower models in stock.

[mlin32]

Nissan should sell their Pixo like Top Gear tested, base price of just £6.995. Comes with a 1,0 litre 3 cylinder engine and Anti-lock brakes

[Great_Big_Abyss]

My first car was a stripper model.  It was a 2003 Hyundai Accent GL.  It had NOSSING.  No AC or cruise or ABS, manual locks/windows, 2 speed/intermittant wipers, Manual Tranny, and...Drum Roll Please:  NO Power Steering.  The only thing it had was the spoiler from the Gsi (as a dealer installed option) and an aftermarket deck (that I put in...I needed something more than just radio).

The thing is it was to date one the best vehicles I've ever had.  Reliable, efficient, fun-to-drive (it only had 93 hp but it was light and the transmission ratios were perfectly matched to the engine's torque band), and great in snow (I put winter tires on it, and the combination of skinny tires and relatively high ground clearance mean't it ploughed through everything -- I drove circles around a stuck AWD chrysler 300 one time...literally).

[paul246]

Bought a stripper Echo hatchback in 2005. The dealer had just sold the last baseu model unit they had in stock, but didn't hesitate to order ours from Japan. They had more expensive models on the lot but never pressured or even suggested we consider one. It took abot 6 weeks for the car to arrive. I loved using that little car until my youngest daughter bought it. She is still driving it, no problems whatsoever and it has never seen a dealership since day one... ( I do the maintenance myself ).

[2JDM]

We bought a stripper Toyota Sienna CE in 1998, brand new. No cruise or power windows/locks...but it had rear heat/AC and dual sliding doors. It was one of the first that arrived in Saskatoon at the time. I bet it would be hard to find one like it used now.

[Thinking Out Loud]

My first new car - 1988 Toyota Tercel like this, same colour too.  5 speed, no air etc etc etc.  Put my own radio in from Consumers Distributing (where I worked at the time).

[Oldsguy]

One thing that has never made much sense to me is the dealer trade option, i.e., where the dealer offers to acquire inventory from another local dealership in order to complete a sale with you.  I have always assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that I can get a better deal by simply going directly to the dealership with the inventory I want.

Depends how far away it is. Right now I am interested in a specific car. The one locally is the exterior color I want but has an interior color I do not like. There is another otherwise identical one in the same color but with a better interior color about 400km away. I would not go that far to buy it, but if my local dealer could do a swap, they would have a sale.

[JSCC]

Bait and switch is actually illegal.

Continuing the metaphor, I will bite at this.  Care to elaborate?

It's against the law, and if manufacturers are engaging in it, they should be charged.  We don't enforce commercial crime law.  If you're going to advertise a car for $12,999, then people should have reasonable access to the model.  If no one wants it, then drop it.  Don't make 5 of them and use them as an advertising tool.  That's illegal.  Do I have to elaborate on what illegal means?

It is not illegal if the CUS has the option to order one.

[sacrat]

proving the bait AND switch would be tough...honestly, my beef is the stripper model advertisements with pictures of the top trim shown...they catch your eye with "Ford F150 - $19,995", and show a nice looking one in the photos...then, as you read further down (often buried in fine print), you see the low price is for the bottom stripper model, but the picture shown is of the F150 SuperCrew Premium with every option, and it is $60k...THAT should be illegal...if you are going to advertise a $20k F150, then show a picture of it...if you are going to show the picture of the $60k F150, then put the price of that...that part of the laws needs to be addressed.

They usually get around this with one word FROM 19,995, Deluxe model shown...etc.

[chrischasescars]

  Put my own radio in from Consumers Distributing (where I worked at the time).

Wow. That store hadn't crossed my mind in years. I haven't bought cheap electronics out of a catalog in a long time, either.  (Which is not to say that all they sold were cheap electronics, but that that was what I specifically bought there, cos I was a kid with no money.)

[Thinking Out Loud]

  Put my own radio in from Consumers Distributing (where I worked at the time).

Wow. That store hadn't crossed my mind in years. I haven't bought cheap electronics out of a catalog in a long time, either.  (Which is not to say that all they sold were cheap electronics, but that that was what I specifically bought there, cos I was a kid with no money.)

I was in the same place financially (not like retail part-time paid much then or now).     Nice to get the employee discount, 'specially around Christmas!

Given my first car was a stripper 1978 Ford Fiesta ('bout 9 years old at the time when I got it), I have to think I'd be drawn to the 2012 Ford Fiesta if I were returning to 'basic' transportation.  I like the way it looks, and always felt better about Ford over the over Big 3. 

[D70]

The "cheap car" I'd like to see would be a  Frankfurt taxi   M-B E-class.  4 cyl diesel, rubber mats, wind up windows...at about 1/2 the price of a current E350.  I wonder if they still come with 5MT in that mode? 

I'd add a/c as an option and be a happy camper.

The same argument would apply to a GDM "real" Passat.

Good thought but Mercedes loads up their models for huge profits in N.Am.
My first new car was as you describe, The last N. Am model not equipped with AC and with 4spd manual, wind up windows and manual sunroof. It served me reliably for 13 yrs and 250,000 km the diesel engine being super reliable with valves adjusted every 20,000 km and oil changes every 5,000. Once on the road side in the Baja

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/5726836572/

[D70]

My first new car - 1988 Toyota Tercel like this, same colour too.  5 speed, no air etc etc etc.  Put my own radio in from Consumers Distributing (where I worked at the time).

My first new and only new car purchased in Vancouver was a basic 1984 Tercel, never had a radio. 4% PST on economical cars those days and a 6 months wait. Cost $6,400. A new Amiga computer with monitor & printer $4,000, needed to complete my Masters degree, both well worth the money.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4929300707/

[tpl]

The "cheap car" I'd like to see would be a  Frankfurt taxi   M-B E-class.  4 cyl diesel, rubber mats, wind up windows...at about 1/2 the price of a current E350.  I wonder if they still come with 5MT in that mode? 

I'd add a/c as an option and be a happy camper.

The same argument would apply to a GDM "real" Passat.

Good thought but Mercedes loads up their models for huge profits in N.Am.
My first new car was as you describe, The last N. Am model not equipped with AC and with 4spd manual, wind up windows and manual sunroof. It served me reliably for 13 yrs and 250,000 km the diesel engine being super reliable with valves adjusted every 20,000 km and oil changes every 5,000. Once on the road side in the Baja

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/5726836572/

You'll see that there is such a M-B offered in EUland.

http://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php/topic,75418.msg738587.html#msg738587

But neither the tree huggers in the EPA/Transport Canada nor the bloated plutocrats at Daimler-Benz will let me buy one and drive it here.