There's Nothing Wrong with Base Trim/Lower End Cars
Posted by SSCyclone@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 41 comments
[removed]
Posted by SSCyclone@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 41 comments
[removed]
redd5ive@reddit
I agree that there isn't anything wrong with mid and even base spec cars, but for most normal cars they are basically never better than top trim variants.
Id-Build-That@reddit
Agree completely. And the fact is, most people buy the top trims because of image. They feel like they will be looked down upon if they don’t spend money on a top trim. Most people I talk to don’t even know 1/4 of what their car can do or what options it has, but they just “had to” have the Denali or Platinum. 🙄
The fact is, manufacturers make the most money on top trims, so they have cultivated people to think they need these trims and therefore make more money. It’s fantastic marketing. The fact that people who have brains fall into this trap is what amazes me.
PurpleSausage77@reddit
Good thing lower trim/base stuff is pretty well equipped nowadays, but it’s also priced in at the same time, the price increase “tide” has come up. And the cheapest vehicles are just econoboxes raised up an inch or two (Cuv/crossover) while most people would’ve been better off with the much cheaper new cars in the past around $15k, that floor is now much higher.
reesesbigcup@reddit
What is the major issue so many seem to have with crossovers, to me they are fine vehicles. I've had many small cars going back to the 1980s, since 2000, Saturn, Focus, Corolla, 2 Kia - at 60 plus yrs old the higher seating position is a must. In a crossover, interior room is better, as is cargo space. MPG? My 2021 HRV gets 31 around town, 2021 Kia Rio got 34, no issue there. Ride, handling, they're all cheap cars they all arent sporty. 15k new car was fine in its day 15 yes ago, but thats as dead as the $1995 new car of the 1960s.
Hedhunta@reddit
The problem isn't the vehicles. Its that the people that can afford to buy "new" vehicles can afford the premium for the higher trims. There really isn't a market for lower trim vehicles(besides fleets maybe?) anymore, because even the lowest trims are at the high end of what the people that would buy them could afford safely.... and the next steps up usually aren't that much more money... so even the people being reckless are going to buy the middle trim for comfort(and for keeping up with the joneses).
If they started making low-cost shitboxes with bad crash ratings and no features for ultra low prices they would probably sell like gang-busters.. but then they open themselves to lawsuits.
No real great solutions here except driving up wages for the bottom end of consumers.... something America won't ever do.
ymjcmfvaeykwxscaai@reddit
I've bought base spec cars before and regretted it personally. Depreciation during the cars lifespan affects you regardless of what you do, and the best way to reduce your financial hit on a depreciating asset is to keep it as long as possible.
If you're keeping it as long as possible you'd like it to have the features or comforts you want. doesn't have to be everything. but if I'm using the sound every day, i'd like it to be good. if I have kids and am keeping it a long time, vinyl or leather's a lot easier to clean than cloth. and then from there, owning a car with vinyl or leather, that you leave out in the sun or winter at your job. completely sucks without vented and heated seats. before you know it you've specced the car to bmw levels lol.
bagel_union@reddit
I don’t know. Premium sound system and better interior appointments are always worth it in the long run.
Winter_cat_999392@reddit
Wood and leather on a long drive are relaxing. Like riding in a Gulfstream instead of the back of a Spirit airliner.
Winter_cat_999392@reddit
I buy CPO or single owner well kept loaded models. Life is too short to drive boring or stripped down vehicles.
megacookie@reddit
I'd rather get a used car with a higher trim level and some nice features than a brand new car with absolutely nothing that's still more expensive. And if you don't need anything fancy, an older used base model is even cheaper.
Most people willing to buy brand new are looking for something that feels like an upgrade and is better equipped than what they already had, and a base trim probably won't cut it.
Of course, not everyone wants or needs the absolute top of the line either. Especially if it means paying more for things you don't actually care for or would never use. And what counts for "base" could vary for different manufacturers, and could either be fairly well specced or an absolute misery.
dissss0@reddit
The problem is features are often packaged together so to get the one or two you want you also end up with a bunch you either don't care about or actively don't want.
Last car I bought was a Kia Niro EV and I really wanted V2L and heated seats which meant going to the upper trim (there are only two trims here). This also meant pleather seats, electric tailgate, HUD, nav with bigger screen, fancy stereo, etc which I don't really care about
RyanGreener@reddit
I love base/lower end cars. They're cheaper, simpler, and I usually don't utilize modern features anyway. Unfortunately when car shopping, all I see are loaded trims. Anytime I've bought a new car if I can't do a factory-style order then I don't even bother.
neodymiumex@reddit
To each their own, but I’ll never buy another modern car without ventilated seats. It’s an absolute game changer for long drives.
skorps@reddit
Heated stearing wheel for me. 360 camera is pretty amazing too!
hi_im_bored13@reddit
This all + good adaptive cruise is an absolute game changer.
Signal_Ball4634@reddit
Also with summers getting worse every year.
Good_Apollo_@reddit
Once you’ve felt the cool ocean-like breeze of ventilated seats on the ol bhole, it’s pretty damn hard to go back. TBH I’d give up a lot before that, although I get OPs point.
Think about how thrilled we all were however many years ago when we got our first vehicles. Mine was a Geo Storm. It had manual everything and I fuckin loved it. Nothing wrong with any vehicle that safely conveys a person from A to B and back.
But gimme that frosty bhole 100%.
DudeWhereIsMyDuduk@reddit
I haven't used my heated seats or steering wheel once, but I've definitely taken advantage of the lockers and 4.88 gears (at a third of what it'd cost to do on the aftermarket).
With offroaders there's a line between "OK with what the higher trims offer" and "I'm going to 40s with D60s". I had no plans of going past 35s, so the Rubi offered what I needed. But there are plenty of people who bought Sports to rip out the axles and can out-wheel me now.
Vesploogie@reddit
Yes and no. I had a 3rd gen Tacoma SR and I still think it’s the best Tacoma to have, precisely because it isn’t loaded up with all the gadgets of the TRD/Pro/Sport/Off-Road whatever.
The TourX? Top trim all the way.
All I get from your post is that you live somewhere with very nice weather.
videopro10@reddit
Depends entirely on the car. Base model Mercedes CLA250 with no heated seats: what are you doing
V8-Turbo-Hybrid@reddit
Come to Europe. The base trim A-Class even comes with cloth seat and iron wheel only.
zubiaur@reddit
You know what, I don’t totally hate your take. I had a basic as can be first car. Even the grab handles were optional, and I didn’t have those. I loved that thing. It was what I could afford.
We now have a very nice mid spec new vehicle and I love it too.
There are some features I would not give up, and I do like nice quieter interiors. But it is a trade off.
The beautiful thing about markets and capitalism is that one can buy a base Versa or a loaded Mercedes, having the freedom to act on one’s individual utility function.
ucbiker@reddit
I outright prefer base trim. I like cloth seats not leather or faux leather. I’ve had two base trim cars and they came with buttons and dials instead of iPads.
I borrow luxury cars and I get the appeal but I’m never really unhappy to go back to my base trim car.
FeedbackLoopy@reddit
I'm more of a mid-grade enjoyer.
Mojave_Idiot@reddit
It’s often a sweet spot on price.
asamson23@reddit
Also, mid-grade pretty much has the most compelling set of options/extras for not much more than the base trim, while the jump from mid to top trim is not always compelling. Personal example: There was 5 trims for my car when I chose it, and for 3-4k CAD you'd have some more things than the mid-trim, but nothing enough to justify the cost.
WarDEagle@reddit
Eh, or you've driven cars with features that you really like and feel that they're worth paying for. You can poke fun at my ventilated seats all you want, but I won't buy another daily driver without them.
The real trick is convincing yourself not to continue the upsell game where your comfortably spec'd example is juuuust a bit cheaper than the base or mid-level trim of the next model up, where the game starts over.
Lots of Porsche folks abide by the rule of "never buy the base model" because there's usually a significant jump in standard drivetrain/equipment one level up. Plus, Porsche is going to option you to death no matter what trim you buy.
There are plenty of good base trim cars out there, though, and I agree that many are much better values than their higher-trim offerings.
Ultimately, buy what you like/find value in and can afford.
Skensis@reddit
I feel there is a challenge where you are like, if i stretch by budge just a little i can get a better trim, and then you are like, i can stretch a little further and get the next model up.... And so on and so on.
You go from looking at a BRZ to getting a BMW.
WarDEagle@reddit
Exactly. If you can avoid that you're good. Or buy more car than you wanted to budget for, I don't care, haha.
snsvsv@reddit
Too bad there’s a pesky thing (for financially literate people at least) called a budget. :)
RiftHunter4@reddit
Have you not owned a base spec car? They are not nice in any way but you are still paying a ton of money for not much.
For $30k I can get a low mileage RAM Laramie with a V8 and leather interior. A base Frontier King cab with steelies is the same price.
The thing about low trims and low end cars is that you are still paying thousands and thousands to own them if you buy them new. People would rather go into debt for something nice than still go into significant debt, but ride in something that an average used car beats.
Base spec cars only make sense for fleets and used purchases. I say this as someone who drives a base Model Highlander everyday. I wish I had a heated seat or a sunroof or literally anything interesting, but I am also glad as hell that I paid thousands less for some grandma's garage queen. I would not have paid MSRP for a base Model. It just doesn't make much sense.
rudbri93@reddit
I chose to go with a tarted up econo-pickup. I dont need size, but I wanted a relatively nice place to spend time, so i got the heated seats. But I do get your point, there's a part of culture where people feel the need to buy the 'best' or 'highest' version of whatever theyre getting, lest someone give em the ol 'what, couldnt afford the big one?' bullshit.
Mojave_Idiot@reddit
I mean, strictly speaking, did you have a standard or entry level luxury option in that category?
rudbri93@reddit
well i coulda gotten a lariat with all the bells n whistles, which is i suppose more luxurious. the interior in the santa cruz is a significant step up though youre correct there isnt really a luxo mini truck.
SkylineRSR@reddit
Nope, my next car will have ventilated seats. I NEED them to live
pauldarkandhandsome@reddit
There’s nothing wrong with base models. But it’d be hard for me to go to a base accord after having ventilated seats and a HUD. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
yvery@reddit
It’s better to regret getting full option than later wish you had that option cause it’s either too much money or impossible to retrofit.
That said buy a slighty used full option car cuz options rarely add to the resale value
kevan0317@reddit
Not true. The base models are generally far less complicated and rely on less computers, resulting in a more reliable vehicle that can last much longer than its luxury counterpart.
So, yeah, you won’t get to buy a new one as often. Variety is the spice of life and all that.
SonovaVondruke@reddit
All of my vehicles have been base models, so I never miss the amenities of the higher trims. Only things I would pay extra for are 4WD/AWD and adaptive cruise control, both of which are often excluded from being available on the base trim.
Unoriginal-@reddit
You should expand your circles
AutoModerator@reddit
It looks like you're posting about a currently popular topic. Your submission has been automatically removed and forwarded to moderators for review. If your post is about Tesla or Olympian, please see this thread for details. See r/TeslaMotors and r/RealTesla for indepth discussion. Want to prognosticate about car prices? Head on over here. YES, WE WILL REVIEW YOUR POST AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. NO, YOU ARE NOT ON A BLACKLIST. You do not need to send us modmail immediately. Your call is very important to us and will be answered in the order it was received. No, seriously, we're all volunteers. We'll get to it as soon as possible. In the meantime, please check r/cars/new to see if there is a discussion already underway.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.