Order a Porsche 911 Turbo S and you can choose that the "seat belt outlets on B-pillar" be finished

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It used to be that carmakers offered long lists of individual options -- landau tops, a half-dozen radio choices, a variety of seating arrangements, wheel covers and bumper trims, and on and on. Rolls-Royce, Porsche and some other high-end brands london england hotels still do that.
Once a buyer has chosen a trim level, the only other factory options are paint and maybe interior color, and either a manual or automatic transmission (though the automatic is required on many of the levels). This simplified ordering scheme makes it easy for Honda to efficiently produce Accords in its factories without maintaining vast inventories of parts that may go in only a few cars. Calculator: How much car can you afford?
Buyers need to know what each option london england hotels package offers and decide which options they can do without and which ones can be found elsewhere. Sometimes it's cheaper london england hotels to purchase a less well-equipped model and add features from other sources later.
Order a Porsche 911 Turbo S and you can choose that the "seat belt outlets on B-pillar" be finished in carbon fiber for just $450, or that the "switch trim strip" be covered in leather for only $605. Porsche london england hotels is, after all, in the business of satisfying its rich clientele's every whim. And that clientele generally recognizes that a Porsche is an indulgence and doesn't expect those carbon-fiber seat belt outlets to necessarily add value to the car when it comes time to sell it.
But value consciousness is more pronounced when it comes to family transportation. For instance, the 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE minivan offers a rear seat DVD-based video entertainment system as a breathtakingly expensive $2,495 stand-alone option. It's a good system and is well integrated with the other elements of the Sienna's onboard entertainment. On long trips it will keep the kids quiet and watching, and it will retain some of its value over the life of the van. But is it worth the hefty price tag?
"DVD players do retain some of their value in SUVs and minivans," explains Steven Lang, a used-car dealer in the Atlanta area. "But you're only going to get a fraction of that back at trade-in time. And the technology is always changing, so what's state of the art when you buy it can seem very old in a couple of years."
For that same $2,495, you could buy five base-model iPad 2 tablet london england hotels computers that also play movies. And you can't take the Sienna's video screen out of the van and into your house to surf the Internet over your Wi-Fi connection.
Meanwhile, it's easy to find a portable DVD player for well under $100 . Continued: Enduring through the ages Single page 1 2 Next RELATED ARTICLES Buying a car online? Beware london england hotels - car shopping – MSN Money Car options that waste your cash - 2 - car buying - MSN Money Car options that waste your cash - 1 - car buying - MSN Money 5 things buying london england hotels a used car taught me- MSN Money Advice on video: How to buy a car for less money and finance it ... The best time to buy a car - 2 - drive a good bargain - MSN Money VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
Write a comment... 26 Comments Newest Oldest Best Worst Controversial 1 2    droar Oct 13, 2011 6:24AM How many car buying articles can MSN write? How about articles about how to not get ripped off by lawyers', bankers, politicians!! What do you have against the auto industry?      84      24 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report london england hotels Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... paliton Oct 12, 2011 7:23PM Oh boy. Must be a slow day.      66      16 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... gordo1 Oct 13, 2011 6:57AM
65      15 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... Ms. Georgia Peach Oct 13, 2011 2:49PM Buy a stripped down model. Don't buy all the bells and whistles. Just get a vehicle that will take you from point A to point B. Put the savings in an account for your retirement....ya gonna need it.      49      21 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... Kevin Gormley london england hotels Oct 13, 2011 12:49PM I actually did take alot of what he said as common sense, with all of the aftermarket aveanues, why the hell would you pay 7k for all the options from the dealer. Buy a base and mod it yourself to fit your taste. IDK suit yourselves.      30      3 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... dallas b Oct 16, 2011 12:20PM If you still want all the bells and whistles, a certified pre-owned vehicle may be your best bet for a lot less dough.      31      5 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... Joe284 Oct 20, 2011 8:15PM I bought a Toyota pickup brand new in 1991, no bells or whistles, still runs great, few repairs over the years, I'll run it untill it dies. New cars are too expensive for me, and if you get a door ding or scratch it's no big deal.      25      3 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... Ben Dover Forebanks Oct 13, 2011 12:02AM
There is a reason after market rims are cheaper. They are garbage. With rims, the factory got it right. I can balance a factory (truck) rim with decent tires with a total of ~4oz. max. After market crap, and I hate them with a passion, I usually start with no less then 4oz. for one side.
I will only briefly mention the one rim fits 75 different vehicle's flaw. Instead of the rim riding on the hub, which is BASICALLY does, you have the entire weight riding on the studs and what is worse, the rim is centered by the nuts. How the hell they get away with this I don't know. If I strike something on the road, I want the studs to flex the tiny little amount that they do, and then the force is transferred to the hub and on through the vehicle. After market, the studs bear it all and trust me, they are not nearly as strong as you might think.
Every time I see a , and I use the next word in it's loosest sense, reporter write(hack) an article about cars, it makes me wonder how many people are going to make a bad decision based on the (dis)information.      65      48 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... hemiguy london england hotels Oct 13, 2011 1:03PM
NON-OEM warrantys MIGHT cost less to purchase BUT car dealerships service departments are not required to honor them which would require the vehicle owner to be responsible for the repair and submit the bill for reimbursement. london england hotels they, in most cases, do not pay the full shop hourly rate and will sometimes send used parts to get the job done which not only delays completion of the repair but results in no warranty on parts used and additional out of pocket cost for the customer who is ultimately responsible for paying the total bill. in my experience the few dollars you save with a non-oem london england hotels warranty will not result in any savings when thar warranty london england hotels is used and more than likely london england hotels cost much more over the long run. the experience i speak of is 25 years working in car dealerships service departments.      27      11 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... WiseShopper Nov 21, 2011 5:26PM In the New Car sales business, the real "profit" or real "Money" is made in the 'Finance" office. Once you are moved to the "Finance office, you are hit up for "special Wax jobs or "Paint Sealants" that cost like $150 and are valueless. They also want to sell you fabric protection, carpet protection and extended warranties (that you will probably never use). If the car works okay in the first year, then you can be quite sure it will work well for a number of years. london england hotels They throw inflated prices at you about what a transmission repair could cost you. Don't fall for it. Skip all thier sales promos. Like alarms, undercoating (which can make a car rust). Remember there are no frames on cars anymore , the only thing holding the car together is spot welded sheet metal these days. Save your money and go to a detailers london england hotels website and buy a can of carnauba wax which will cost around $30 for a small amount and last about three months. Man has not been able to improve on carnauba wax which is really hard as a brick and there is no such thing as 100 per cent carnauba wax. It has to be softened to use it on a car. The most wax you wil get is around 30 per cent carnauba. Thats reasonable.      18      3 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... md299 Oct 13, 2011 9:25AM
are installed after purchase they have a 12 month or 12,000 mile warranty.      23      12 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... Pinkey Pooh Nov 25, 2011 9:07AM The car manufacturers london england hotels can keep just about all of their pricey add-ons. As long as I've got my butt warming seats, XM radio and OnStar I'm a happy camper.      8      3 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... The_Mick Oct 13, 2011 6:54PM When I saw the link to the article, I thought it was going to discuss zone heating and seats that are adjustable 24 different ways, etc. The options discussed here would normally only be considered by people who have plenty of money to throw away in the first place.      12      8 Replies ( 0 ) Hide replies Report Spam Previous replies     Write a reply... Matthew Groff (MusicMatt) Oct 25, 2011 12:17AM london england hotels If I where to get a new car, I would get the equipm