Car Buyers Willing To Spend $1,500 For High-Tech Options

TeeJayHoward said:

Is there an option to pay $1500 to REMOVE all the high-tech features in my car? No electric-assist steering, no drive-by-wire throttle, no stability control, no artificial-LSD-using-your-brakes, no electronic parking brake, no 18-way 4-memory-setting power seats with integrated A/C, no dual-zone climate control, none of that crap.

Options I want include power locks, power windows, and leather everything. If I have to have a techy car, give me a screen that mirrors my phone, with a physical volume knob and a 3.5mm input jack.

(That being said, I could have really used heated side mirrors today...)

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I'd pay that. I spend 5 minutes pushing buttons to turn of TC and the artificial LSD in my newer Jeep to drive to work once the snow flies.

Hey one tire of my AWD Jeep spun half a revolution while taking off on ice. Better slam on the brakes and cut all power to the motor. Then again I see all the other idiots out there bouncing off the rev chips because they don't understand throttle control or why they can't fun summer tires past November....

sfsuphysics said:

A back up camera is the only "must" I would want with a car, but I'd hardly call that high tech, plus you can get one plus the screen for less than $100. Just mount/install yourself.

I do remember the GPS upgrade that cost $2k ... I was like "WTF!? the best GPS in the world doesn't cost that much!!!" ok maybe untrue I'm sure Monster makes a GPS system that cost half a million.

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The Navigation systems are a joke...why the fuck do I have to pay $199 for an "upgrade cd" when I can use google maps on my phone for free? Yea I never use the nav on my jeep, just plug in my phone to the aux jack and listen to the turn by turn directions.

Me and my sig. other both have cars with tech packages. a 2012 Sentra and 2014 Mustang GT/CS.

The tech in the GT was more expensive but it is vastly improved over what is in the Nissan.

They both have a nav but the screen in the mustang is bigger and brighter/easier to read during daylight, and actually has true multitasking.

The Nissan if your in a call the only thing that can be displayed is the call. The Mustang can display anything Nav/Music etc. while in a call which makes a difference. Also the nissan only has 1 volume control for its turn-by-turn where the mustang has different volume levels for all things (turn by turn, phone, music etc.

Also the mustang tech package turn by turn is clever in that it only lowers the volume of the driver side speaker, so the driver can hear the directions at a relatively low volume in comparison to the music volume the rest of the car is set to.

I didn't expect to get as many options as i got in the mustang but it was the only CS left at the dealer and i despise the 2015's (thought the IRS would be nice) so it came down to this one which had virtually every option aside from heated seats (has Glass roof, tech package, CS Package ambient lighting etc.) and a basic GT with no options aside from the track pack. I decided no the CS because i thought the options might be nice and aftermarket parts will perform better than the track pack and i dont regret the decision at all. The voice commands, being able to here text messages on the speakers and have the option to just text back or call without having to look anywhere but the road. It made a muscle car into a very comfortable/practical daily driver (aside from 16 MPG)

Ducman69 said:

You realize that *I* literally just spewed a batch of bullshit?

2003 Ford Focus SVT (performance version): 2769lbs
2013 Ford Focus ST (performance version): 3,223 lbs

It was to the point that a Mini Cooper weighed significantly more than a 2000 Ford Focus. And some to an extreme like the VW Bug went from a 1967 weight of 1,850lbs to a stagering weight of 3,340lbs in 2013.

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You aren't even close. p.s. the 2015 MINI Cooper IS heavier than the previous generations and it's still lighter than a focus.

Oh yea, you can get $10k worth of upgrades (not all tech) on a MINI. That was what I used for my example earlier in the thread.

Some of the standard tech on a 2015 MINI Cooper - bluetooth/auto wipers/auto headlights/usb inputs/dual zone climate control/keyless start. Then a million other optional upgrades. Pretty much if you can get it on a BMW you can get it on a MINI.

What can't you get on a 2015 MINI Cooper? A CD player. (a 5 disk dvd player is optional)

TheMadHatterXxX said:

The Navigation systems are a joke...why the fuck do I have to pay $199 for an "upgrade cd" when I can use google maps on my phone for free? Yea I never use the nav on my jeep, just plug in my phone to the aux jack and listen to the turn by turn directions.

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You dont use Google maps for free on your phone. You pay a monthly access charge to download information in real time from a company whom got a cut of the $600 price you probably paid for your phone.

I'll be first to admit that infotainment systems tend to suck. They're underpowered and overpriced, clunky and lack the finesse & features we are used to with our mobile devices. But they're typically better than nothing, and a big part of the expense goes towards durability, ensuring your device can work from -32F to 120F and that the screen doesnt burn out from having the hot desert sun beat down on it in a parking lot all day for 10 years. They're just slow to catch up. Apparently having Pandora integration is still a big deal, ohhh wow a single app, amazing! They'll get there eventually.

I just bought a new Subaru Impreza Sport Premium last Friday and it came with the 6.2" Touchscreen, BT, Apps like Pandora, Backup Cam, Power (mostly)Everything, etc.

I wouldn't have gotten it if it didn't have those options. Not because I am particularly impressed with the factory offerings, but because it saves me a ton of labor from installing those things myself and I have no worries about Warranty claims being denied because each "spliced wire" is considered a "Short" by the mfgr. (This happened with my ford back in 2002 and I ended up having to get an attorney and go through arbitration to get my damn A/C fixed)

Car makers have always known this which is why they typically create tech packages that include the GPS for right around 1-2k. It never made any sense but for some reason when a person buys a car all reasonable thinking goes out the door on the cost of upgrades.

gunbust3r said:

Just let me slave my mobile device screen to the center console screen.

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This is coming. Have a pretty good feeling Blackberry and their QNX division is working on this. The big issue is reliability. Auto manufactures need things to work flawlessly 100% of the time, going to take some time to get this perfected.

SavageThrash said:

This is coming. Have a pretty good feeling Blackberry and their QNX division is working on this. The big issue is reliability. Auto manufactures need things to work flawlessly 100% of the time, going to take some time to get this perfected.

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Its existed in the aftermarket world for years now. Pioneer app radio + ARunchained and its quite badass when set up.

Slaving your phone, how about just include a purpose built phone / tablet mount. Any of these things don't ever happen because the car makers want your $1500 for the GPS upgrade.

robble said:

You aren't even close. p.s. the 2015 MINI Cooper IS heavier than the previous generations and it's still lighter than a focus.

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Lern2Reed. 2000 Ford Focus... I have a ZX3 window sticker still right here in my folder, shows 2,535 lbs (although mine is lighter, as its stripped of spare, rear and passeger seat, etc). Remember, the whole point of the discussion is about how cars are getting heavier as time passes. Old Ford Focus is lighter than a Mini Cooper today.

rudy said:

Slaving your phone, how about just include a purpose built phone / tablet mount.

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What, like this?



There is no practical way to have a universal mount that doesnt look like dog shit. Car interiors are very refined and meant to display some exotic theme. The only way to blend it is to have it custom factory built every single time. The closest we even got to an entertainment system standard was the double-din, and even that's useless now with screens varying wildly from 6.3" to 8.2".

And the $1500 while certainly exorbitant still pays for a large part of the in-house R&D that went into designing it. Ford cant sell 15 million cars per quarter like Apple can sell iPhones so they cant bring the cost down to appropriate levels. Coupled with the fact that $1500 financed at 3% for 6 years is like $1.50 so nobody cares.

Mazda's CX-5 nav devices are $500 at the dealership but the same equipment off Mazda's Amazon store goes for $250. They make it really easy to install.