New Car Buyers
 

For those of you that have purchased new vehicles before, did you buy a car off the lot, or did you order one to be manufactured with options you choose? It seems most people buy a car that is on the lot, and I'm wondering if they end up getting exactly what they wanted, or if there was some compromise in features or colors.

I have never bought a new car, and I doubt I ever will. Although I said I would never buy from a dealer, I did buy my TSX used from one because it was a very rare car that had everything I wanted, except that it had my 2nd choice of interior color. It helps that the only option offered on the TSX was Nav, or non-Nav, and automatic or manual. The TSX is a rare car to begin with, and a 6-speed is rarer yet.

Anyhow, my grandpa is buying a new Colorado 4x4 this weekend and it's being delivered from another dealership. I just figure if someone is going to pay a premium to buy new, it had better be exactly the car they want. It seems unlikely that a dealership would have that perfect car considering the many options available these days.

Does it cost more to configure a car with the options and colors you want, and have it manufactured and delivered to the dealer, or is it simply a matter of having to wait longer?

I just buy what they have as long as the price is great.

First new car was a 84 CRX1.5, serial # 1018 made July 1983, maybe first week of production. 44 mpg for 50k miles, bought for $7k sold for $5k.

I never ordered a car, cost too much, with the internet you can find what you want pretty easy, be a hard arse and you will pay more.

I found that when I went in with a newspaper ad, they never had that vehicle until you started to walk out.

They offered me my Mirage for 90 bucks more than one a year older. I took it as long as it was not black. Would have liked a lighter color but I don't need to run the heat in winter.

regards
mech

Maybe your grandfather is just an average new truck buyer, so what he really wants is exactly the standard sort of options that are already on the lot?

I've only bought one vehicle new my entire life- that was after deciding that the prices for used were so close to prices for new that I might as well go new. I shopped the local dealers; they didn't have exactly what I wanted and they also said they couldn't get it. So on a business trip I had several hours to kill in an airport. I called a dealer in that city, told them my requirements, and they said they had one. I had them come and pick me up, bought it, and drove it home.

Now I have that out of my system.

With my diesel Jetta, I insisted on getting a base manual model, and it came from another dealer over 100 miles away. When I switched to the gas model, I did opt for one that happened to be in stock.

I never bought a new car before, and all my research indicates it's not a good idea unless you have all the money up-front and understand the instant depreciation hit.

In my opinion if you are willing to pay that kind of money for an asset that will depreciate the instant you sign the papers and drive it off the lot, then it better have everything you want in terms of options, colours, etc. You are paying a lot of money anyway, so the small premium to get everything customized the way you want it is worth-while. Most people will end up paying a lot more than that on the interest over the duration of payments, so then why not get it customized?

The only drawback to customization is that you lose all negotiating leverage over the dealer - you pay what they ask and that's that!

If you MUST get a new car, you can definitely get a great negotiating advantage by choosing one they already have on the lot. They already paid for that car and are losing money on it (interest to the bank + depreciation), so they are willing to make sacrifices to get rid of it. If they order one for you from another dealer, or manufacturer, it's not really helping them on the above constant money loss, so no deal for you. :D

Most "options" are really trim levels. The base comes with these, the next up adds some, etc. It's mass production, not a la carte- just try getting the nice trim features with the small (cheap) engine and manual (cheap) transmission sometime!

If a feature is available from the factory, like remote start or a sunroof, it's generally cheaper to get it that way- unless you have to get a higher trim level to do it. But they may do accessories as part of an order like that, which is different than including the accessories as part of the deal. The real downside here is that you generally have to buy the car when you order it. Every accessory added to a car reduces its market (I love the car, but the XYZ on it doesn't excite me. I see it's a $500 add on, can you yank it and take $500 off?), and this is going to be a you specific car- so they probably won't order it unless you're paying that day- why should they be on the hook for your dream car and hope you don't buy something else in the meantime? It also puts you on the dealer's back burner because the sale was already made.

Check out the factory web site and look it up at cars.com or something- filter by exactly what you want and it'll show you how reasonable your dream list of features is, where the nearest ones are and give you an idea as to what they're asking for it. The easiest (and probably best in the long run) is to tell them what you want and if they don't have it on the lot, ask if they can get one with a dealer swap. You won't get a deal on the car because they've got more costs, but you're getting exactly the car you want from the local dealer. Being in their system as having bought it there can pay off huge in intangibles down the road- if there's one part left and two customers need it, who do you think gets it?

You can find exactly the car you want, you can buy what's available and try to turn it into exactly what you want, or you can just settle. None of those are necessarily bad moves, as long as you know what you really want and how much you want it. I wanted a sunroof in my Subaru, but I didn't want to also pay for leather or go aftermarket. I wanted steering wheel audio controls and heated mirrors on my Fit, but I didn't want to pay for a Sport or hack it for them. So while neither was my ideal car, each was exactly the car I decided to buy.

usually, people who buy new and 'order it from the factory' are 1. upscale buyers buying 2. a new model (2016 corvette for example) with new options.
These people want what they want and want it first. They don't really care about depreciation. A 50 yr old friend at church who clears $500k a year was driving a midsize sedan. Decided about a yr ago that he want the new redesigned corvette. He read up on the options and decided on a particular package (Z06 w race seats) and color. He could have waited for the dealers to have stock on hand and then gone looking, but he wanted it and ordered it.
Understand, he may have gotten a deal or not. A lot of that depends on how often you buy from the dealer, your relationship w the dealer and the scarcity of the model.
I knew a guy who bought an brand new 4cylinder Pontiac fiero back when they were introduced and paid $4k mark up to get the first one. His dad was a judge.

when you go to a dealer, they are going to look around for what you want and try to get it for you. That's just how the system works. If everyone 'special ordered' there would be overstock on the ground. The car manufacturer business model is to sell inventory. regardless of who has it. Not to 'special order' individual cars.

I did 'order' a 86 Pontiac 6000 STE in late 85. Completely loaded. all options plus the sunroof and suede leather seats. Sticker was like $16.5k but was ordered thru my company's lease car program and they paid $15.3k. They were a little annoyed w me because they usually paid $14.3k for mid optioned 6000s all day long.
But I had been promised that exact car when I was recruited.
http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.M...9&rs=0&p=0&r=0

http://autocognito.com/wp-content/up...-1986-grey.jpg

Dad wanted a Focus SFE and they tried to convince him he did not. He ordered it and the drove it 352 miles from a dealership on the other end of the state. Dad figured they drove his new car 85 MPH.

Thank you all for sharing. I'm just curious how people arrive at the decision to buy a car. Individuals on this forum are probably atypical since we tend to know more and tend toward enthusiasts. I know I'm a very difficult customer since I thoroughly research what I'm looking for, and won't be happy unless I'm getting the lowest price. I take it too far though; wasting so much time researching trivial things such as bicycle pumps, garden rakes, deck stains, computers, you name it. I even look at calories per dollar in the grocery store. Efficiency is in my DNS I suppose, but not when it comes to time management.

Grandpa looked at some trucks with me the other day and commented that he wanted an extra-cab short-box. Now he has a pending deal for a crew-cab long-box 4x4. Not sure what made him change his mind; and he has no business driving such a big rig at 88 years old just to go 8 miles each way to breakfast.

I told him to buy a car that has automatic braking and possibly lane keep assist that was easy to get in and out. He likes weird looking cars like the Juke (he calls it the Jupe and asks salesmen if they have that car) and Ridgeline. Looks like he settled on the Colorado since it's the replacement for the last two Chevy S-10s he has owned, and it's reviewed well. It's got the 3.42 axle ratio, so I guess that's good.

He might also have in mind to buy a truck that I would want to inherit, but I insist he spend his money on the things he wants. He's got an aneurysm in his chest that has an average survival period of 2 years.

When I went to the dealership to look at a TSX, I had no intention of buying the car, and only wanted to see it in person to confirm my decision to buy private party. Their initial offer was $23k, and I laughed, saying the price was ridiculous. The salesman asked what I thought a fair price was. Having briefly looked at some numbers beforehand, I told him they probably bought it for $14k, and that $17k seemed reasonable. He eventually went down to $17,700, but I went home. A week later, he called me and asked if I liked the car. I said yes. He said I could have it for $17,700. I told him to call me when the price gets to $17k. A couple days later he agreed to the price.

I'll likely never buy from a dealership again unless it's a very rare car I'm after, or I'm taking advantage of a subsidy that exists on new cars only.

Best wishes for Grandpa and yourself. I hope when his time comes it's easy. At 65 with Parents aged 94 and 90 I know the feeling. Mine made it to their 70th anniversary and both still drive Cadillacs.

Maybe he got the truck so you would borrow it more and spend a little more time with him.

regards
mech

The dealership system isn't set up to deal with customers who know what they want, they're set up to deal with marks who are impressed with shininess and suckers for glibness. If you understand that and know what you want, you can just tell them "I want X and I'll pay you Y for it" and don't waste everyone's time.

If they have no time invested in you and are simply faced with a choice to move a unit, they don't have to hold out for the huge markup. If they know that you don't need to buy a car today and can take it or leave it, they're also less inclined to hold out for the huge markup: some guy who is willing to take a specific car off their lot and won't take up any of their time is an extra unit shipped for no trouble.

It doesn't work if Y is really not a reasonable price for X. They could just laugh and say "No less than Z. If someone sells it to you for Y, let us know and we'll buy our stock from them." If you can't handle that answer, then you're actually one of those high maintenance customers, just one with delusions.

My last two cars were new because I wanted something very specific with the Subaru and it had only been out a few months, and with the Honda there wasn't enough depreciation on them to make used a smart choice.

Why? I'd think it'd be just the other way around: if everyone special-ordered their cars, the dealers would only have to keep a few demonstrator models.

to follow your train of thought, then cars would be VERY expensive AND have lousy quality.

THe entire concept of manufacturing is to create an economy of scale that creates lower costs.
There is a 'repetitiveness' to the manufacturing that creates the same model w same options in a string. Then a different option package is run thru. This way, the workers do the same action without having to think.

This is what happen to GM during the 70s. There were sooo many individual options. everybody went in and 'ordered' their cars. Quality went to crap in a hand basket.
THen the Japanese and Germans starting shipping in cars with only 1 or 2 option packages and they had MUCH better quality than US manufactures.
I remember reading that a Camaro could be delivered 400 different ways!!!
the bmws and Mercedes only came 1 way. with everything. Maybe an option sunroof.

My dad has bought brand-new cars a few times, and only one had to be ordered. It was an Opel Corsa (in Brazil it was badged as a Chevy) in 4-door hatchback body but in the stripped version that didn't even had cigarette lighter (it was in '98 and even though nobody at the household smoked we used that as a power supply for small appliances such as a portable air compressor), rear window wiper, washer and defroster as a replacement for the '92 Fiat Uno he bought already used in '96. The '98 Corsa was replaced in 2001 with another Corsa, but that one was a sedan, had a better trim and was readily available in the dealer's lot. Both Corsas were white, but when my mother got the sedan replaced by a Chevrolet Celta in 2007 silver was the most frequent color at the dealer lots, and in 2014 when the Celta was replaced by her current Toyota Etios it was a silver one too. My dad got a few used cars between 2007 and 2011, when he bought a then-new black Subaru Impreza, and he only got it black because it was the last fully-optioned one with a manual transmission (he's still not so favorable to automatics even though he turns 55 in April and his left ankle was severely damaged in a motorcycle crash before I was born) at the dealer lot and newer ones would come with fewer airbags and no sunroof. Last month he got the Subaru replaced with a 2004 Nissan XTerra because it's more suitable to the road conditions of our country (and cheaper to repair) and is Diesel-powered (with a locally-sourced MWM engine).

You seriously think the reason the Japanese had better quality was the lack of options?

It doesn't take all that much to configure assembly-line work to allow multiple options. I know computers aren't quite the same as cars, but I could (and did) order a laptop from a Chinese manufacturer, specifiying dozens of options, and have it assembled and delivered in a few days. And it's been working just fine for years.

Look at the JDM and you'll see they actually have lots of options. Anyway, their "kanban" management system is the most important factor that improved the quality of Jap products in general, not just the cars.

Sorry about the 6000.

I have been involved in some new car purchases thru the years. They were a 1968 Buick Special convertible (V8, 3 speed manual)(ordered), a 1970 Olds Cutlass 4 door sedan (350 V8, auto tranny)(ordered), a 1971 Dodge Polara 2 door hardtop (318 V8, 3 speed auto)(bot off lot); a 1977 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon (350 V8, Turbo 350 auto trans)(bot off lot), a 1978 Chevy Malibu 4 door sedan (305 V8, turbo 200 auto trans)(bot off lot), a 1992 Ford Crown Vic (a real POS!)(ordered), a 1999 Toyota Avalon (bot off lot), and a 2001 Chevy Silverado 3500 Crew Cab dually (6.0 gasser, 4L80E tranny)(bot off lot). We put over 300k miles on the wagon. We still have the Avalon with 308k miles on it and the truck with 185k miles on it. The rag top was my sisters car. My wife bought a 1962 Rambler Classic 2 door, 6 cyl, 3 speed auto, push button tranny before we were married (ordered).
Those cars were all bought before the Internet was alive as it is now.

I have also bought some used cars thru the years. My first car was a 1954 Olds V8, two door, 4 speed hydramatic tranny, also bought thru the years a 1954 Ford (V8 auto), a 1955 Plymouth 4 door, 3 speed manual, V8; a 1960 Volvo 544 (4 cyl, 1800 cc., 2 door, 4 speed manual, 4.56 rear end, side draft carbs), a 1963 Olds Cutlass 4 door V8 auto, (the little aluminum V8), a 1958 Sunbeam Rapier, (4 cyl, 1600cc?, 1500cc?, 3 speed with electric overdrive, 2 door hardtop sedan) more to follow.

To continue the used cars: a 1962 Chevy II, 6 cyl, auto; a 1984 Olds Cutlass V6 (231cc) auto, 4 door; a 1979 Pinto, 4 cyl, auto; a 1982 Olds Delta 88, 307 V8, auto, 4 door sedan 1.56 rear end (special order Texas car); a 1992 Toyota Camry, 4 cyl, 5 speed, 4 door; a 1998 Toyota Camry, 4 cyl, auto, 4 door; a 2005 Toyota Camry, 4 cyl, auto, 4 door. And that's all the used cars that I can remember.

We still have the Avalon, the Chevy truck, the 92 Toyo Camry and the 2005 Camry. As you can see: lots of Toyotas and NO FORDS!

Now, would I order a car? If I couldn't find what I wanted on a dealer's lot at a price I wanted to pay, then I would. Does it cost more? Not necessarily; only if you pay more. Talk to the fleet sales mgr and have him add what you want to the next fleet order and get the fleet price. If one dealer won't do it; well, there is ALWAYS another dealer.

KISS. Or maybe Build one car, build it well.

Fewer option choices also changes the perception of your product- selling Good, Better and Best is better marketing than Who the Hell knows, I hope it's a good one. I know I'd feel better browsing used cars if all I needed to see is DX, LX or LXI instead of a whole paragraph.

Not speaking for anybody else's experiences, but I've found almost ALL dealerships today actually shun *helping* a customer order a car, they are FAR MORE interested in clearing something off their lot instead.

Yeah, I hope Tesla disrupts the automotive industry to the extent that privately owned car lots become the exception rather than the norm. I'd much rather have the manufacturer sell the cars and provide a consistent sales experience.

Car lots should have a few base models for people to familiarize themselves with the basics of the vehicle, with most sales being ordered to each individual. I guess most people wouldn't make the purchase if they couldn't get caught up in the excitement of an impulse purchase and the prospect of driving home in a new car the same day. We'd probably see mostly base model vehicles on the road in this case.

It's looking like Grandpa is pulling the trigger on that Colorado. He wants me to buy his 2003 Chevy S10 ZR2 for $5k, which seems a little high to me. It is in perfect condition with only 100k on the odometer, but I already have a 1998.5 Dodge / Cummins 2500 longbed for heavy hauling. Plus, I like my bench seats instead of the buckets in the Chevy. 3 people up front is more fun. I was thinking I might bite at $4k and try to sell my truck for the same price. It would be nice to have working AC, speedometer, odometer, cruise control, and fully attached windshield.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...kes/truck2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26.../Retard001.jpg

you didn't pay attention to my point.
Yes, the home market for imports had all kinds of options. Every see a stripped bmw? in Germany but not the US.

My point (as validated in college case studies and in DeLoreans book 'On a Clear day.....') is that the idea of 'ordering any option' created crap for a product. No consistence.
THe importers shipped loaded up 1 option cars for consistency and uniformity in manufacturing (what was to be sent overseas AND because it added profit. 1000 loaded models all built the same way was very efficient.

actually, yeah, I do. THe point I was making was that BECAUSE of all the options the US cars had very bad quality which made the import quality seem better by comparison. And gee oh I don't know but MAYBE making the same car the same way....MAYBE improved the quality just a little bit.

the understatement of the year.


Do you realize the cost of the parts and the size for computers compared to the size of parts and cost for a car!!????

"Oh wait....stop the line, this one has a v6 instead of a v8.....let me just grab one out of this box......."

Read DeLorean's book, "on a clear day....." THe whole idea of 'ordering a car' almost destroyed GM.
THe assembly lines have to keep running EFFECIENTLY.
"It doesn't take all that much to configure assembly-line work to allow multiple options. " REALLY?? So how much bigger is the factory floor for your version.
maybe I'm gullable, but I bet that in the yr 2016, the manufacturers have a system pretty well figured out. THe really cant afford NOT to.:thumbup:

Makes no practical difference what colour the dash board is, if it has NAV, upgraded audio, climate etc. The fit procedure will be largely the same save for maybe an extra connector. Manual seats/ electric seats? Just a connector. Cloth/ leather, no difference.

They'll also do option in groups 'today we're building manuals' - all the major assemblies preassembled individually and just plugged in on the assembly line. Sports suspension? The appropriate cradle is just plugged in. Of line, one team is busy building stock suspension cradles, another team is building sports suspension cradles. Makes no difference to efficiency in a modern factory.

Nope, the decision for Euro brands to limit options is based on practicalities of building vehicles and shipping them vast distances. I special ordered a Renault in August, I'm still waiting. That's about the standard wait for a European vehicle in Australia, the US wouldn't be much different. Some brands prefer to pile on the options so orders can be filled from locally held stock nationwide (this does mean higher prices but also higher profits). That's what happened with my Jeep, came from the other side of the country in two weeks.

Do you know that certain European vehicles can be had in 1000's of combinations? Something as basic as a Ford Transit van has 450 models, five upholstery styles, dozens of options and 150 paint colours? That works out to something like 10,000 possibilities. Likewise Porsche will paint your car literally any colour you want, it's an extra $10k last I checked though. My guess is there isn't a European car today that can't be ordered at least 400 ways. Just because GM couldn't work it out in the 70's doesn't mean it can't be done.

I'll only ever buy Japanese cars used, anything else is too much of a risk of buying someone else's lemon. That and most used cars have a delightful aroma that's a mix of diesel fumes and puke.

The quality of Japanese cars was astounding when they first came into the US in decent quantities in the late 60s to early 70s. Detroit was riding a wave of arrogance and build quality. I worked in a Lincoln Mercury dealership when they first started importing Subarus in 1973.

I was the guy they got to fix all the squeaks and rattles, plenty of them in the Lincoln's and Mercurys, none in the Subarus. Doing bodywork at the time, I once saw a 68 Plymouth factory replacement fender that was built so shoddily that the recess for the front bumper was actually OUTSIDE the bumper when it was installed. I had to cut the inner construction out and reweld it in the right place.

You NEVER saw that kind of crap with Japanese made parts. When you replaced the fender on a Japanese car, the holes for the bolts lined up perfectly in the center of the hole in the car, everyone exactly the same. The same US fender you always had to grind some of the hole for it to even allow the bolt to be installed.

Once Detroit had it's arse handed to it on a platter, it still took until the 1990s for US made cars to improve considerably, probably mostly due to computer design.

I have seen holes drilled in engine blocks by frustrated workers, destroying their customers cars to spite the manufacturer. I will never forget that, an adversarial relationship so caustic, they succeeded in accelerating the rate of automation.

Today GM has 1/20th of the workers they had in 1955. Those jobs are gone forever.
Most of the GM cars I worked on included adjusting the door gaps where they were not twice as wide at the bottom as the top. You won't see that crap at Barrett Jackson, but on the lots full of new cars, in the early 1970s, you could not miss it.

One time the body shop manager got every bodyman to walk around a Plymouth and tell him what was wrong with it. On one side the rocker panel molding was there. The other side had not even a single stud that was welded on to hold the clips for the molding before the body was painted. My reward for being the only one to see the missing molding was to install a new one, for the .3 hour warranty allowed.

Don't even get me going on Vegas, the engines cylinder walls sank in the block because owners immediately changed their antifreeze to Prestone, within a month of buying the car. 40 engine a month replaced on 3 month old cars, or the Buick that came in from New York, produced 6 months earlier, with a rust hole in the fender 6 inches in diameter.

regards
mech

Mech is right; GM, Ford, and Chrysler caused all of their own problems. I worked in Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint in 1960. We Built Buick sedans and Chevy wagons. The guys I worked with tried to build the best car they could.

Maybe DeLorean wasn't a very good manufacturing manager. He was an auto designer wasn't he? Was he also an engineer? I don't remember. I have not read his book. My experience is that failed entrepreneurs write books to put the blame for their failure on someone else.

Redpoint5, Sorry about your grandfather. Sounds to me that he just wants to enjoy the time he has left. At 75, I can appreciate that. Spend all the time with him that you can; you'll be happy you did in the years to come.

The two times that I worked in auto plants (1960's), I do not remember the amount of options to be a problem. There would occasionally be an option that would be hard to fit, but usually there was a trick to installing it. If you knew the trick, then easy peasy, otherwise it was a b####. Remember though, those cars were designed on paper, using pencils, pens, slide rules, T-squares and drafting tables. So those cars were pretty simple in comparison to todays cars. All you need to work on those cars are normal tools and/or a gas wrench.

Actually, yes. I've installed engines (after having removed them first :-)) and computer parts, and getting the right part is a heck of a lot easier with cars. For instance, there's an obvious difference between a V6 and a V8, while all Intel CPUs, hard drives, RAM sticks, and so on look exactly the same except for some printing. Then there's DIP chips with labels that you often can't read without a magnifying glass and tilting the chip so the light hits just right. And let's not even talk about surface mount devices :-(

Then too, with a properly-organized factory, the correct parts should be scheduled to arrive at assembly points automatically, so people don't have to look at some printed order sheet and select e.g. one engine from a pile. Not that I'm claiming that the US auto industry always had properly-organized factories, you understand :-)

Red is not my cup of tea (both for political and soccer-related motivations), but that S10 looks good. I actually like the extended cab because of the looks and also the room for some weather-sensitive luggage (or the dog), and for that model-year this option was not available in my country due to the prevalence of the double-cab.

Ok, you keep referring to your personal experiences that have absolutely nothing to do with assembly lines.
1. you talk about looking for labels on small computer parts ....:eek: The parts are all in labeled bins.....(duh) ALLLLL mass assembly processes are based on NOT reading, but doing. Systems are designed to eliminate thought. In your computer example, the correct parts would be feed thru the rear of the correct bin and the assembler would see a LARGE sign on the front of the bin designating the specific part.
2. talk about replacing engines...congrats. again, that experience has nothing to do with supply/part management.
3. Yes, the entire concept of all manufacturing is not to have a lot of parts sitting around. AND that also applies to the manufacture of those parts. They have to have lead times and projected runs of specific models. AND this is where cars are VERY different from computers. You can print out 10k chips and keep inventory on had because they don't take any floor space. You cant do that with parts because 1. of the cost of material, 2. cost of machinery to make the part, 3. cost of warehouse floor, time/labor to produce

So I should instead believe a book by some idiot who lost billions trying to build cars?

Hummmm......

Well it is also a classic case study in manufacturing mismanagement on the upper class level in colleges....

... But the book is more of a readers digest version.

So you've been a successful high level executive in production management....

Saying that custom mass production is as simple as firing the right custom mix of parts at the assembly line ignores the obvious: the customization still has to happen. Making it happen in a pipeline is worse than doing it on the floor, because the pipeline system only works if there are no glitches anywhere and one glitch somewhere will throw everything off.

Pipeline sorting works on a mass level, though. Today we're installing manual transmissions. The container of sunroof modules came in, so this week all the top trim levels with sunroofs are getting done. The paint shop is doing blue today. Over a few months the supply system ends up producing the desired mix of cars. Dealer orders are taken into account here, but nobody's sitting around wondering if the factory has enough power heated folding auto dim mirrors to meet the current week's requirements. They know, because they built that trim level a couple weeks ago and aren't doing it again for another three.

And it all works great unless you want the luxury features with a small, economical engine. Or a Versa with power anything and a manual, or a Yaris with more than three doors and a manual...

Grandpa was told the delivery was delayed for some reason, and he's the type to call it off if anything unexpected happens. Looks like I've got some more time to steer his purchasing direction.

He needs something easy to get into, so nothing low to the ground. It needs to have an "oh-shoot" handle on both the driver and passenger sides to ease entry into the vehicle.

If I had it my way, I'd only consider cars that have automatic braking as an option.

I purchased my Mustang new from the local Ford dealer because it was the color I wanted with the engine / transmission combination I wanted. I wanted to save wear and tear on my truck (since my truck was "old enough to buy tobacco products" (and had over 270K miles on it) and save it for when I need a truck and when I "need" 4WD.

I could have lived without the 17" wheel upgrade; the "Interior Upgrade Package" ; and the (dealership-installed) decals. That's OK. My employer has the "X plan with Ford. It saved me about $1100 - enough to pay for the extended warranty.

Would I do it again?

Only when the next generation Mustang is exponentially better than what I'm driving. :D