Driving Dynamics

A lot of manufacturers talk about “Driving Dynamics” when referring to their cars.  This usually refers to a car’s sportiness, or to an SUV or Crossover vehicle’s ability to drive more like a car.  The latter is the ability of a tall, boxy vehicle to handle tighter corners than its predecessors from 10 years ago.  The jargon may be confusing, so make sure you drive normally during your test drive(s), but remember to take into account weather and the size of a vehicle.

Options (favorites marked with ):

Listed below are a lot of today’s more popular (or ubiquitous) options, where you might find them, and what they do.

Adaptive Cruise Control – some luxury vehicles – Using sensors mounted in the front of the car, an on-board computer slows the car when necessary to keep a preset distance from the vehicle in front.  When the road ahead is clear, the system will accelerate the car back to the driver’s desired speed.

Adaptive Headlights – some luxury vehicles – Allows the headlights to swivel left and right with the steering wheel, lighting more of the road where you are headed instead of just straight in front of you.

Automatic Climate Control – optional on some vehicles under $35,000, standard on most luxury cars – The driver or passenger sets a temperature he or she feels is comfortable, and the car figures out how to use the fan speed, heat and air conditioning to attain that temperature.  Usually seen with two (dual) zones, the system works best when driver and passenger zones are within 5 degrees of each other.

Automatically Dimming Mirrors – optional on cars starting around $30,000 – Dims the rear-view and sometimes the driver’s side-view mirrors when headlights are detected in the rear-view mirror at night.

Automatic Headlights – optional on cars starting around $25,000 – Using sensors, the car detects the amount of ambient light outside the car and turns the headlights on when needed.  This usually also turns on the internal lights, illuminating the gauge panel and center console of the car.

Back-up Camera – optional on most cars starting around $25,000 – a great feature for family vehicles and anyone who’s ever run over a bicycle or other object which was not visible behind their car.  This feature usually comes bundled with GPS Satellite Navigation systems, as they share the screen.  Some cars and trucks build the backup camera into the rear-view mirror.  Some cars have lines delineating how far away an object is by green, yellow and red lines.

Backup / Forward Parking Sensors – optional on cars starting around $28,000 – Radar sensors in the rear and sometimes front bumper of the car are used to pick up objects which may not be visible to the driver.  Forward parking sensors are fairly rare still, but a lot of entry-level luxury cars are starting to feature the backup sensors.  A tone will sound inside the vehicle when objects get close, and usually the pitch or frequency of the tone increases as distance decreases.

Ford's BLIS on a 2010 Fusion Hybrid

Blind Spot / Traffic Detection – optional on cars starting around $30,000 – Ford calls it BLIS w/Cross-Traffic Alert, this system uses sensors to detect cars in your blind spots and traffic behind you when backing up.

BlueTooth Wireless – optional on most cars starting at $20,000; all Fords – By “pairing” your cell phone with your car, it allows you to use a built-in microphone and the car’s stereo to make and receive calls, all without taking your eyes and hands off of driving the car.

Dual-panel Sunroof – optional on cars starting around $35,000 – Adding to the traditional sunroof, the dual-panel sunroof or moonroof contains a traditional tilt/slide sunroof, as well as a fixed panel in the rear.  Some systems have manually-operated sunshades, while others have power-operated sunshades.

Easy Entry / Exit Seating – optional on some cars starting around $35,000 – Usually bundled with power steering columns, this system moves the seat back and tilts the steering column upwards when the car’s engine is turned off, allowing easier egress.  When starting the vehicle, the steering column and driver’s seat return to the last position you left them, or “memorized” seating positions, depending on the car.

Heated / Cooled Seats – optional on some cars starting around $30,000 – Heated seats are becomes ubiquitous on higher-end cars, and now cooled or ventilated seats are making their way onto more and more cars each model year.  Heated seats use elements built into the seat to heat it, and cooled seats pump some of the air conditioning through the seat onto the person sitting in it.

Heated Steering Wheel – optional on few cars starting at $35,000 – I haven’t seen this feature on a lot of cars, but it’s seen on some luxury cars and the 2009-2010 Nissan Maxima.  Ford also announced recently that it would start adding it to Lincolns starting in 2011.

iPod Integration / USB Port – just about mainstream – A lot of manufacturers are adding iPod integration, and because of that, USB integration, to their vehicles.  With millions of iPods and USB drives floating around, this feature is used to sway younger buyers, and most of them are pretty good now.  The better ones allow full control of the iPod through the steering wheel or regular audio system controls.

Keyless entry / Push-Button Starting – optional on some cars starting around $30,000 – Building upon the keyless entry which is standard on probably 90% of cars sold these days, this system detects a keyfob being close to the car and allows the driver to unlock the doors.  Once in the vehicle, some systems allow the driver to put their foot on the brake and press a button to start the car, and most of these also allow the driver to keep the key in their pocket, and on some cars, does away with the key completely.

Manual mode for automatic transmissions, including paddle shifters – optional on cars starting about $25,000 – With a myriad of names, this feature allows so-called manual control of the car’s automatic transmission, either through pushing and pulling the gear shift lever or paddle shifters.  This adds a little more sportiness to cars, and is most popular in urban areas and cars where a driver may want more control sometimes, but doesn’t want to deal with a clutch.  Manual mode comes in quite handy when traversing steep hills, as you can ensure that your engine isn’t working too hard, by downshifting.

Memory Seating – usually found in luxury cars – Gives the driver two or three positions they can set, which includes seat adjustment settings, mirror position, as well as steering column position on some cars.  This allows two or three drivers to set up the car they want, and to be able to recall those settings whenever they drive.

One-Touch Up / Down on all windows – usually found on luxury cars – Most cars these days will allow the driver to press or pull their window switch to raise and lower their own window, while the other windows require the window control to be held.  With luxury cars, the manufacturer puts the sensors and controls in for all side windows.

Power tilt/telescope Steering Column – usually found on luxury cars – Replaces traditional levers that tilt and telescope the steering wheel with a button that does the same thing.  It’s usually paired with memory seats and entry/exit systems.

Reverse Tilt-Down Mirrors – usually found on luxury cars – When the car’s transmission is put into Reverse, the driver and passenger side-view mirrors tilt down to show curbs and other obstacles.  This helps to prevent hitting the curb while parallel parking.

Satellite Navigation – optional on cars starting around $30,000 – Instead of using a hand-held GPS system, it’s built into the car.  Since it’s built in, the chance of break-in is lessened somewhat, and the screens on built-in units is usually larger than hand-held versions.  The downside is expense, as the option package which includes navigation usually costs $2,000 or more, although those prices are coming down each year.  Furthermore, map updates are usually more costly and harder to do.

Rain-Sensing Wipers – usually found on higher-end luxury cars – Some luxury cars have an extra sensor built into the windshield that detects rain and changes the wiper interval based on this.  A great feature when the weather changes from misting to heavy downpours.

Satellite Radio – optional on most cars – Receives an audio signal from satellites instead of local radio stations, which allows drivers and passengers to listen to a multitude of stations continuously across the continental US.  When driving under bridges and overpasses or through canyons and tree-covered streets, however, the signal may disappear, which can become highly frustrating, since the station doesn’t “fade” at all, like an AM or FM station would.

Difference between “Dealer Installed” and “Factory Installed”

Oftentimes, the features listed above (and others) will be installed when the car is built, at the factory.  On some cars, however, they are installed at the dealer, as part of a customer buying the car and requesting such features.  Drop-down DVD players, iPod connectors, even backup cameras are sold to customers at the time of purchase.  Unless otherwise stated, these features are “aftermarket,” meaning the hardware which is added to your vehicle wasn’t created by the manufacturer of the car.  This is especially true with backup cameras and DVD players.  If the feature wasn’t on your car when you took your test drive(s), ask about who created the item and who will be doing the installation.  Sometimes, a dealer will go so far as to have an outside company install features on your car for you.  You may be able to save money if you go to an outside shop directly, if you still want the feature.  Many aftermarket radio installers have diversified their knowledge and product lines so they can install anything that doesn’t require heavy modification to your car.

Conclusions

Option packages are a very profitable part of the new-car sale, so a lot of manufacturers bundle them together.  For instance, a lot of cars include a moonroof/sunroof and an upgraded stereo as part of one package.  If an option package includes things you don’t want, make sure that you think long and hard before buying a car without the option you want, as you may kick yourself after the purchase for not getting everything you wanted in the first place.  It may require slightly larger monthly payments to get the option package that includes your desired features, but your happiness may be worth more in the long run.  If you find that the car then costs more than you want or can afford, take extra time to save for a bigger down payment to offset the extra cost, or consider buying a used version of the car, if you can find one optioned the way you want it.

by John Suit

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2. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 2

A lot of drivers these days are filling their tanks with “regular” gasoline, even if the car requires premium.  As we saw earlier, Cadillac tried to prepare its new SRX for that, but didn’t succeed, at least not initially.  After seeing that, I suspect a few more people will start using the fuel required for their car.

The big argument people have when I ask why they use lower octane fuel, is cost.  They will tell me they’re just trying to save some money.  Well, I have news for them, and anyone else who wants to “save a few bucks” on gas: you’re not saving much, if anything, and all that cheaper gas can lead to premature engine wear and failure!  Remember when reading the numbers below that new engines typically run in the thousands, anywhere from $2,500 to $12,000, depending on the vehicle.

Let’s take a look at the big picture.  Besides the Smart ForTwo, I can’t think of any other inexpensive car that requires premium.  Perhaps the Mini Cooper, but that car starts at $20k for a stripped base model.  Add a few options to it, and you’re getting close to the $30k mark.  Basically, cars that require premium fuel generally cost more, and if you can afford the car payment, gassing up shouldn’t be an issue either.  Even if you buy a used luxury car that retailed new for $50-60,000, you still have to keep up with the maintenance (another thing a lot of people forget about when shopping for a car).

Breaking down the supposed savings, the average difference between regular gas and premium is around $.30, depending on where you live.  Here in the Washington, D.C. Metro area, regular gas is about $2.85 and premium is around $3.10, per gallon.  that’s only $.25, but we’ll round up, taking into account a fuel price spike.

If your car gets 20mpg average (combined city/highway), and you drive 20,000 miles a year, which is more than average, you’ll use 1,000 gallons of fuel per year.  At a difference of $.30 per gallon, you’ll spend $300 more per year on premium than you would have on regular.  That’s less than the average car payment, and broken down, it’s about $5.00 per week.  That’s one cup of coffee at Starbucks, per week, and you can afford that premium gas your car says it requires.

As an example, my own 2010 Nissan Maxima was certified by the EPA to get 18 mpg in the city, and 26 mpg on the highway.  It also says in the owner’s manual (right) that 91+ octane fuel, also known as “Premium Unleaded” at the gas pump, is recommended for maximum performance.  The sticker price for my Maxima was close to $40,000, so if I drive 100,000 miles over 5 years, that still only adds up to about $1,500 of extra fuel costs, maybe closer to $2,000 if the price of gas increases (and it assuredly will).  So, up to 5% of the sticker price of the car could be spent on premium fuel versus regular – that’s a no-brainer to me.

In the end, the choice is of course up to you, but I recommend you use whatever fuel the manufacturer recommends or requires.  It just isn’t worth the headache of needing expensive repairs, is it?

by John Suit

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1. Chevrolet Volt Pricing, Fuel Requirement
2. Dirty Words: Fuel Mileage
3. Luxury, Sport … and Fuel Economy? The Lexus CT 200h

After all the research, test drives, narrowing down, you’re left with one car.  You know you want it, now to buy it!  This involves going to the dealership, picking out the exact car you want, negotiating, financing, and signing on the dotted line.  We’ll cover each of those in turn.  This step sounds like it’s one of the easier ones, but it is the most complex, so I have broken it into several sections, to ease the pain of digesting the whole car-purchasing process in one fell swoop.

1. Picking a dealership, and finding THE car

First, find two or more dealerships in your area and go to their online inventory sites.  Find the car or cars that has all the options you want and is the right color.  Write down the stock or VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and then call or email the internet department at the dealership which has the car.  You’ll want to do this for each dealership in your area that sells the car you want to buy.  Inform the internet salesperson (or if you kept the salesperson’s card from your test drive, contact them) that you are intent on purchasing the vehicle, and give them the stock number or VIN.  Ask them what their best price is on the car.  This is where I will differ from other car-buying tips: Ask each dealership for their OTD, or Out The Door price.  Some dealers will refer to this as an OTR, or On The Road price.  You can’t compare each dealer’s price with another, because some will quote you a price without dealer fees, tag fees, taxes, destination (delivery), or state-mandated costs.  This gives you apples-to-apples comparison numbers, as well as a place to start with each dealer.  If one dealer is closer, but has a higher price, quoting the other dealer’s price will usually make them lower their price.

2. Arriving at a realistic On The Road (Out The door) price

Here’s where a little research will come in handy.  Edmunds.com has their True Market Value, which gives you the average price a particular car sells for in your area.  It’s a good place to start, but can usually be beaten by a savvy shopper, sometimes by up to 15% depending on the car.  From this simple research, and what you’re willing to spend on a car (not necessarily this car), come up with a price in your head that you’d be happy with.  This is where you will be assigning a value to the car.  Now take 10% or so off of that number, and that’s your starting negotiating price.  Remember to base your price on the one the dealers gave you.  They might drop 5% off the sticker price if they believe you are serious about buying the car, and if they don’t, you know you’re dealing with a greedy dealer, and it may not be best to buy a car from them.  At the start of this relationship, if they aren’t willing to budge on their price at all, it sets the mood for the rest of car ownership and dealings with them.

Let’s pause now for an example:

On an American luxury sedan with a sticker price of $45,000, let’s say Edmunds.com lists the average sale in your area at $42,500, which would be close to the “dealer invoice” price (also listed at Edmunds).  Let’s also assume you have $2,000 in negative equity (your trade-in is worth $2,000 less than what you owe), and that the sales tax, tag fees, etc. all come to $1,750.  Your OTD or OTR price, if you ask for what Edmunds tells you, is $42,500 plus your $2,000 negative equity, plus $1,750, for a total $46,250.  That’s what you’ll be paying for the car, plus interest over the life of the loan.

If a dealer recognized you as serious about buying the car, they may have offered you a price below the sticker price, or asked you what it would take to get you in the car on the day you took your test drive.  You can take this amount (if offered), or give them the Edmunds amount if you’re averse to doing some simple math, but I highly recommend pulling out a basic calculator and taking some percentages.  Start at least 5% below whatever the lowest price is (the sticker price, or the dealer’s first offer), and take another 5% off of that.  That’s usually a good starting point for negotiations, and is your “low ball” offer.  The dealership will usually balk at this number, unless that particular car or model hasn’t been selling well, in which case you might take a lower amount to another dealer, and try there.  Just remember, you can always move up in price, but it’s usually harder to move down in price.

3. Visiting the dealership, with the intent to purchase your car

Now that you have a baseline price to go with, visit the dealership you had the best test drive experience at.  If you had a high-pressure salesperson for your test drive, walk in and ask for a sales manager or another salesperson to help with the actual car purchase.  This will take some anxiety out of the process, and you’ll come away happier.  Take a test drive in the actual car you found online.  Make sure its got everything on it that you want, and is on the window sticker.  Once you get back to the dealership, the negotiation will begin. If they didn’t try to sell you the car on your first test drive, they will now.  Start with your low-ball offer that you calculated before even setting foot in the dealership, and ignore whatever speech they give you.  This is where good negotiation skills come in handy, but if you aren’t well-versed in negotiation, don’t fret.  You can get a friend to come with you who is better in negotiating, and let them handle it, or if you go by yourself, just try to stick as close as you can to your original price.  Remember that these are all OTR or OTD prices, not the price of just the car.  Never negotiate only the price of the car! If you want to buy the car for $42,500, and you have $2,000 positive equity (your car is worth $2,000 more than you owe on it, or your car is worth $2,000 as a trade-in), you’re OTD price is $40,500 plus taxes, tags, titles, and dealer/state fees.  So, try and get the dealer to match the price you originally wanted to pay for the car.  Once they meet your price, you’re almost done!  If the negotiations get drawn out, and neither side is giving, your price may be too low, or the dealer may want too much for the car.  At this point, you can take a breather and call the other dealership(s).  Give them the current OTD price and tell them where you’d like to be.  If they are willing to deal, go there, or go back into the original dealership and tell them you have a better offer at another dealership.  Using this back-and-forth technique can save you thousands in the long run, and make the negotiations quicker and easier for you, since the two dealers are now fighting each other to sell you a car. If you need a break in the negotiating, or want to make a call, do so outside.  The dealer will have the car parked there (so as to entice you further into buying the car), and now is a great time to inspect the car.  Find any faults in the paint, interior, anything which may have been scuffed or damaged in transit or by another person.

4.  Inspecting the car, taking a breather

Here’s another good time to take a break.  Many car dealerships these days advertise that they’ll have you in and out in under an hour.  While this may be true, you may be hurried into add-ons you don’t want, or financing you can’t really afford, or a price you don’t really want to pay.  Make sure you’ve carved out enough time in your day to complete the transaction, or at least have a plan of how much you want to get accomplished today.  While you’re taking this break, if you didn’t take one during the negotiation, walk around the car, and take the time to look it over with a keen eye for detail.  Make sure the paint is flawless, the interior doesn’t have any rips, tears or stains.  Any repairs at this point are paid for by the manufacturer, so the dealership should have no problem with fixing anything you want.  If they aren’t willing to fix anything you find wrong with the car before the purchase, think of how they’ll act once you buy the car!  The dealership’s culture, if you will, extends from the salespeople to the service writers, and everywhere in between.

5. Financing

Once you’ve agreed upon a total cost for the car, Financing comes into play.  If you are a member of a credit union, ask the dealer if they can set it up for you (a call to your credit union beforehand to verify the best financing rates comes in handy here).  If the dealership is offering below 4%, chances are they will beat your credit union.  Knowing your credit score is important here, as most financing companies want a score of 720 or 740 to get their “Tier 1″ financing, which is the best they will offer.  If you’re using the dealer to finance, run the credit check (a 15-30 minute process, depending on your credit and the dealer).

Now you visit the “F&I” person.  This is the person who explains to you the financing they found, extended warranties and maintenance agreements.  If you’re not happy with the financing agreements available, take a step back and think about it.  If you give them a couple days, sometimes they can find better financing for you.  Extended Warranties and Maintenance Agreements take all forms, so take the time to read through them, ask questions, and negotiate the prices if you are comfortable doing so.  There are literally thousands of web sites which are spent debating the pros and cons of each, so I won’t go into it now, but the idea is that you are comfortable.  If you’re not comfortable paying $1,000-2,000 for a warranty up front, think about paying cash for it, and not financing it, or not getting it at all.  This room is also where you will be signing on the dotted line, the last step before taking delivery of the vehicle.  Remember, once you sign on the dotted line, the car is YOURS.

6. Taking delivery of the vehicle!

Congratulations, you’ve now bought a car!  Hopefully it was easier than your past car-buying experiences, and if this is your first, definitely give yourself a pat on the back – many people have a lot of trouble doing what you just did!  At this point, the dealership staff will thank you for your purchase, and will go out to the car with you.  Ask questions, if you have any, make sure you remove any personal belongings from your trade-in (if you had one), and drive off the lot in your new car.  This time is called “taking delivery of the vehicle,” and at this point, the car is all yours (and your bank’s, if you financed).

By John Suit

Related posts:

1. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 2
2. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 3
3. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 4

Using your list of nonnegotiable features, your Short List and test drive memories (as well as notes), take the time to consciously narrow down the cars you test drove, from the original Short List you started with, down to the one you want to buy.  When you put it on paper, in the form of a Pro/Con list, it usually makes this step very easy.  If you’re having trouble eliminating a car, or figuring out which of two cars you prefer, take another test drive of each.  Remember, buying a car is not a decision you want to rush.  Think of the little things, like how difficult it could be to clean (if you’re a do-it-yourselfer), or how wide it is (if you have a narrower garage).  Picture yourself driving it during your normal rounds, and whether or not a particular car would work well for such uses.  Again, a sports car which only seats two isn’t going to have enough cargo space to haul enough groceries for your family of four, and on the flip side, an SUV with 68 sq ft. of cargo room might fit all the groceries, the whole family, your dog, and luggage for a week, but it may not fit in your garage.

By John Suit

Related posts:

1. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 2
2. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 3
3. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Overview + Step 1

Just because you fall in love with the first car you test drive, does not mean you should buy it!  Make sure you test drive all the cars on your list, and take some time in between test drives (if you take more than one test drive in a day) to gather your thoughts.  Remember that you aren’t picking out a new cell phone – a new (or new-to-you) car is an expensive purchase, one which usually takes years to pay off, and you might own for many more after that.  Take the time to play with all the buttons, look for blind spots, park the car in a parking spot at a location you might visit, and especially put the car on the highway.  You might even close your eyes while parked and try and reach all the stalks on the steering wheel, audio and HVAC buttons, anything you may need to adjust while driving.  This information goes for the dealership as well.  You’ll likely be bringing your car in for routine maintenance or warranty work, so make sure the dealership has at least one person you can work with.  If you come across a high-pressure salesperson, tell them you’d rather deal with their manager or another salesperson.  They’ll switch people out until you’re happy, because after all, for each car they sell to a happy customer, an average of two more people will visit that dealership, through word of mouth on your part.

Continue reading after the break for a crib sheet of things to look for during a test drive:

Blind Spots (where, how many?)
Parking (will it fit in normal parking spots, or be tough to parallel park?)
Power (enough to pass if need be?)
Control placement (audio, HVAC, wipers, headlights)
Seating Position (will you be comfortable for road trips, as well as shorter drives?)

Beyond those, make sure you really like the car.  It might take an hour or more to get a good feel for the car.  Make sure that you don’t fatigue after driving the car more than a short trip (easy to test for if you have a lot of traffic in your area).  Finally, make sure that there isn’t something missing that you’d prefer to have.  If there is, try driving another of that model which has the extra option(s).  Other than portable GPS, it can be rather expensive to upgrade a car you’ve already bought, and you don’t generally get much in return for the money you spent on aftermarket upgrades.  Use these test drives to figure out which car is best for you.  Make lists beforehand of things which are non-negotiable for you, and take notes after the test drive, while it’s still fresh in your mind.  This will help you later when narrowing the cars down to the one you will buy.

By John Suit

Related posts:

1. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 4
2. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 5
3. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Overview + Step 1

This is an easy step.  It may involve visiting local dealerships and walking the lots to see which cars are even appealing to you.  You should also read reviews on this blog and go to the manufacturers’ web sites, to check their current product line-ups, which may give you different insights into who and what their cars are made for.  A review will give you information about a car which is pertinent to the reviewer, but may not be important to you.  Just concentrate on making sure that the cars on your list are in your price range and have the size, comfort and options you are looking for.  For example, if you have a family of four, and are replacing your aging mid-sized sedan, including two-seater sports cars in your Short List is not in your best interest.  While it may be fun to test drive, it definitely won’t (or shouldn’t) last very long once you start eliminating choices based on your priorities.

By John Suit

Related posts:

1. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Overview + Step 1
2. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 4
3. Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 3