No matter how exclusive a car you buy, in San Francisco, New York or Beverly Hills, you’ll probably see plenty of others just like yours. There is an alternative that may tempt you as much as it did me.
On a recent trip to Detroit, I visited the shop of Advanced Automotive Technologies, owned by my friend and lifelong auto designer, Steve Pasteiner. Steve serves as a design consultant to auto companies, but also turns out his own fascinating product.
The 2007 Corvette is arguably as good as any sports car in the world. But it’s not super exclusive. So, AAT removes the front and rear sections and replaces them with panels of their own design and manufacture. For about $32,000, in addition to the cost of the Corvette, they make your Corvette look like one of the original 1953-54 models. The result is handsome and eye-catching. So far, they’ve made about 150 cars, so they’ll continue to be a rare sight.
While there, I saw the prototype of a future AAT product, a 2007 Corvette-based 1954 GM Motorama Nomad look-alike. The Chevrolet Nomad, if you don’t know, was a huge hit – a sexy, two-door sports station wagon that became a production item in 1955-57. Originals are extremely valuable, perhaps into six figures now. The AAT conversion is a much better car, based as it is on a 2007 chassis, but it only costs about $85,000(base Corvette + $40,000). Like the roadster, it will never be built in large quantities, so its rarity is assured. And compared to other exotic cars, this one seems like a bargain, and is also likely to beat the depreciation odds.
Cheap, Cheerful & Chic
Did you ever go to Europe, rent a car you loved, and find it wasn’t available in the US? Here’s one that is, although in a roundabout way.
Fiat just came out with a super-chic mini SUV called SEDICI
(get it? 4x4=16). It’s one of those classless cars. Old and young, rich and poor are captivated because it’s so “right”. The Mini does that and so does the Fiat. But Fiats aren’t sold here.
Lucky for us, Suzuki builds a virtual twin called SX-4 that’s a charmer and a bargain at the same time. And it is sold here. I recently drove one several hundred miles and found it capable and comfortable. Only $15,000. Well-equipped. Check one out!
How Wrong I Was – You Need to Test Drive Your Next Car
I drove the BMW3 series all-wheel drive station wagon, which I was predisposed to like, especially after 40 years experience with BMW cars. Then I drove the latest Land Rover LR-2, which I didn’t expect to like.
How wrong I was. The $48,000 BMW was very comprehensively equipped, including navigation with the smallest screen I’ve seen yet. The silky in-line six cylinder, with a six-speed manual transmission made the crisp handling sports wagon a pleasure to drive. The slightly firm suspension felt just right, if a bit harsh over indifferent pavements.
But BMW seems hell-bent to use electronic controls for sound, climate, and navigation, and I find their system confusing. In contrast, the very orderly dashboard design in the Land Rover uses rotary knobs for climate, more conventional radio controls, and a somewhat cleaner navigation system. All-in-all I much preferred the Land Rover controls.
I still don’t understand why anyone pays for a navigation system, which costs around $2000, or even more if it comes in a package with some other accessories. I saw a Tom-Tom navigation system at Staples for only $300 the other day – same technology, but portable from car to car. And now, a $500 I-Phone includes a nav system along with its endless other abilities. Bet on the price for built-in car systems to plummet, and probably become standard equipment in all but the cheapest cars.
The BMW, as technically good as it is, just doesn’t look nicely-enough finished to justify the price. The Land Rover, at almost 20% less money, looks better inside, drives just as well, if less sportingly, and earns its place as a true Land Rover.
You may have read the JD Power quality ratings for the new cars, and noticed that BMW usually finishes high, while Land Rover/Range Rover scores lower. A few comments are in order.
When JD Power first started surveying new car buyers, in 1968, the range of quality from top to bottom was very broad. David Power tells the story of his beginning, when he approached various American and import brand auto manufacturers. All except one told him they already knew what their customers thought, so they didn’t need him. Only one company signed up back in 1968. Toyota. One-by-one, all auto companies started listening to JD Power, and taking his ratings seriously. After almost forty years, auto quality is way, way up, and the gap from top to bottom is insignificant. Here’s one example of why that’s true.
One JD Power survey measures Initial Quality, covering the first ninety days of ownership. The most defect-free cars report about 70 problems per 100 cars, or under one problem per car. At the other extreme, a few makes report 150-170 problems per 100 cars; or, at worst, 1.7 problems per vehicle.
Putting this in context, you can expect one, or maybe two, problems with your new car in the first 90 days you own it – no matter what car you choose. And this measure includes all problems, even the most minor and insignificant ones.
You could say that the JD Power ratings have been so influential that they are no longer needed, and you’d be right. On my last three new cars, I’ve had a total of three problems or one per car, none of them very serious.
What this means is that you have the luxury of buying any car you happen to like without worrying about quality/reliability issues. On top of that, most dealers offer internet price quotes, saving you the hassle of bargaining. Get three quotes and you’ll know the “street” price. Except for the fact that the number of choices is greater than ever, buying a car has never been so pleasant and easy.
