Who's into base models?

There are a lot of people hewre that haven't looked a base model car from a good manufacturer in a LONG time.
 
I don't understand why you would choose a base model when buying...you instantly go to the bottom of the barrel for resale value. It would be interesting to know the payback when it is time to resell your used car. Do you get a higher percentage on resale given equal miles and condition...I would say yes.

Within reason, I would rather buy the top level of a car that I could afford, rather than the lowest level of a "nicer" car. I believe they carry more value in the long run, resale market.

I love base model vehicles ! I was drooling over a 2019 Ranger with the complete vinyl interior.

Give me a base model with steelies, vinyl seats and as few options as possible!
Not into trucks, but I would have swapped for the 07 Ranger with 4 cyl, 5 speed, vinyl bench seat, crank windows, rubber flooring, no stupid console eating up cabin space, bed cover and fancy wheels back in 2009-10.

The dealership was closed on Sunday, but that thing represented "purpose built" in a way that can't be found any longer.

If they did offer something of that sort, I'd be a customer again.

As it is.....I'll shoot for another 18 years out of the car I've got
 
I have been a base model type for decades now.

The car that set the template was the one I bought forty years ago. As I was just starting out I wanted the simplest vehicle possible, so that in case anything went wrong it would be cheap and easy to fix.

Turned out to be a 63 Valiant Signet.... with nothing on it. Top of the line, right below the Signet convertible and it came with just radio, heater and probably whitewalls: un-boosted steering and brakes, 170 [from the factory], 3 speed on the column. Might have been a loss leader for "Town & Country Chrysler Plymouth" in Phoenix to advertise in the Sunday paper: "Sporty Valiant Hardtop just $2xxx! $100 down!"*
*One at this exact price.

That I drove for 10 years before buying a newer car and still drive.

Every car I have bought since has been of similar size, base model, minimal options.

On the 05 ION, I splurged on floor mats. Automatic as well as AC. If the manual had been as easy to use as the one in my 95 Saturn SL 1 [1 up from the bottom SL], it would have had the manual and saved some money. But it was jumpy, nervous and noisy. Not something I wanted to fight in LA traffic every day.

The Valiant has been the largest of them at 186" long. The shortest was 174-5". Everything else has been within those ranges. For forty years.

And I've never had power windows, locks or cruise. Well one had cruise, but it didn't work
 
My son sold cars at the local Chevy dealer for a few years. He commented that lots of people say they love a base vehicle but no one buys them. The ones he saw languished on the lots. If they sold regularly the dealers would all stock them.
Motor Trend discovered the same thing back in the '60s when it tested a base 64 Plymouth Savoy: V8, heater, foam front seats, 3 speed manual column shift IIRC.

Just a few options would have made the car more pleasant. A radio. Arm rests.

Their readers claimed one thing but industry stats said another....60 years ago.
 
Everyone has their list of must-haves...one thing on my list that eliminates base models and sometimes models period is memory drivers seat that includes mirror and steering wheel settings. Priceless going back and forth between my wife and I.
 
Everyone has their list of must-haves...one thing on my list that eliminates base models and sometimes models period is memory drivers seat that includes mirror and steering wheel settings. Priceless going back and forth between my wife and I.
Yes I like this setup too. Our Atlas and even my 03 Passat both have it.
 
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