Car Talk 4: The Richard Hertz Rent-A-Car 500

[dubshow]

We can all afford new cars when Trump makes them cheaper, safer, and run smoother.

[dubshow]

This is fucking going places.

[dubshow]

Globally cars still dominate.

dis. it's the only thing that keeps hope alive for the FiST in the US market...someday.

sure. and look at the GTI vs Golf. They literally only kept the cool "enthusiast" trim around.

[4zilch]

but, nobody buys new (mostly), which is what manufacturers care about

I guess? Mainly because its not affordable and the used market presents such a better

Being a "car guy" carries a lot of different meaning and crosses different segments. Rich/poor. DIY/pay for service. built/bought. etc.

Im pretty sure is literally the only person in here that meets that ideal target of buying a new "enthusiast" car ever 1-2 years. Let that sink in for his demographic. so 1 of 30ish people?

I buy new motorcycles #yolo

[Huckleberry]

Yep, they have their “data science”, spreadsheets, and analytics. what customers actually want. We’re all just data points anyway.

The hardest thing for me is using data to convey a story like this...because you can't.

Me: "Customers are into performance events and would like the performance seats on a base car"

MBA: "Show me data to prove it"

Me:

I've actually used forum and blog posts in the past as "data" to help build cases for things I believe strongly in, but even that's wobbly at best when they have countless customer research studies and whatever other to source. "Because it's the right thing to do" isn't really a valid argument anymore unfortunately...and with nobody that cares enough to know, there's no way around the data.

This is why I always preach how important it is to vote with your wallet. Product planners need actual data to support these decisions.

Collecting data on opportunity cost is tough. As stated before, due to unwanted options being bundled to the point of excessive MSRPs, it was conveyed that the interest in purchasing that new vehicle was now non-existent. In terms of my recent purchase, the data shows that I purchased a GTI Rabbit with a manual. It doesn't convey that GM, Ford, and FCA didn't offer a damn thing with four doors and a stick in the $30K-$35K price range to compare with the GTI. As such, I made my very first non-domestic new car purchase.

[dubshow]

ITT: The car enthusiast will save the world when the gas-pocalypse hits and Becky can't afford to feed her SUV tank. And bros will be forced into a smaller thing.

[dubshow]

MAKE WEIRD CARS GREAT AGAIN

[4zilch]

The hardest thing for me is using data to convey a story like this...because you can't.

Me: "Customers are into performance events and would like the performance seats on a base car"

MBA: "Show me data to prove it"

Me:

I've actually used forum and blog posts in the past as "data" to help build cases for things I believe strongly in, but even that's wobbly at best when they have countless customer research studies and whatever other to source. "Because it's the right thing to do" isn't really a valid argument anymore unfortunately...and with nobody that cares enough to know, there's no way around the data.

This is why I always preach how important it is to vote with your wallet. Product planners need actual data to support these decisions.

Collecting data on opportunity cost is tough. As stated before, due to unwanted options being bundled to the point of excessive MSRPs, it was conveyed that the interest in purchasing that new vehicle was now non-existent. In terms of my recent purchase, the data shows that I purchased a GTI Rabbit with a manual. It doesn't convey that GM, Ford, and FCA didn't offer a damn thing with four doors and a stick in the $30K-$35K price range to compare with the GTI. As such, I made my very first non-domestic new car purchase.

The sale of said VW does provide them data in terms of deciding if they want to compete in that market segment. They'll likely decide that it's not worth it to them.

[4zilch]

ITT: The car enthusiast will save the world when the gas-pocalypse hits and Becky can't afford to feed her SUV tank. And bros will be forced into a smaller thing.

[Huckleberry]

I nutted up and bought the on principles said here.

Also nearly everyone here has a cool car in garage. Very few have checked out of car world.

but, nobody buys new (mostly), which is what manufacturers care about

Isn't that part of people voting with their wallets, though?

[ChrisoftheNorth]

The hardest thing for me is using data to convey a story like this...because you can't.

Me: "Customers are into performance events and would like the performance seats on a base car"

MBA: "Show me data to prove it"

Me:

I've actually used forum and blog posts in the past as "data" to help build cases for things I believe strongly in, but even that's wobbly at best when they have countless customer research studies and whatever other to source. "Because it's the right thing to do" isn't really a valid argument anymore unfortunately...and with nobody that cares enough to know, there's no way around the data.

This is why I always preach how important it is to vote with your wallet. Product planners need actual data to support these decisions.

Collecting data on opportunity cost is tough. As stated before, due to unwanted options being bundled to the point of excessive MSRPs, it was conveyed that the interest in purchasing that new vehicle was now non-existent. In terms of my recent purchase, the data shows that I purchased a GTI Rabbit with a manual. It doesn't convey that GM, Ford, and FCA didn't offer a damn thing with four doors and a stick in the $30K-$35K price range to compare with the GTI. As such, I made my very first non-domestic new car purchase.

OEMs see the sales volume of competitive vehicles and transmissions. If enough people bought manual GTIs to indicate a market opportunity, offerings might change.

That's why I preach voting with your wallet. I don't care what you buy and from who, but if you really want change, you need to buy new things that support what you want.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

but, nobody buys new (mostly), which is what manufacturers care about

Isn't that part of people voting with their wallets, though?

Kind of. Used sales data aren't captured like new sales. So those sales are mostly nonexistent, and just reduces the volume of the "desireable" new sales, which is hard to invest more in.

Absolutely a chicken or the egg thing, but there's still no help if all sales are used.

[4zilch]

MAKE WEIRD CARS GREAT AGAIN

The enthusiast market follows similar trends to the post-recession motorcycle market. New things are expensive, people spend disposable income on other things (if at all), etc, etc. In terms of enthusiast segments, companies have either decided to die a slow death (Japanese motorcycle manufacturers), or adapt and broaden product offerings (Ducati, KTM).

[4zilch]

Fun debate. Not the usual DFD handwringing or

[Huckleberry]

Isn't that part of people voting with their wallets, though?

Kind of. Used sales data aren't captured like new sales. So those sales are mostly nonexistent, and just reduces the volume of the "desireable" new sales, which is hard to invest more in.

Absolutely a chicken or the egg thing, but there's still no help if all sales are used.

I would have thought that OEs would at least be interested in the used sales data of current generation models, especially after a refresh or option changes.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Kind of. Used sales data aren't captured like new sales. So those sales are mostly nonexistent, and just reduces the volume of the "desireable" new sales, which is hard to invest more in.

Absolutely a chicken or the egg thing, but there's still no help if all sales are used.

I would have thought that OEs would at least be interested in the used sales data of current generation models, especially after a refresh or option changes.

There's absolutely interest in that data, but no way to do it really. IHS/Polk tracks vehicle registrations, but that doesn't necessarily count as a used sale...and it certainly wouldn't have accurate transaction prices. The closest thing that exists for used sales is trade-in data for new vehicles. That is closely tracked, and when you see a ton of cars being traded for crossovers (which we're seeing), it's hard to make an argument in another direction.

There's multiple ways to track new sales for all OEMs, which is why that data is king.

[Huckleberry]

Collecting data on opportunity cost is tough. As stated before, due to unwanted options being bundled to the point of excessive MSRPs, it was conveyed that the interest in purchasing that new vehicle was now non-existent. In terms of my recent purchase, the data shows that I purchased a GTI Rabbit with a manual. It doesn't convey that GM, Ford, and FCA didn't offer a damn thing with four doors and a stick in the $30K-$35K price range to compare with the GTI. As such, I made my very first non-domestic new car purchase.

The sale of said VW does provide them data in terms of deciding if they want to compete in that market segment. They'll likely decide that it's not worth it to them.

I know that I'm just one individual, but in terms of searching for a new car with a manual, I wasn't really limiting myself to a specific segment. I looked at the GTI, GLI, WRX, Gladiator, and Frontier. Had the Charger been offered with a manual, I would have looked at it. It's not so much that nothing was offered in a specific segment as that nothing was offered at all.

[dubshow]

Fun debate. Not the usual DFD handwringing or

[CaleDeRoo]

The sale of said VW does provide them data in terms of deciding if they want to compete in that market segment. They'll likely decide that it's not worth it to them.

I know that I'm just one individual, but in terms of searching for a new car with a manual, I wasn't really limiting myself to a specific segment. I looked at the GTI, GLI, WRX, Gladiator, and Frontier. Had the Charger been offered with a manual, I would have looked at it. It's not so much that nothing was offered in a specific segment as that nothing was offered at all.

CT4 could have been an interesting option if it were to come out this year

[dubshow]

I swear, this fucking forum feeds some Jalop writers.

https://jalopnik.com/donald-trump-doesn ... 1838361782

[4zilch]

The sale of said VW does provide them data in terms of deciding if they want to compete in that market segment. They'll likely decide that it's not worth it to them.

I know that I'm just one individual, but in terms of searching for a new car with a manual, I wasn't really limiting myself to a specific segment. I looked at the GTI, GLI, WRX, Gladiator, and Frontier. Had the Charger been offered with a manual, I would have looked at it. It's not so much that nothing was offered in a specific segment as that nothing was offered at all.

Fair - It's difficult to truly understand what a buyer is shopping for. For me, I wanted a hatchback that was fun to drive that wasn't a GTI - so I bought a used FiST. There was nothing else really on my radar other than the FoST, but I didn't care for the driving dynamics vs. the fiesta.

[4zilch]

I swear, this fucking forum feeds some Jalop writers.

https://jalopnik.com/donald-trump-doesn ... 1838361782

Read the comments, was not disappointed.

"Trump Doesn’t Know Fuck About Shit"

[max225]

He knows how to become president of the greatest country on earth. Which is billions and billions and billions of times more accomplished than anyone in this forum.

[CaleDeRoo]

I swear, this fucking forum feeds some Jalop writers.

https://jalopnik.com/donald-trump-doesn ... 1838361782

There was also an article yesterday about the mini JCW blootoof exaust that Max just got

[CorvetteWaxer]

He knows how to become president of the greatest country on earth. Which is billions and billions and billions of times more accomplished than anyone in this forum.

And will likely be reelected.

His competition is absolutely no better, unless you are someone that just wants to believe the softer, crazier, granola side.

You see the Texas Democrat Sheila Lee? Says she held an AR-15 and wishes she hadn't. Says it weighed as much as 10 moving boxes and shot a .50 caliber, and that they should be banned. Yeah, she's the perfect person to call for a ban on a rifle, like nearly every other gun grabber.

All of them, no matter the politicial affiliation are fucking