Most readers know of our weekly Ace of Base series, which turns a jaundiced eye to the instant-ramen end of the price scale for a particular model. Thanks for all the comments on those, by the way.
Sometimes, though, there is no cut-rate model. No trim on which to hang the placard of “Value Leader.” Let’s fix that, shall we?
For example, the new 2018 Ford Expedition doesn’t really have a “base” trim, save for a fleet-only XL on which the level of detail is so scanty the thing ranks with the hippogriff on the scale of mythology.
The opening bid on Ford’s big cruiser is an XLT for $51,695 with power-folding rear seats and features galore. Imagine a new Expedition with air conditioning as its only feature of note, plus power accessories such as windows and locks as demanded by economies of scale. Keep the EcoBoost under the hood, powering only the rear wheels. And a big, unheated, cloth bench seat spanning the two front doors, of course.
Not that anyone would buy it. All hands are too busy signing 72-month notes on vehicles loaded to the gunwales with leather, touchscreens, and the scattered cappuccino machine. Hell, I just finished configuring a Platinum Max version of the Expedition mentioned above ($84,525, by the way). But this is strictly a fantasy question, so let your imagination run wild.
What model would you like to see in poverty trim? Lamborghini Aventador DL, perhaps? Maybe not. How about a bare-bones version of a specific sub-model like the Civic Type R? Honda could strip out the infotainment system, bin the A/C, replace the door handles with fabric loops, and add $5,000 to the sticker. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Porsche does it all the time.
[Image: juriskraulis/Bigstock]
Regular Cab, Long Box Ridgeline.
This falls right in line with the type of car I am looking for next. The bare bones car.
I am kind of thinking that I would like a used Corvette as my winter beater. Hear me out on this..
You can actually find a 05 and up model which are basically a heater and a key. No nav, no heated seats, standard radio, no blutooth etc. Just you, a 6 MT and 430 HP or so. I am finding them priced now in the early 20’s, call it 23k or with mileage that spans 20-50k. I figure if I wait till November I can pick one up sub 20k. Drive the heck out of it for a year or two and part ways with it at 60-70k for 14-16k. Seems like reasonably affordable fun.
Now, back to your question.
If Jeep would ever build a pick up about the size the last Dodge Dakota with the same motor and trans option as the Wrangler AND option packages you would have a hit.
I bet they would sell the heck out of the Sport X model. Manual windows, manual trans with a cloth or vinyl interior. Keep the starting price as low as possible. This would be the perfect winter/snow/universal second car. I know many here like to opine how dumb a pick up is, but honestly if you have a half acre of land or more or perhaps a rental property, a wood burning stove etc they are really nice to have around.
Can you get winter tires in the Corvette’s size?
I got to see an AEV Wrangler pickup on the way home from work a few weeks ago, that is an awesome looking truck. Now, this one was all jacked up and had a Hemi, like you said a basic version with the Pentastar and a stick shift would be my pick.
My minimum spec for a Maine winter beater included heated seats and headlight washers. With steering wheel heat a nice bonus. Now that I live in FL in the winter, that doesn’t really matter anymore. :-)
Though having a Corvette for a winter beater does sound like hilarious fun. There is one guy in Portland ME who does drive his Corvette year round with relatively skinny snow tires on it in the winter. Pretty sure it is older than that though – late ’80s version. C4?
I know its the obvious one, but the Chevrolet SS.
Man, if that was available without all the stupid bells and whistles, it would be equivalent of angels singing on a cloud in heaven.
Can’t get it with a manual, if that’s what you wanted, but a base spec version is available as the Caprice PPV.
https://m.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/Chevrolet/Caprice?endYear=2018&firstRecord=0&incremental=all&makeCodeList=CHEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BCAP%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCodeList=CAP&sortBy=derivedpriceDESC&startYear=1981&Log=0
Land Cruiser
Yes.
Allow me to add my voice to the choir.
This! A much more basic truck with perhaps a downsizing to the 4.6L, cloth interior, smaller wheels, selling for $50k-ish would certainly have my attention in about 5-7 years when I could consider spending that much on a vehicle.
Land Cruiser 200 GX 2.8 turbodiesel and a snorkel
84K AU$ driveaway, about $66K US
http://www.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-200/range
6.2L Silverado
6.2 ltr police spec Tahoe available to the general public
Yes please
4Runner sub-SR5 trim with a stick shift, the Trail edition’s manual t-case, steel wheels off the departed FJ, hell throw some unpainted bumpers on there (might actually make it look better), constrain color choice to white or grey. Keep basic power accessories (power windows/mirrors/locks), air conditioning, cruise control. But dump the Entune screen for some basic AM/FM/USB input setup. Of course no one would buy such a thing except weirdos like me, and I’m not sure how much cheaper that would allow them to sell one for, $28k ish?
I like your style but I feel that it needs to be $10K off the current 4Runner at $25,000.
I agree, but I really don’t think they could afford to bring over a J-VIN 4Runner and sell it that cheap and still make money.
You beat me to it. Also get rid of the carpeted floor and replace with the rubberized/vinyl floor of of the FJ. I’d be fine with manual windows and locks too. Put a bumper on it like the base Tacoma’s in unpainted gray with the ugly covers where fog lights would go. Also a cheaper cloth seat with vinyl backs. Hell make it a bench seat.
My friend has a stick shift FJ with the factory rear locker. It’s an awesome truck totally ruined by the pursuit of form ahead of function (horrible rear seat access and visibility).
I was going to get a used FJ about 4 years ago (before their resale value skyrocketed). But my kids couldn’t see a thing out of the back seats.
Yeah I could see someone getting seriously car-sick riding back there. Awesome rig otherwise.
Of course no one would buy such a thing except weirdos like me, and I’m not sure how much cheaper that would allow them to sell one for, $28k ish?
gtemnykh…I totally was not thinking about the 4Runner when I posted. But I believe that you are correct and not weird at all that a bare bones basic 4Runner would sell very well. Here in CO you see lots of 90’s and a handful of older 4Runners still. Unlike many loved garage queens the 4Runners of old still get used and abused and even with Toyota, their is a breaking point where you can’t keep it on the road anymore.
The reason I was thinking pickup was a regular cab truck has less airbags etc to install along with sheet metal, nothing new here but definitely helps to keep the cost down. I am not sure it could be done, but a new 20k or less 4×4 pick up is a love story. If the 4Runner could get to a similar price point, mid 20’s I think they would sell more than the bean counters tell them will not sell.
The interesting statistic I heard recently was that towards the end of the 3rd gen 4Runner’s run, 10% of all 4Runners sold were stick shifts, of which, 50% were sold in Colorado! They stopped offering manuals after 2000, I think that was the last year for the 3RZ 4cyl motor as well.
“I am not sure it could be done, but a new 20k or less 4×4 pick up is a love story. ”
The Frontier starts under $20k.
So … gonna buy one?
I did.
I have owned a 1994 Nissan pickup and a 2011.
the 2011 was awful. No more Nissan product for me.
Steel wheels on a 5th gen 4Runner:
goo.gl/images/t6qzkJ
Painted this shade of grey like an overseas LC70:
goo.gl/images/hsvH6A
goo.gl/images/6cUKJY
I like this. My favorite 4Runner of the current generation is the 2010-2013 Trail in grey. It has an honest utilitarian look with no chrome, very unpretentious wheels, black wheel arches, door handles, and grill (http://tinyurl.com/ydbge24j). You’ve alluded to the problem I see, though: probably not enough of a price reduction to make the loss of features quite worthwhile. I’ve grown accustomed to the power seat, leather wheel, Entune, heated windshield & mirrors as ways of remaining comfortable on the daily drives and during the highway slogs to and from the backcountry. But get the basics of seat comfort, driving position, and armrest touch points right, and I could probably be convinced to forgo the rest of the features for a good MSRP drop.
Rubber floor, though. All the way. Carpet in cars is a nasty filth sponge even with semi-regular cleaning, and pointless in a vehicle like this. Mine is covered up with all-weather rubber mats 12 months out of the year anyway.
Yep I run deepwell rubber floormats year round, with a similar liner in the cargo area. No problems putting dirty dogs in the back or sandy beach gear. A high quality durable rubberized floor would make a lot of sense.
I would like to see any of the luxury wagons, such as the Volvo V90, Mercedes E300, and the Jaguar XF, have genuine base trims. It’s great that wagons are making a return, but no one can afford them! The only wagon remotely affordable is the Audi A4 allroad, but that’s too small. Why don’t these wagons, like the Mercedes, have a similar base price to their SUV counterparts? I would buy an E wagon in a heartbeat if it had a lower starting MSRP. The only option I would need is navigation, I don’t need, or particularly like, digital gauges, nor do I need cross traffic alert or lane keep assist. The Volvo should be starting at $40K, not over $50K..
Not sure about the Volvo, but the Mercedes and the Jag are BASIC. Go to their respective websites and you’ll be surprised what isn’t standard for the starting price, ESPECIALLY the Mercedes. The Germans are notorious for making everything optional.
True. The German brands do charge you every single thing. For example, led lights should be a standard feature on any luxury car. How is it that a Toyota Corolla comes with led’s standard, but a $50K+ luxury SUV comes standard with halogen headlights? Whenever I see a GLA or a CLA, I cringe because I know the people driving them got overcharged for “German quality.” lol
There is the Golf SportWagen / Golf Alltrack, both of which are in the low-20s to start. Also, the V60 starts about $8K lower than the allroad, or nearly $10K lower with Volvo’s “Midsommar” $1,500 discount.
How about all the hatchbacks that cost more than their sedan equivalent and aren’t even offered in the base trim. Give me a base hatch at $1000 less than the sedan, add a panoramic sunroof and I’m done.
I hate that all the offload packages with tucks and SUVs are only available in the blinged out models. Make the ZR2 package available on base trucks. If you are going to use them like intended you don’t want all the extra stuff. They end up being poser rigs.
That would be pretty neat. Sort of like what Subaru did with the “TR” WRX back in the day. Give us the important mechanical upgrades, in an otherwise bare bones vehicle that the buyer might upgrade anyways. My disdain for the current generation aside, I’d love to see a stripped out Tacoma, stick shift (4cyl or 6 cyl), 4wd, rear locker, with the unpainted bumpers and steel wheels. I commend Ford for actually offering stuff like XL-trim F150s with the bare bones exteriors that you can pair with 4wd, a 3.73 e-locker rear end, or the $750 FX4 locker/skid plates/shocks package.
Ram offers all the Power Wagon stuff on the Tradesman trim level.
The base models only exist for 2 reasons: 1) fleet sales, and 2) bait and switch – “starting at $19,999” to get you in the door where they hope to convince you that you really deserve the more profitable optioned up version that is only a “price of a cup of coffee” more per day. People get mad about Porsche charging more for the “base versions” that delete A/C, power accessories and door handles to save weight, but I expect it actually does cost them more to take “standard” stuff off to create a stripped low production version. Mainstream makers, however, put a lot of thought into what to leave out of base versions to help ensure you find the “missing elements” so distressful you will cough up the extra money for the fancy version.
Something I noticed in my wife’s SLE Terrain (more or less base except the fleet spec SL) is that there AREN’T very many “button blanks” in the interior. Kudos to GM on that one.
We need a gallery of mainstream automakers who are the worse button blank offenders.
PD: I offer you Nissan as the worst offender of this.
I think one of the worst “in your face” offenders is Chrysler steering wheels. Even a Charger Hemi R/T or a 300 S has lots of empty buttons on the steering wheel.
I’d like to see Honda start offering an Accord DX (or Value Package option) again.
Of course, the base LX is now $22,500…so anything of lesser content that brings that number down to ~$21K will have an impact on Civic sales.
Honda, IIRC, has a Civic DX in Canada with climate-control WITHOUT A/C!
GM Suburban/YukonXL in basic trim. Cloth or vinyl, rubber mats, basic AC. Sort of like the 7th Generation Suburban of the 70s and 80s. Optioned like those sold at that time to the Forest Service and Military.
TTAC did an Ace of Base pretty early on about the Suburban LS in the current generation. The only thing I want added to that is the big 6.2L engine. No sunroof, no nav, no vibrator seats.
Range Rover long wheelbase with all the nonsense stripped out, just basic leather and AC luxury, priced at $60,000 to compete with Tahoe.
My first new car was a 1985.5 Mustang SVO with the competition option. I wasn’t taking it racing, but it did knock $1500 off the retail price. I’d like to see that applied to something.
Along those lines my first car was a 1969 BMW 2002. Only amenities were typical German grey wool carpeting, perforated vinyl on the seats and “pop open” rear windows.
No radio, no AC, no power anything, two speed wipers but what a sweet car.
Remember it was $2900 OTD new. Was my daily driver until 1985.
Somethings were better in the old days
Fun to drive for sure, but $2900 in 1969 was about $20K today. Which is the on the road price of all sorts of perfectly decent cars. All of which will be far more reliable than that BMW while being better in every possible way but fun-to-drive.
The good old days are right now.
You are absolutely correct. I hadn’t realized inflation adjusted was that much.
For 20K today I could get a much more capable, safe and well appointed car.
I guess the fun to drive part was comparing the BMW to most other cars in 1969. It handled very well, I was in my 20s and the roads (especially the coast highway} in Northern California we wide open.
I owned a 2002 for 10 years as a daily driver and really enjoyed every minute of it, but that was 20+ years ago. Recently drove a friends restored 2002 (stock) and was disappointed how slow and noisy it was, not to mention the minimal grip from 185 width tires (which is up from the 165 originals) – you can’t go home again.
I seriously envy you guys who are 20 years older than me when it comes to cars.
Today, we have all these great in their own way cars, but they aren’t as fun as the old ones were, you have to go a lot faster to have fun with them, and the driving conditions in so much of the country just suck. Maine isn’t too bad, but there is a heck of a lot more traffic than there was even 30 years ago when I started driving, so I would imagine 20 years before that things must have been sleepy indeed.
Actually I just bought an “Ace Of Base” car. A 2017 Honda Fit LX with the 6 speed manual.
At ~ 2550 pounds and 130 Hp, it kinda reminds me of my old 1992 Honda Si hatchback. A little slower but not by much, but way better gas mileage and holds 3 times as much.
I am betting that handling will be “about” the same when I upgrade the tires in a couple of years.
Great car so far!
Yes I wondered if it would be similar to my 91 Integra. About same power and same weigh.
My family went from a ’90 Civic Wagon (1.5L D15B2 with 92hp, auto) to a first gen ’07 Fit (5spd, 109hp). The Fit was obviously a lot peppier, but a big let down in just about every other way: worse visibility, worse handling, totally lifeless steering, uncomfortable seating position for anything more than a 20 minute drive on the highway (I’d constantly strain my leg holding the throttle at a particular position on our Base model without cruise control).
A truly stripped Miata or Toyota 86 would be welcome—I’d want one for afternoon blasts along local roads rather than the commuting and road-tripping they aren’t very good for anyway, so I wouldn’t regret the loss of power accessories and infotainment. Their current upper-20s asking prices are a bit steep to me.
I wouldn’t like a stripped out version of a common commuter (who wants a return to the no-A/C no-stereo no-comfort penalty box in stop-n-go traffic hell?), but I would like a return to the base trim V6 midsize sedan. Standard equipment on a $23K base model is pretty lush nowadays anyway, so charge $1500 above that for the zoomy engine and I’d be quite happy. The current Camry L has more stuff on it than I require, so put the six in there and reduce the touchscreen to a simple DIN Aux/USB/Bluetooth stereo for an MSRP under $25K.
A strippo Italian supercar is pointless, it’d be a rounding error in the total price. May as well have the baubles on it.
I like my cars loaded so the answer here will have to be a truck.
I’ll take a F-150 XL with the 3.5 EcoBoost, 10-speed, and crew cab, but rubber mats and black bumpers. You can’t currently get a crew cab and base spec in the same truck.
There was a dealer near me that had a fleet white XL crew cab F150 4×4 with the 5.0. I don’t know if it was truly BASE but it was XL trim.
I’d love to see stripped versions of the V8 Camaro and Mustang. Make a manual transmission mandatory, and bring back those black styled steel wheels on the Camaro. Maybe offer a few performance-related options, but no creature comfort upgrades.
The only stripper anything I would buy would be a truck, but I would never buy a truck new. My ’95 Land Rover is about as base as a “Luxury SUV” (ha, ha, right) gets (or got, even back then). Stickshift, no sunroofs, originally cloth seats but replaced with leather at some point. Still has A/C and power everything, even ABS. Was under $30K new in ’95.
I have no interest in anything less well equipped than my GTI Sport at this point. And I added a few things to the GTI. Auto-dimming mirror, folding outside mirrors, auto-headlights. VWs are like Legos, easy to snap stuff in it didn’t come with.
My hairshirt automotive days are long over, thankfully.
Surprisingly enough I’ve seen a 2 stick shift Disco Is pop up locally in the last year or so, one an obvious trail rig, the other a cleaner on-road example. Gotta say, it’s an awfully compelling package as a second/weekend hauler sort of SUV.
Considering how few stickshift Discos were imported, it is kind of amazing how many survive. I chalk it up to the stick version being more likely to be bought by enthusiasts who took better care of them, and the good old ZF 4hp22 transmission being a killer of pretty much everything it was bolted into up to that point.
Mine was well and truly cherished by it’s single previous owner. Really the only issue is some clearcoat failure here and there, not surprising since it came from San Diego. Cloth seats got replaced with leather at some point – the cloth didn’t like sun AT ALL. Even at the silly money price of $6600, I feel like I got good value.
And you are right, it is a great second vehicle. Not something I would want as an only car, but very useful for what it does, and better to drive than a solid axle garden shed on wheels has any business being. Had it over a year now, very reliable so far. Nothing has broken ( I did replace the battery), and it reliably drips oil on my garage floor. :-) I’ll be doing valve cover gaskets when I am back in Maine again for a weekend, should stop the worst of it. Terrible design, thank you 1960’s GM. At least you can now get rubber gaskets that work FAR better than the original cork.
I’ve come to the conclusion that for older used vehicles, prioritizing a rust-free example from a non-salt belt state is an absolute priority. My 4Runner was blessed in being undercoated and then stored for 13 years (from 2000 until 2013) with no exposure to winter roads. I pickled the underside in Fluid Film and ironically use it sparingly in the winter (my old ES300 on snow tires was better on slick roads anyways). My beater Ranger has had no such luxury, and I’m paying the price.
You bet! There is just nothing like working on a vehicle that has never seen salt. Even on the best of cars, even if the body doesn’t rot, it still takes a toll on fasteners and minor bits underneath.
My Disco got lucky, I bought it last summer intending to use it in the winter in Maine (and feeling bad about that, because it is SO nice), but then bought a place in Florida. So it only ever saw a couple of storms and a bit of salty roads when I was home for weekends here and there. So now it will live a genteel retirement being used in the summer in Maine. Similarly, my BMW wagon only really saw one winter before I bought my first SUV (Grand Cherokee) and basically stopped driving it in the salt.