What minor things, things which are not necessarily involved in the performance or price in the specific item, affect your decision to purchase said item?
Going to go car shopping soon. One of the items I’m bringing with me is a USB car charger that lights up when plugged in. If the thing doesn’t light up without the key in the ignition, I’m not even interested.
Now I don’t care much about cars, trucks, etc. Can’t tell a Ford from a Dodge from a Chevy without reading the plate. Wouldn’t know the different engine types, tires, etc. But I do know that if I can’t charge my alternate phone battery in my vehicle during the day while I’m out of the car, the vehicle is pretty fuckin’ useless.
Like this little Chevy thing we got as a repair replacement vehicle - irritates all three of us that we can’t charge our phones in the car at night, while we are out shopping or eating, during nature hikes when we don’t take our phones, etc. (Don’t have that problem in our F150, of course.) The people at GM who are in charge of the charger design probably didn’t even take this into consideration, but if all Chevy’s have this “feature” I know never to even bother with the brand. Or maybe the manufacturer.
Back in the 90s it was cup holders. Didn’t even want to look at your car if it didn’t have a place for my Big Gulp. Performance? Handling? Steering? Don’t care, the car is going to get old and performance will degrade anyway… but a cup holder is forever!
Anyway… you? What minor thing, that has nothing to do with the actual performance or price, will drive you to/away from making a major purchase? (Or even minor purchases, that’s fine.)
When the salesperson plays crappy little games with you that wouldn’t fool a child: Adds on little things that weren’t agreed on, like $50 “cleaning fee” for a new car, etc. Repeatedly pretends to have to go consult with boss on each tiny detail of the deal (hoping to wear you out so you give in to paying more), lies about having the car on the lot that you inquire about on the phone…
The last time I bought a car, I walked out on sleazy sales guy and bought the car from another dealership down the road. It wasn’t about the money, it was because I didn’t appreciate the shabby little games. Respect counts.
Talk to me and ignore my wife even when it was her who asked the question. I am shocked at how often that happens and its one of those that no matter how good the deal or how much we need whatever it is, we’re walking out.
We are buying a house and I find it so counterproductive when the seller counters your offer by taking away things that no longer convey with the home. Last year we walked away from a deal because the seller insisted that the custom window treatments could not possibly convey. This was for a $850k house that had been on the market for three years. That house is still on the market.
Now we are buying again and the seller is coming up with a bunch of light fixtures that suddenly won’t convey. I feel like walking away just because I don’t feel like walking into a dark house on day one.
I’m with you on the cup holder thing. I resolved never to even LOOK at another Subaru, after I bought a used one, only to find that the only cup holder in it was mounted so that you couldn’t BOTH have a drink, AND be able to change the radio/play a CD.
I only wish I had a viable option with some things. Like someday, I’d like to have a cell phone that DIDN’T have the volume buttons located such that I accidentally change the volume because I’m holding the phone.
My first thought when I saw the title is car shopping. Mine is adequate storage in the cabin. A tiny glove box and no console storage is a no-go for me.
Most cars won’t have this because the manufacturers don’t want you to drain your battery by leaving your charger plugged in. But if you want an always-on port, don’t worry if your perfect car doesn’t have one. It’s very easy to add later on. I would guess it’s one of the cheaper things to add later. Call around a few custom shops near you to get an idea of price.
Many of the new models incorporate the QI cordless charging system that is compatible with a lot of the newer phones. But it only works when the ignition is on, at least with Toyota.
“Documentation fees” in car sales. I walked away from a very expensive car purchase because they insisted the $50 documentation fee was required. (It’s not. It’s just established dealer gouging, and it’s not our job to pay their clerk to push a button and print out a ream of sales papers.)
This is often due to safety engineering, or to prevent accessories from draining a car battery. Don’t judge it too harshly.
Also be sure you talk to a knowledgeable parts or service guy. Many models have a workaround. (In a couple of Dodge products I owned, you could choose key-off or continuous by repositioning the relevant fuse.)
And must be the top of the line for that model. I learned with my last car that I got better wheels with the top of the line and a couple of other things (better radio). When people who told me about their bottom line model of the car I have, I realized that those little touches do make a difference.
And next car, must have back up camera…oh, I love that in rentals.
I’m going to be very particular about cruise control. The controls must be easy to find and use, and not be mirrored on the other side of the steering wheel with radio controls (I’m talking to you, Nissan.)
