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Vehicle Options Worth The Price

Today’s automobile comes with options for everything. From heated cup holders to locking lug nuts, the list of options can be endless. What options are worth it, unnecessary, or cost too much? Is the cost of fun or convenience worth the extra money?

From the bottom to the top, inside and outside, automobiles have optional accessories. For starters, locking lug nuts are a pricey option. They are a good option to have, but at $50, is it worth it? If you keep your car parked in a safe area, it may be something you can pass on, or by them yourself online, a quick search shows them for $15, obviously much less than $50. A real worth the cost option for the same area of the car, tire pressure monitoring. Automatic tire pressure monitoring tells you when your tire pressure is too low. This can prevent early tire wear as well as accident avoidance due to underinflated tires. This is a worthy option to purchase, or may even come with the car at no charge.  Same area again, mud flaps. They can keep your car clean, and avoid your car kicking up dirt and debris, but they are not really necessary, unless you are heavy into off-roading, and cost of $100 as an option, forego them, or buy them in the aftermarket. Of course larger tires and wheels are popular and expensive options. Here, you have more of a taste issue. A larger wider tire may help your vehicle perform well, but are expensive options. A large wider tire may help your sports car handle better, but upgrading to a larger tire and wheel can add thousands to the price, and the handling improvements are minimal unless you are on a racetrack. A great option to have with regards to tires so to speak is traction control. Much cheaper than a four wheel or all-wheel drive vehicle option, traction control will transfer power from the slipping wheel to the wheel with traction. In a light snow area it is much more cost effective than all wheel or four wheel drive. Larger breaks are again a performance issue, a costly upgrade that is really for the racetrack. Headlight windshield wipers are a rare vehicle option. Obviously they keep the headlights clear from rain that can blur the light, but more importantly they keep road debris, such as snow and salt off of the headlights. The headlight wipers area a nice option to have in a snow-belt region, but otherwise the option is not worth the money. A rear windshield wiper however can be very nice to have. Just like the front windshield you need visibility out of the rear window. A defroster may only melt away some of the snow and may still leave the window blurry or foggy.

Interior options are really a lifestyle choice. Leather over cloth seats are more of a fashion statement, and heated or cooled seats are a comfort feature. Onboard DVD players and 12 speaker stereo systems are all just for fun, but expensive toys. Worthy interior options are navigation systems and hands free Blue Tooth. Getting lost is no fun, so many people are optioning on navigation systems, hands free and voice controlled, these too can be pricey. Voice controlled hands free Blue Tooth phones are lower priced options, and a great safety feature for not using your phone while driving.  

Of course powertrain options are endless. From 100 horsepower engines to ones that go into the 500 horsepower range, any engine can be purchased at the right price. It’s all a matter of taste, but if you like your car fast, go for broker, if you just want to get from point A to point be, opt for a fuel efficient engine at lower but acceptable power.

The important thing to consider with options is importance and price. Typically luxury options are price a lot more than they are worth, so when shopping for a car, ask yourself, do I really need a $2,000 wheel upgrade?              

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