The 5 most overpriced vehicles

I can't see the Grand Marquis as being over priced - if you like that sort of thing. I can buy one for less than a V-6 Camry with similar equipment and it will get almost the same fuel mileage. On the downside, it is a big soft riding barge....I tried driving one for a few months and decided it wasn't for me (it was my Mother's car and I decided to try it out when she got a new car).

If the Ram and F150 are over priced, then the Tundra must be super wildly over priced. Toyota has piled so many incentives on to that pig that they are almost giving them away - surely it is Toyota biggest marketing disaster in a decade. To big, to ugly, horrible gas mileage, quality problems, design problems, what a joke of a truck.

Ed

Aren't ALL cars overpriced. ;-)

priced. Toyota has piled so many incentives on to

marketing disaster in a decade. To big, to ugly,

They don't call them TOY Yodas for nothing. I want a real truck. not a toy.

She probably didn't get the handling suspension package. If you option it like police car, or simply order the police package, it's a great handling car with a nice solid ride and about 22 mpg on the highway.

Probably most people don't get and don't know of the package. I had one as a rental and it was like driving a living room sofa bobbing on ocean waves. Horrid machine on the highway.

Not sure why they list the Durango. The MSRP might be overpriced but Dodge almost always has $4,000-$6,000 rebates. Mine stickered at 34K and I bought it for 24K which to me was a great price for a 4x4 Hemi SLT Durango.

That's a bit of a stretch, no? I doubt it'll be pulling the Lotus' and Ferrari's through the corners. Better handling is a far cry from 'great' handling.

b

Perhaps, but then put six people and luggage in the Lotus or Ferrari and hook the boat up behind ether of them as well.

Whitelightning.

Everything is relative. Compared to just about anything else mass produced and at a reasonable price, adding the handling package makes it very very good but no, it's not going to knock off a Ferrari. Even years ago when R&T (or one of the major car mags) tested a police package Impala they were getting around 0.90 on the skid pad and praised how well it handled. These cars can handle surprisingly well when properly set up, it's really a shame they don't just build them all that way.

But is would sure suck at 34K sticker price. My guess is that is what they mean.

At work, we recently bought an F-250 4WD and plow package for 25K. Sticker was 30ish before the plow.

Yet only one of these vehicles is a car.

Jeff

I haven't bought a new vehicle in a LONG time, so I am not well informed. Do you not get nailed sales tax on the rebate amount? That would irritate me worse than itching powder - hand me my own money back minus 7-10%.

Bill

The rebate can be assigned to the dealer and it just becomes a discount on the vehicle, thus no sales tax on that portion. 10%? What state is that? I certainly don't want to live there.

My buddy has a Grand Marquis (or whatever its called) and you can fit two in the front with NO legroom in the back. It's a big car but very very little legroom in the back. The only way you get 6 in there is if they're midgets and the boat is a 12 footer.

b

Handling isn't all just about the skidpad number, feedback from the car telling you when you are reaching the limits, how well it absorbs the road AND gives you feedback without losing grip through the bumpies, perfect power steering balance, all those things contribute. I've got a G35 and a Maxima that are the same year and very close to the same size, but the Max has horrible floaty handling, 45 ft turning radius, and a too much body roll. It handles considerably better than my fathers Impala and I still think it sucks because I'm used to the G35. RWD and IRS baby, that's the ticket. As soon as the Max is paid off I'm getting another 6 speed G35....

b

Ah you are so right. The "but" here is ---- given today's more common mindset among many drivers, it (the Tundra) is made by a Japanese company and therefore, by definition, must be superior to anything with an American badge on it. Don't confuse them with facts, their minds are made up already...

DaveD

Sad, but true Dave... sad, but true.....

Mike

Sorry, just guesstimating for counties like the one that surrounds my place of work. They'd tax the air we breathe if they could; yes, I do struggle with whether I should move out of it. If you will forgive the political semi-rant, consider that the states that do not have a sales tax of 7% or more, make up for it by taxing income, and that counties (and probably cities???) add their own sales taxes.

I actually prefer sales taxes to the alternatives, because they get in the buyer's face. Add up what you pay to government in income, payroll, property and sales taxes, then throw in some of the fees and the items utilities say that "your local government _asks_[*] that you _contribute_..." All of that says nothing of the costs imposed on us by government regulation; that's not all bad, but it is out of control. It strikes me that we have an obligation to over-estimate the cost of government, because government does everything it can to hide what it takes from us. At the federal level, they/we spend three TRILLION dollars per year.

One thing that would help deobfuscate the cost of government would be the FairTax. It won't fix the spending, but it would bring the tax man out into the open. Hopefully then, the people paying the tab would start pressuring their representatives to cut the largess.

[*] try saying 'no' sometime - then you will discover it is yet another tax.

End of rant. Happy New Year!

Bill