Page 20 - The Connection Warren-Watchung Edition September 2012

PAGE 20 THE WARREN-WATCHUNG CONNECTION SEPTEMBER 2012
Have you ever wondered if the money you
spent on an accessory for your car was worth
it? There are so many accessories available to
us that it is sometimes difficult to decide what
we need, what we want and what is worth
the expense.
If you park your car outside at home would
you consider a remote starter to warm up
your car during the winter and cool it in the
summer, before you get in? How much is this
accessory worth to you for your convenience
and comfort? Is it an accessory that will
increase the value of your car when you go to
sell it at some point? Have you looked at all
the dings in the side of your car and thought
that perhaps you should have purchased pro-
tective side moldings? This is an important
accessory if you park in locations where the
spots are narrow. They protect your car and
increase its value when it’s time to trade it in
or sell it privately. Have you noticed a lot of
stone chips on the lower sides of your car in
back of the tires? New Jersey roads are noto-
rious for generating stones that are thrown
into the body by the rolling tires. Would you
consider a set of color matching mud guards
that would protect the paint on your car?
They are the same color as the car and are not
intrusive in appearance. Have you looked at
the front of your car and noticed the stone
chips on the bumper, hood and outside mir-
rors? Those are also caused by stones being
thrown up from cars and trucks that you are
following. If you are driving at 70 miles per
hour and a truck in front of you kicks back a
stone at 70 miles per hour it means the stone
is hitting your car at 140 miles per hour. No
doubt it will chip the paint. To reduce that
hazard you could add a clear cellophane type
coating to the front of your car. Not only will
it reduce the damage but it will help maintain
the value of your car when it’s time to sell.
One of the most popular accessories is a nav-
igation system. All manufacturers offer navi-
gation systems and they all operate generally
the same. The upgraded ones take voice com-
mands while you drive so you don’t have to
start pushing buttons or touching the screen
to set a destination. Additionally, the large
screen that comes with a navigation system
becomes the TV screen for a backup camera
and that is a very important safety feature.
Some people shy away from a factory installed
navigation because it is expensive. In reality,
when you sell your car the car is worth more
money because it has a navigation system. If
you paid $2500 for a navigation system when
you purchased your car new, several years
down the road it will be worth $1,000 to
$1,500 more because it has a navigation sys-
tem. So the question you have to ask yourself
is it worth spending $1,500 over 4 or 5 years
of ownership to have a factory installed navi-
gation system and a backup camera? While
some aftermarket navigation systems are
comparable to factory units when it comes to
navigation features, they are very susceptible
to theft and have no back up camera feature.
The theme here is what is an accessory
worth to you and do you know how to calcu-
late its true cost/value? Will you get your
money’s worth? Will you get enjoyment from
it? Will it make your vehicle more valuable
when the time comes to sell it? More valuable
refers to both price and the ability to sell it for
a good price because you have accessories
that other cars don’t.
When you lease a new vehicle in most
instances the leasing company will include the
price of the accessory in the lease. They calcu-
late the value of the accessory and you pay
only for the use of the accessory during the
lease. That is the same way a lease is calculat-
ed. When you compare a lease price for the
same model car but one has navigation and
one does not, the monthly payments are only
slightly different because the navigation
increases the value of the car at the end of the
lease. That should be a clue to a buyer that
certain accessories increase the value of their
cars at the end of ownership.
Bottom line is that you need to consider
what you want, what you need and calculate
both the cost and benefit of a particular
accessory.
PRACTICAL ACCESSORIES
By: Ron Joffe, General Manager, Lexus of Bridgewater
www.theconnectionsnj.com