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IntelliChoice Value Rating
The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.
One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.
What is a good car value?
A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.
But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?
For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.
This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)
Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.
Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.
So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.
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Review From Automobile Magazine
It's a difficult life, being a Buick. General Motors' old-man brand has long represented mediocrity (and Boca Raton) in a way that few other marques have or could. Buicks were never meant to excite, they were never meant to impress, and they were rarely meant to keep you awake. It's just the way of the world. GM, apparently, is tired of this. (Funny: every time we get into a Buick, we simply grow tired, period.) And so we have the latest rash of Buicks--toothy-faced, chromed-up barges, meant to evoke class and GM's postwar heyday in a brash-yet-elegant-yet-restrained manner. It's not exactly the kind of thing that lights a fire in your shorts. Or prompts you to drool uncontrollably. Thing is, though, that's exactly what GM wants. The company views Buick as a home for quiet taste and subtle style, and has begun morphing the Buick lineup accordingly. For 2008, the Lucerne gains the corporate Buick nose, first introduced on the Velite show car in 2004, but it also gains a whole new sister model: the Lucerne Super. Buick's new Super line (a Lacrosse Super is also offered, and the plan is to extend the philosophy across the Buick range) is meant to emphasize refined speed over brute force, delicacy over tire-shredding, and comfortable capability over racetrack-lapping prowess. BuickIn Super form, the changes to the Lucerne are few. A 292-hp Northstar V-8 gets plugged into the 'Cerne's engine bay, along with modified Delphi Magnetic Ride Control dampers. Woven leather trim is applied to the Lucerne's seating surfaces, and subtle trim modifications (dual exhausts, new rocker panels, unique wood trim and wheels, among other things) also join the party. It's a little ironic that Buick's premium large sedan doesn't get the division's largest and most powerful engine (the 5.3-liter, 300-hp, 323 lb-ft, small-block V-8), but we can't really complain, given that the less expensive and much lighter LaCrosse Super *does* get it. So there you have it. The Lucerne is a little different this year, a little faster, and a little more composed, but not much more interesting. We're not excited, but then, we're not planning on moving to Boca in another fifty years, either. At least all this seems like a step in the right direction: rather than continue pumping out endless bland with a healthy serving of bland on top, Buick is at least making an effort to be interesting. It's just a shame that the Lucerne . . . well . . . isn't.
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The new model year is upon us, bringing the darlings of the last auto show season to our local dealers and driveways. From show floor to showroom, these are the most promising new models.
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