Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-62
Dealers are notorious for adding on tons of stuff and charging ridiculous markups on everything. If people would stop buying into the whole "looks cool" thing you might be able to find more down to the basics cars on their lots instead of ordering them and waiting for them to come in.
The Ford dealer I talked to doesn't add any extra to the cars they order and actually still offered me the GT at invoice even if it was a special order so at least you can get the deal on one still. It would just take 6-8 weeks to get the car.
Unfortunately, there will always be hordes of buyers who just have to have add on crap that they think is so awesome, even though every other car has the same stuff on it. This is how the car dealers make much of their profits. It's annoying to me as a designer that people can't just appreciate a great car design without anything extra. This car is perfect without anything added to it.
I remember buying a 2000 Eclipse GT, that first year they changed them and my car had no spoiler on it. It looked so cool that way, but in the next year or so you couldn't even find a GT without the spoiler because everyone had to have one and they made them basically standard. Mine looked original and I got lots of compliments on it... Soon after, they all looked the same and boring, not to mention more expensive as they tacked on probably $500 for that stupid spoiler.
Of course dealers love to add scoops, spoilers, etc. to their cars. They mark the stuff up about 1000% and make a killing on it. My wife fell in love with a mildly tricked-out Mustang and wanted it. When I discovered the dealer had added TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS for a rear spoiler and quarter window louvers, I told her "NO WAY". Since both of us hate plain-looking cars, I bought a well-equipped but fairly basic car and added the GT-500 striping, rear spoiler, front spoiler, rear quarter window louvers and rear window louvers all for less than $1000 by ordering the stuff and doing all the work myself. It's far more of a head-turner than the one the dealer tried to rip us off on. To me a stripper Mustang is about as exciting as a Toyota Camry.
"To me a stripper Mustang is about as exciting as a Toyota Camry."
I'd put the $1,000 into more go fast hardware, and my lighter GT would pull away even faster than it does from your slower tack on model now.
Also, there is in no way ANYTHING out there that is a "stripper" Mustang. If you get one with no tack on parts, it certainly does not look AT ALL like a stripped down car. Give me a break. People act like the car has 15" steel wheels with white walls on it and crank windows.
Just because you did the work yourself and only spent $1,000 instead of $2,000, doesn't mean you are any less into useless tack on parts that make your Mustang look like every other one on the road... which to me is more boring than a Camry. Just another Mustang with stripes and scoops.
People are too funny... stripper Mustang. Heh!! My Premium GT is anything but a stripper, and it has no add ons to the body. The leather seats and aluminum trim sure don't feel stripped down to me though. The 3.73 axle doesn't feel like low end equipment. Huh, I must have missed something.
It goes really fast though and drives amazingly well. I am going to use the $1,000's I saved from NOT adding a bunch of tack on junk to the car and add a supercharger when it is all broken in nicely. Then I'll have a 400+ h.p. Mustang for about the same as you paid for your striped up, tack on heavy car.
A plain looking car is a plain looking car, be it a Mustang or a Hyundai Accent.
"A plain looking car is a plain looking car, be it a Mustang or a Hyundai Accent."
If all you see is add-ons to make your car look better, then try another car. Does a Viper look plain to you without ground effects and spoilers added to it? How about a Corvette? I feel the same way about the Mustang. It looks great just as it comes off the assembly line without any added plastic parts to junk it all up.
Besides, when virtually ALL of the Mustangs you see out there have some sort of spoilers or ground effects plus stripes all over them. What is so original about that? To me that is what makes a Mustang so ordinary. Everyone does the same thing so it is now the ordinary look. Simple and straightforward is so much more original.
If they release a model like the Mach 1 with the striping and spoilers, then that would be cool as it is a factory original design that dates back to the 60's and is tasteful in its approach. Trying to mimic that look with cheap looking parts just doesn't do it for me.
Not into being a sheep and following what everyone else does just for the sake of spending thousands on useless parts. To each their own. Also trying to compare a high performance muscle car to a Hyundai makes me feel that you shouldn't really be looking at Mustangs as you've surely missed the point in owning one.
I drive a customized Mustang and it has not only gotten attention, but BUSINESS. I run a design firm, and the car is a sales tool. Just last week a man (who has since become a customer) made the remark "WOW! if you can do that with a base Mustang I can't wait to see what you can do with my design project". If I'd been driving a plain-looking base GT, he'd never have given it a second look.
"Also trying to compare a high performance muscle car to a Hyundai makes me feel that you shouldn't really be looking at Mustangs as you've surely missed the point in owning one."
He wasn't comparing the two, he was simply stating that a plain looking vehicle is a plain looking vehicle, no matter what kind of vehicle it is.
"I drive a customized Mustang and it has not only gotten attention, but BUSINESS. I run a design firm, and the car is a sales tool. Just last week a man (who has since become a customer) made the remark "WOW! if you can do that with a base Mustang I can't wait to see what you can do with my design project". If I'd been driving a plain-looking base GT, he'd never have given it a second look."
Hey, glad it works for you really... but it just goes to show how much the "cheese" factor sells these days. Everyone follow the leader!!
"He wasn't comparing the two, he was simply stating that a plain looking vehicle is a plain looking vehicle, no matter what kind of vehicle it is."
They basically said you might as well drive a Hyundai Accent if you don't want to be looked at by everyone. Obviously, this person has no idea what the difference between a high performance Mustang and an Accent is.
Just having a car loaded up with add-ons doesn't make it a performance car. I'd say he should look into buying an Accent and adding $1,000's in upgrades and tack-ons to make it look cool!!
My wife laughs about people who are afraid of flashy vehicles. Two of our 4 vehicles are pretty heavily customized because we LIKE for our cars to stand out. Neither of us likes driving a car you can't find in a parking lot because it is a boring non-color and looks like all the other boring non-color cars. We were so disappointed that Ford dropped its beautiful Grabber Orange and Screaming Yellow Mustang colors that we'll be looking at a Camaro or Challenger next time around.
"My wife laughs about people who are afraid of flashy vehicles."
And I laugh at people who waste money on needless accessories that slow down their performance cars with the extra weight. "Afraid" is a strange way of putting it. I don't think I am afraid of flashy cars. I just don't care about being noticed and rather enjoy just driving a high performance car. No need to say "hey look at me!!" here... sorry.
I know the big craze started with Honda Civics and Accords with 7 foot wings across the back and ground effects that dragged on every bump and curb. It seems to just keep dragging on as the marketing is really strong on this stuff. Now cars aren't only overpriced when you buy them, but most people are compelled to add $1,000's more to make them stand out from the crowd. Thing is, the majority does this so how does your car stand out any more when every Joe Shmo has the same exact crap all over his car too?? You say the plain Jane car becomes invisible, but the opposite is true if you really look at cars like the Mustang. I think every car with stripes and scoops becomes transparent looking just like every other car. Talk about boring and unimaginative!
If it isn't factory original, I don't bother with it as it is just fluff that adds nothing to the overall package. You can't see all the spoilers and ground effects from the drivers seat anyhow so what's the point?
To each their own like I've said before. I put my money into more important things on my cars... at least more important to me... and I really don't care what anyone else thinks about it.
"They basically said you might as well drive a Hyundai Accent if you don't want to be looked at by everyone. Obviously, this person has no idea what the difference between a high performance Mustang and an Accent is.
Just having a car loaded up with add-ons doesn't make it a performance car. I'd say he should look into buying an Accent and adding $1,000's in upgrades and tack-ons to make it look cool!!"
Actually, being a car enthusiast and automotive mechanic, I know exactly what the difference is between an Accent and a Mustang is. When I wrote the comment you were responding to, I was simply stating that a plain looking vehicle is a plain looking vehicle, and it doesn't matter what kind of vehicle it is. It's plain looking. And actually, I LIKE plain looking vehicles. I hate tacky add-ons and plastic doo-dads. They add weight to cars and only decrease their performance in the long run. But if somebody else wants to do that to their car, then let them. Why does it matter? Drive what you wanna drive and make it look like whatever you want it to look like. But before you accuse me of anything, try reading the comment I wrote maybe twice so you could really understand what I was trying to say.
"try reading the comment I wrote maybe twice so you could really understand what I was trying to say."
And you also can give mine a couple of more reads as you missed the point that I don't care what other people do to their cars. It's their money, not mine.
If you were the one that stated I should just get an Accent if I want a plain looking car, then to me that is missing the point in owning a performance car purely for performance sake. If you are not that person, then sorry if I offended you in some way.
I go to Mustang shows a lot. Plain ones get virtually ZERO interest. The bright colored ones and customs get all the looks. If you want plain, buy a Bullit. Just don't expect anyone to give it a second look. Parked next to a new 2010 Accent they get about the same amount of attention. I have never seen a Bullit at ANY of the shows I've attended. A Mustang without a rear spoiler is just another boring car, whether it has 100 horsepower or 600.