10 Most Decadent Car Options
Ok, so you think your $100 all-weather mats or $2,000 navigation unit upgrades are pricey. Check out this list from Car and Driver of the 10 most expensive (and truly decadent) vehicle options:
Here’s my take:
10. BMW Comfort Access: $500-$1000. I don’t understand why it’s so expensive. Our Chevy Malibu had remote start for like $100-150 extra (even on the base model), and our VW Passat, MINI Cooper and Honda Ridgeline all roll down their windows via the key remote (just hit unlock twice and hold it down on the second press). It wasn’t an extra option at all, it just does it.
9. Porsche Customized Leather List:$365 for leather-covered vent slats: Why do you need leather on your vents? Why don’t you just ride a cow around the track?
8. Mercedes Benz Designo Interior: $12,015 for the Designo interior. Although you may think velour floor mats are ridiculous because they would get ruined with rain and snow, you’re right. But 12-large for a designer leather interior? Makes the Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer option look like a steal!
7. Mercedes-Benz Drive-Dynamic Seats: $1,820 (stand-alone). Ok, with the price of some of those home recliners at Brookstone, perhaps a massaging car seat at under 2-grand isn’t too bad. If you’re spending $80-150k on a Mercedes, what’s another $1,820 for massaging seats? If I’m not mistaken, though, these seats also have automatically inflatable side bolsters to keep you in place around turns.
6. Lexus Executive Package: $12,675 on the LS to get reclining rear seats with some extra switches in the middle console for ventilation and stereo. I test drove a used Infiniti Q45 (I think it was a 2002) a few years ago with this same package and the option only cost abotu $4,000 at the time. Why did it triple in price on a Lexus?
5. Mercedes-Benz Airscarf: Part of a $3,750 package. You know what, if you’re buying a convertible, you want to drive with that top down as long as possible, so I don’t fault people for wanting this glorified neck warmer. And I can imagine the piping required to route heated/cooled air up to the neck added a bit of engineering complexity. Granted all options are priced for profit, but I think this one is worth it for a convertible.
4. Rolls-Royce Starlight Headliner: $12,100. Stupid. Just plain stupid. I know it’s a Rolls-Royce, and buyers of this car think nothing of 12-grand, but for a twinkly, starry night on your roof-liner? C’mon, just skip it and buy me a new Honda Fit or something.
3. Maybach Granite Interior: $60,600+: Holy crap. How about just throwing a Koi pond in the trunk and call me Mr. Flashypants. It cost us $4,000 for the tons of granite in our kitchen, so why would it cost 15x more to put even less in a car? One word: consumerism and stupity. Oh, those were two words.
2. Aston Martin Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX2 DBS Transponder Watch: $37,900. I think the Maybach granite option is worse because you an at least use the watch outside of the car. You can’t even dice carrots on the granite in your car door. I never understood why people would spend more than $100 for a watch, but to each his own. But this watch doesn’t even let you start the car. You still need the key. It only lets you unlock the doors. Stupid.
1. Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Paint Packages: $500,000. The Veyron (all $1.6 million of it) is both a beautiful and ugly supercar. With the paint configurator, you can choose from hundreds of different paint schemes. Personally, I would choose either blue and white (Penn State) or, most likely, black and gold (Steelers), but then again, I probably won’t ever own one of these (even if I had the money). The most expensive option is probably the one without a paint job at all. Tack on about $500,000 to the base price for the super-exclusive Pur Sang edition. Nothing but carbon fiber-goodness and shiny black (or is it gray?). Uh, why is it more expensive to get it plain?
So overall, I don’t disagree with some of these options, but for the general public, we would never buy a Benz, Porsche, Bugatti or even a BMW. But when you have the money for a luxury or super car, then what’s a little more to set yourself apart from the others…even if the “others” can also buy the same thing that you are. Hmm, not as exclusive as you think.
If you’re buying any of those cars are you really looking to save any kind of money?
I must confess these all sound pretty extravagant to a “frugal dad.” I drive an 18 year-old work truck with no A/C, no radio, and roll-down windows. And the best feature, a $0 monthly payment! I think the leather-covered vent slats may be my favorite option mentioned…I don’t know how people operate a vehicle without them.
Well there is another PF blogger that I read (but will not name) that would probably defend some of these. She drives in a state that (according to her) is heavy on the “driving culture” and it is important to motor around in ostentatious luxury to “keep up appearances” of success. Remember that lots of these buyers are not looking at the total cost, only the monthly payment. Crazy.
I would, for sure buy, the watch if I owned an Aston Martin DBS (my dream car).
That watch is so James Bond!
While I haven’t seen the watch, I’m willing to bet it may be worth the price without the unlocking feature. No one’s going to buy it simply because it unlocks the doors – the fob that you never have to take out of your pocket works just as well.
The granite in the Maybach is probably $60,000 because of the time it takes to craft it. Your kitchen counter is flat. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if they insisted on doing it without power tools or something like that – you know, to get that old world feel.
“One word: consumerism and stupity. Oh, those were two words.”
How about “Constuperism”
While I can understand that these purchases are over the top, I get pretty defensive when people start calling the customers who buy these products stupid. For one, the factory workers are normal human being who are not wealthy, and who rely on product sales to get paid just like everyone else in this world. Also, certain models like the Pur Sang Veyron will most likely appreciate. The money isn’t gone, it’s invested.
In case you feel the customers are at least being ripped off, Veyrons are sold at a loss. I believe the cost to manufacture is somewhere around $5 million each, though some of the technologies may trickle down to the Bentley and Audi brands over time (therefore creating profitability).