When you're narrowing down the options for buying a car, and you're left with two really good choices, how do you personally decide to get one over the other?
Practically? Fun factor? Steeze?
I don't want to give too much away, but I'd love to hear your input, because I'm having a hard time deciding between two really cool (but not exactly similar) choices.
Honestly I take a look at what one I'd rather own for my intended purpose. If it's a toy which one has better aftermarket to get me to where I want to be. If it's a daily which one has less long-term problems and a more robust maintenance and parts infrastructure. When I bought my new car recently it was down to pretty much a Corolla or a Kia Soul and I went with the Corolla because I knew and was reinforced that I wouldn't have to worry about that thing for 200,000 miles or more where I wasn't guaranteed that with the Kia drivetrain
Which one do you think about more / first? There's a lot of irrational/emotional in what clicks. People ask what I like or look for and the answer is always "I'll know it when I see it."
50% suitability, 50% price.
Want is another 50%.
It's probably why I have so many cars.
Edit to say. If I want it and it's suitable, I'll buy it. If it's suitable and cheap, I'll buy it. If I want it and it's cheap, I'll buy it. If it meets all three, it's probably a daily driver or tucked in the garage to keep it nice.
Edit again to say. Maybe those should have been 3rds but some cars meet the 150% rating.
Have you driven both? If you have and you're still asking this question, I'd go looking for a third better car.
What russles my jimmies? If I'm logically satisfied with either, then I pick what makes me look back at it when I park and walk away.
As nerdy as it sounds, a decision matrix is super useful for this sort of thing. The way it usually goes is this:
Create as many scorable categories as you want. Say, like color, straight-line performance, interior appearance, ergonomics, price etc.
Then assign each category a weight factor (say 1-3), a score from 1-10, and the multiplication of those two for a weighted score. Lastly, sum up the weighted scores for each car and see what stands out. In theory, this tells the winner, but in practice it really forces you to face your priorities. Usually, there will be a couple iterations of the process as you say to yourself "well, color isn't that important, so I'll drop the weight a little".
If you're lucky, the first time you go through it, it'll pick car A as the winner, and your gut reaction will be "no, car B should've won, so how do I rearrange the points to pick B". So then pick B.
Cup holders
cyow5 said:As nerdy as it sounds, a decision matrix is super useful for this sort of thing. The way it usually goes is this:
Create as many scorable categories as you want. Say, like color, straight-line performance, interior appearance, ergonomics, price etc.
Then assign each category a weight factor (say 1-3), a score from 1-10, and the multiplication of those two for a weighted score. Lastly, sum up the weighted scores for each car and see what stands out. In theory, this tells the winner, but in practice it really forces you to face your priorities. Usually, there will be a couple iterations of the process as you say to yourself "well, color isn't that important, so I'll drop the weight a little".
If you're lucky, the first time you go through it, it'll pick car A as the winner, and your gut reaction will be "no, car B should've won, so how do I rearrange the points to pick B". So then pick B.
I've made a pretty sizeable spreadsheet comparing several potential cars, which has helped me get to where I am now. However, I like your idea of assigning each category a weight factor. I think I'll try that later during lunch or after work.
Back in the late 60s i read that you are supposed to park car in question on the street, then sit on the opposite curb and study the vehicle and imagine yourself driving it. Things were easier in the 60s. I think the author was trying to imagine driving a Kombi splitwindow.
Here is how I made the same choice between the Foxbody Mustang and getting a Miata as a dual duty car:
I made a checklist of things I wanted and what each car did well.
The Mustang won out due to better parts availability and price (I got a smoking deal from a friend).
The other big factor was I'd never done a V8 car before and I wanted to try something different. The other factor was that I already had a momentum in car in the form of the Datsun.
Easy, buy the one that's a Miata. :)
For me it comes down to price and practicality. Fun factor is an added bonus for a daily in my opinion, unless practicality is not in the picture. If you haven't already, go and test drive both and spend time poking around in them. Where are the controls, how do you feel in the drivers seat, and make sure you are happy with each one as something that fits everything you want day to day.
Pick one and see how you feel about that decision. Does it give you pangs about the other one? Good thing you were just pretending this time.
Of course, if you try it the other way with the same result, that doesn't help much.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Easy, buy the one that's a Miata. :)
I had to scroll back to see if this was Keith. 🤘🏻🤣
In my case, if it was honestly a functional tie, I'd choose by color or rims or something superficial like that. There was a white SS locally and a grey one in TX. I paid a little more and took a 2-day fly and drive to get the color I loved, vs a color that wouldn't make me smile every time I saw it.
Hey, I just had to make this decision myself!
I recently decided that my C7 Z06 was a bit overkill for the street, and tracking it was too expensive ($2k/day in tires). Plus, now I have a track-only car that I'm building.
I wanted a change of pace: I've had front-engine, RWD sports cars in the garage for a decade now and thought that a different dynamic would be fun. With a budget of approximately $100k (which seems absurd, honestly) I wanted something with a manual transmission and the engine behind me. 911s were too annoying to shop for because of the myriad of options, and the ones in my budget weren't quite what I wanted. That left the Lotus Emira and Cayman 718 GTS 4.0 as the contenders. I could stretch for a GT4, so I test-drove the Lotus and the Porsche.
Both were amazing to drive. Both had some excellent features and both had some drawbacks. Both were significantly less practical than my Corvette, of course.
At the end of the day, however, one car felt more "special" to me and I did not have budget or room for both cars. It was that "specialness" more than anything that really tipped the decision.
My 2024 Lotus Emira should arrive next week.
I tend to buy cars for a very specific use case (road trip highway cruiser, dedicated track car, etc). Makes the decision making process fairly easy
brandonsmash said:My 2024 Lotus Emira should arrive next week.
Congrats! I'll admit that I'd imagine the Lotus would feel more special. I think I've only seen about two in person (which, now that I think of it, could have been the same car...)
It sounds like test driving each choice should help me decide.
dealership and overall manufacturer experience is a factor for me in purchases.
Hyundai is making great cars.. but a lot of hyundai dealers are still total garbage.
Mazda has worked to elevate their dealership experiences.. loaner cars and other perks over the years.
My experience with my local Lexus service department will keep Lexus as an option on all purchases we make.
Colin Wood said:When you're narrowing down the options for buying a car, and you're left with two really good choices, how do you personally decide to get one over the other?
Practically? Fun factor? Steeze?
I don't want to give too much away, but I'd love to hear your input, because I'm having a hard time deciding between two really cool (but not exactly similar) choices.
It really depends on what the intended purpose of the vehicle is. If it's a fun vehicle, then it has to be fun to drive. That is the top criteria. If its a beater/daily driver, then it has to be economical to run and easy to find parts for as well as price. Thats pretty much how I've decided anything and I've owned a lot of cars in the past few years and it seems to steer me in the right direction.
Oh c'mon you gotta tell us which two cars you're comparing!
I am a big fan of unicorns: max car for min money. My last car was a Fiesta ST. Every automotive journalist raved about it, many bought one, it punched well above its weight, and was $19K out the door brand new. On paper, it was my dream car. When I test drove it, I realized that it was even better than I hoped it would be. The same process repeated for my current car, the Hyundai Elantra N. On paper, it was the hands-down winner for me and driving it simply cemented that. I did not cross-shop either because there was simply nothing in the same class as either car.
Interestingly, I looked at the Model 3 Performance as my next car. On paper, it did all the things at a price I was OK with. (this was before Elon confirmed he was a Nazi of course) But driving it convinced me that I would miss the experience of internal combustion, so I stayed with the Elantra until another unicorn comes along.
Pick one of the two choices....if you regret it, simply go buy the other one, too.
Easy I buy both if they fit different purposes.
But I have a serious metal illness problems.
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