|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Article From 4Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine
Xterra Rock Sliders - Protection And Peace Of MindShrockWorks Rock Sliders And Hi-Lift Jack X-Treme / By Jordan May / photographer: Jordan May /
Article provided by: 4Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine
Now that our project Xterra has a suspension lift and a larger tire size, we decided protection would be the next best step. When searching for a company to provide a set of rock sliders, we read through all of the popular Nissan Xterra Internet forums, checked with local retailers, and then decided to give Jim at ShrockWorks in Houston, Texas, a call. Jim gave us the lowdown on the quality of his products and told us he would be happy to become part of our project vehicle build with a set of his Nissan Xterra rock sliders. Considering the feedback we received from other Xterra owners, we knew Jim's products would be strong, but we needed to see for ourselves. Before we get into our review of how the sliders have been holding up to our testing, we have to share with you how easy it was to install them. It took us no longer than 30 or 40 minutes from the time we opened the box to the initial drive down the road. Here is a brief rundown of what we did to install our ShrockWorks rock sliders, but please, for your own safety, consult the provided instructions that come with your set of sliders before installation. Remember: safety first. That wasn't so hard, now was it? The new sliders look beautiful and will provide myriad functions both on and off the trail. ShrockWorks sliders weight 89 pounds and come powdercoated semigloss black, dark semi-matte gray, or can be purchased in bare steel. They are sold as a set for both the driver and passenger side. For those of you running a body lift, they also make a body lift option slider. Quick UpdateOur Rancho Quick-Lift kit has been working flawlessly on the trail. We've been adjusting the shock settings and have found setting 3 to work best on the front suspension and setting 5 in the rear. During some high-speed testing, we purposely bottomed out the suspension to check our clearance and were pleased to see only a tiny scrape from the tires hitting the inner fenderwell in the front. The BFGoodrich 285/75R16 tires are a pleasure to drive on, and during a recent trip to the mountains they provided ample traction in both the snow and on icy roads.  The first thing we did was open up the box and review the included parts. ShrockWorks provides everything you need for installation, including all necessary hardware and instructions with pictures. We did not have the factory side rails on our vehicle, but if you do, you'll need to remove those first with a 14mm wrench. |  We were immediately impressed with the fabrication quality of the ShrockWorks sliders. The welding is topnotch, all of the bends are perfect, and the frame mounting points are well thought out. The round-tube portion of the slider is made from 1.75-inch by 0.134-wall DOM tubing, and the square-tube portion is made from 2x2x3/16-inch-wall steel tubing with the mounting plates being 5/16-inch steel plate. Most sliders today are made of mild steel which does not provide the amount of strength DOM does with its higher tensile-strength properties. |  Next, we removed the factory vibration-damping weight bolted to the rear of the frame. |  With the truck on the lift, we used a lift-assistance jack to help us guide the rock sliders in place to see how they would match to the framerails. Notice here we are pointing to the front holes where the slider will mount. There was no need to drill any holes for the front portion of the slider, and we only had to drill one in the rear... |  ...Keep in mind that although we had a shop lift to assist our install, all of this can be done in your driveway with a jack and a good set of jackstands. Having a friend's extra set of hands would also be helpful. |  Once we saw where the front slider mounts, we used the floor-assistance jack to guide it into place and located the factory holes for mounting. ShrockWorks provides a 2.5x6-inch rectangular plate that goes against the inside of the frame, which distributes the load and allows you to tighten the mounting bolts without crushing the frame. We used the provided 4-inch-long bolts with included washers for the... |  ...side hole and the 1-1/4-inch bolt for the bolt hole that wraps under the framerail. It would be nice to see some sort of countersunk bolt for the under-frame mount. We fear the head of this bolt might be sheared off or take damage during some of our rocky adventures. Only time will tell. |  With the front securely mounted, we moved on to the rear of the Xterra and bolted the slider to the one existing factory hole with the provided M10 fine-thread bolt with washer and lock washer. With the slider in place, we were able to mark off the hole we needed to drill for the lower section of the mount. Before drilling our new holes, we loosened up the front and the rear top bolts and used a level gauge to make sure the slider was level. You can either drill the hole with the slider in place (although it will be a little cramped), or you can remove the slider, drill, then install it once again. We opted for the latter to leave us enough room to snap a couple of photos. |  We used a center punch to mark the center of the hole so the drill bit wouldn't walk around on us. We first drilled a small pilot hole and then drilled the final hole with a step drill (often referred to as a "unibit") to widen the hole to 1/2 inch. With the new hole drilled, we guided our slider in place, reinstalled all of our provided hardware, lined up the slider straight and level, and tightened everything in place. Piece of cake! |
... >>next page
|
2008 Nissan Changes -- 350Z, Frontier, Quest, Xterra,
After a 2007 model year revision that included the addition of a new NISMO 350Z model (Coupe only), the 2008 Nissan...
07/09/2007 | 14:07 PM
|
|
2009 Nissan Xterra and Frontier Refreshed for July Debut
Nashville, Tenn. - Nissan North America, Inc. today revealed details of the 2009 Xterra sport utility vehicle and 2009...
06/05/2008 | 17:06 PM
|
|
2008 Nissan Frontier and Xterra Receive New Model, Features
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 28, 2007) -- Nissan North America, Inc. today announced pricing on the 2008 Nissan Frontier...
09/07/2007 | 16:09 PM
|
|
Nissan prices 2007 SUVs, new Versa
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) announced this week the 2007 model year pricing for Frontier...
04/23/2007 | 21:04 PM
|
|
Nissan Gets Lean with Transition Program Completion
SMYRNA, TENN. (March 23, 2007) – Nissan North America, Inc. today announced the results of its Voluntary Transition...
04/23/2007 | 21:04 PM
|
|
|
|
Nissan Xterra - Long-Term Test
With new SUV buyers flooding into Nissan showrooms over the past six months, the new Xterra can only be described as a runaway success. Initially Nissan only planned to sell about 60,000 of the budget...
more
|
|
Pre-Owned: 2000-2003 Nissan Xterra
Sport/utility vehicles have become, well...soft. Most of the car-based crossovers are essentially tall station wagons with butch bodywork--an eight-year-old in a cowboy hat wearing plastic six guns, p...
more
|
|
|
|
Comparison Test: Ultimate 4x4 Challenge
Our first task at the Hollister Hills State Vehicle Recreation Area was acceleration testing on a packed dirt road in 4-Hi, where results followed power-to-weight ratios.
more
|
| |