As someone who has worked in US automotive manufacturing for a while... we literally all say this constantly. No one wants any of this crap in their car unless they are that out-of-touch-with-reality wealthy.
and yet the barebones models that exist dont sell.
Several of the "Japanese" makers that still offered 20k-ish base model cars with no options recently they all discontinued them because they accounted for not even a rounding error in sales.
No one wants them.
Someone would rather buy a used car with more options for the same price 99 times out of 100.
Fuck heated seats, ventilated cloth is the dream. 30 years ago heated seats might have been useful, today heated leather ain't doing shit when it's 110° at 99% humidity.
Also: Sad to hear but I understand. If base models sold manufacturers would have tilted their product stacks to base model vehicles. But they don't.
Tbh some of these options don’t really seem that expensive. Heat trace wire is like a couple bucks a foot. I do think they mark up the gizmos like crazy.
I mean... I too would expect that to be just standard equipment like windwipers. But heaters probably got categorized as an addon to charge extra for by marketing.
But really nobody should have to freeze their ass off in a base model during winter.
People seem to forget what 'base model' is.
My truck was a 'base model' when it was new, 40 years ago, and the only feature it had was power steering. That was a feature back then.
Yes, times have changed, but heated seats are a luxury. AC, while a necessity for most people, is still a luxury. It's not necessary for the vehicle's operation and it's not a federal requirement.
Now, that said, a 'creature comforts' package with things like a radio, power steering, power windows, etc. would be nice to have provided it's not tacking 10k on to the prices like manufacturors seem to like to do.
I don't think I've been on a bus that had AC, and I've lived in plenty of houses without heat, albeit they were in Florida. Plenty of very old houses around here only have electric baseboard heating and it gets down to around 0 F in the winter here.
And yes, times have changed, but if you're comfortable without AC, say, if you live in the North where the houses don't even have central AC, you should be able to get a car without it. Or, if you're needing a cheap, reliable, safe car: you should be able to buy a car without AC. AC systems are expensive, heavy, and drain power off the engine. If you have a tiny little 2.0L 4 banger, or even smaller, the load an AC puts on an engine is quite noticeable.
Heat on cars doesn't take anything but a heater core since it uses waste engine heat.
I'm not saying they shouldn't offer AC, heat, power steering, radio, power windows, etc, but if all you need is a bare bones car to get you from point A to point B, you should be able to buy one that's just a car.
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u/TheDevilsDominium 9h ago edited 8h ago
As someone who has worked in US automotive manufacturing for a while... we literally all say this constantly. No one wants any of this crap in their car unless they are that out-of-touch-with-reality wealthy.
Edit: fixed an added dash that didn't belong.