A feature car buyers overlook

Once a car buyer has found the right car at the right price they look for safety, reliability, then performance and economy. They say style and prestige are less important. There’s no mention of comfort.

Comfort is important because it calms and relaxes making you at ease and happy. Lack of comfort can be the main source of disappointment with a car. So it’s worth a closer look.

Some think comfort comes with the type of car. But this is not true. Some SUVs can be very agricultural. You have to check it out. 

 So comfort is important. Here’s my checklist for passenger comfort in the Chevrolet Captiva: 

•  Check out the ease of entry and low step-in height into the Chevrolet Captiva.Note the ease of exit – you don’t drop out – you step out.
•  The Captiva seats are all adult size. The LS and LT are upholstered in charcoal woven fabric. The Chevrolet Captiva LTX has full leather seat trim.
•  There’s plenty of leg, knee and foot room.The Chevrolet Captiva has plenty of head, shoulder and hip room.
•  There’s a feeling of space and airiness.
•  You can relax because the Captiva’s ride is stable and smooth. 

So car comfort is about a lot more than bouncing up and down on the seat, in a showroom. You need to take a test drive to at least check the ride and stability.

Regards
Ralph Spence

 

How driver comfort is important because …

While the Chevrolet Captiva’s space, comfortable seats, stability and smooth ride are important to all car passengers there are other aspects in driver comfort. Being comfortable in a suitable driving position helps drivers react faster and reduces tiredness, which helps prevent accidents. Air conditioning – standard in the Captiva – is a safety feature in this respect. 

In the Chevrolet Captiva you’ll find a firm eight way adjustable driver’s seat and an upright raised driving position, with a vertical steering wheel angle and a good all-round view. The switches and levers are all within reach and easy to understand.  The Chevrolet Captiva LS has a tiltable steering wheel with steering wheel mounted audio controls and MP3 player jack. The Captiva LT features a fully adjustable rake and reach leather covered steering wheel, leather gear knob, an electro-chromatic rear-view mirror, and 8 stereo speakers. The Chevrolet Captiva LTX adds heated front seats, a 6-CD auto-changer, electronic climate control with air quality sensor and cruise control.  The pedal unit and footrest are placed in line with the driver’s seat. You’ve more than enough legroom and foot-room around the pedals.The foot-pedals and steering are light without loss of feel.  

Sounds comfortable but you have to try it for yourself because driver comfort may be a matter of taste

Regards
Ralph Spence

How to determine driving pleasure

The new Chevrolet Captiva is a pleasure to drive. Driving pleasure is a combination of driver comfort, engine performance and secure handling.

Here we look at engine options and their performance.

The Chevrolet Captiva is available as:

2.4 LS 5-speed manual 5-seat
2.0 LT VCDi 5-speed manual 5-seat
2.0 LT VCDi 5-speed manual 7-seat
2.0 LT VCDi Automatic 7-seat
2.0 LTX VCDi 5-speed manual 7-seat
2.0 LTX VCDi Automatic 7-seat

So there are 3 Captiva trim levels – LS, LT and LTX, 4 of the 6 models have 7-seats.

Equally important are the engine and gearbox options available in the Chevrolet Captiva. There’s one petrol engine with a manual gearbox only available as the Chevrolet Captiva 2.4 LS 5-seat The economical Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 diesel engine is available with a manual or automatic gearbox in the higher trim levels – the LT and LTX.

The Chevrolet Captiva is probably best as a 7-seater with a diesel engine. Whether it’s an LT or LTX, manual or auto is up to you. The Chevrolet Captiva is supposedly the cheapest 7-seater SUV on the market. Having said that, the Chevrolet Captiva 5-seat 2.4 LS and 2.0 LT VCDi are both under £20,000 and great value.

The Chevrolet Captiva 2.4 petrol engine has double overhead camshafts over four cylinders. It’s fuelled by multi-point injection. Maximum torque of 220Nm is produced at 2200 revs per minute. 136PS is produced at 5000rpm. Available as a 5-speed manual with a top speed of 115 mph and 0-60 mph in 11.5 seconds.

The Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 turbo diesel engine has a single overhead camshaft over four cylinders. It’s fuelled by high –pressure direct injection. Maximum torque of 320Nm is produced at 2000 revs per minute. 150PS is produced at 4000rpm. Top speed is 111 mph with 0-60 mph in 11.5 seconds for the 5-speed manual, 12.2 seconds for the 5-speed automatic.

A test drive will demonstrate more.

Regards
Ralph Spence

How the Chevrolet Captiva keeps its composure

Conventional off-roader SUVs are criticized for their poor handling and road holding which makes them less than safe. A jerky ride can also be a discomfort. Only the new crossover SUVs like the Chevrolet Captiva have car like handling and ride.

The problem with the off-roader approach is on tarmac their high centre of gravity causes the body to roll when driven at speed through a curve in the road. This body roll makes them to sit down on their outside rear. They sit right down on their long travel suspension causing the inside front of the off-roader to buck up high on its long travel suspension. Steering control is then lost. Conventional off-roaders have agricultural steering and suspension. It’s why they’re called tarmac tractors. On the serious side they can have accidents all by themselves. In the States they’re officially classed as a single SUV accident. 

Only SUVs like the Chevrolet Captiva give you proper safe predictable handling. They have lower ground clearance, shorter travel suspension and lower tyre profiles than the old conventional SUV.  The new Chevrolet Captiva remains composed and stable even in emergency situations. It has McPherson strut front suspension with independent four link rear suspension.  Not what you need for rock climbing but what you need for comfortable on-road driving. 

The Chevrolet Captiva LS is fitted with 6.5J x 16” alloy wheels with 215/70 R 16 tyres.
The Chevrolet Captiva LT models have 7.0J x 17”  wheels and 235/60R 17 tyres.
The Chevrolet Captiva LTX gets 18” wheels and 235/55 R tyres. 

Only a test drive can demonstrate the Captivas road holding, handling and quiet relaxing ride.

Regards
Ralph Spence

How to take a DIM view of motoring costs

A decade or two ago I used to manage a fleet of cars worth £10,000,000 in today’s money that’s 20m in dollars. The stress made it all confusing so I remembered the costs as DIM.

D = depreciation
I  =  interest
M = maintenance 

Below in previous posts I’ve looked at interest or as I prefer to think opportunity cost and we worked out the real cost of maintenance. We don’t know how a Chevrolet SUV is going to depreciate in the UK because we’ve no experience. But we can look at determining factors.  

 It’s all about how you the buyer like the car, which will determine if the trade love or hate the car. For example the press and trade may like a brand in general and in general their values hold up. But when both hate a particular model, the depreciation alone will cost you. 

You have to research SUVs similar to the Chevrolet Captiva to guess depreciation. I’m going to suggest the Freelander, CRV and Outlander. The Chevy is different, better value and more a family SUV that might hold its value that bit better. That’s if Chevrolet raise their game on brand awareness. Chev’s are the best selling GM brand. Best selling US domestic brand. Best selling car in China. What about the UK – we are but an island. 

We know a twenty thousand pound car will cost as much as £1,600 per year in finance interest charges or lost investment opportunities.  Annual maintenance works out at roughly 200 for servicing, about the same for brakes and tyres. 200 for rfl, 400 insurance and over 1,000 in fuel. About £2,000 roughly. It depends on your mileage. 

Both costs are over shadowed by depreciation – the hidden horror cost. 

But the way, you can reduce depreciation and maintenance is by way of care. Those who don’t care for their cars pay dearly.  When you come to part exchange your car it will be valued by age, mileage and then by condition. When car salespeople look up their references they then appraise your car for differences in condition. Don’t listen to those who say it doesn’t pay you to look after your car because people won’t pay any more for it.  The fact is it makes a thousand pound difference in a small car and more as the car gets more expensive.

Regards
Ralph Spence

When you buy a car you lose an opportunity.

Most car buyers see buying a car in terms of finance. It suits both the buyer and seller because if the buyer can raise the finance or the car dealer provides it, the buyer is both more able and willing to buy what they want and the dealer makes a sale. 

 When car buyers finance a car they pay interest. But they get what they want now. They avoid the discipline of saving. They pay over time for a durable product they use over time with currency which historically depreciates in value. 

According to my memory of my studies – never trust memory – economists see things differently. The cost of a thing is its opportunity cost. If you spend 20 grand on a car you lose the opportunity to spend the money on something else. So the cash cost of a car may be the lost opportunity of attaching a conservatory to the back of your house and a loft conversion. 

These days there are a lot of ash-cash and pension pounds in the economy. They can be worth 60, 70, even 80 pound per thousand per annum if invested. So if you buy a car costing 40k and intend to keep it 5 years you lose the opportunity of the money over 5 years. At 8% over 5 years the cost is 40% of 40k, which equates to sixteen thousand pounds. £3,200 per annum. Hits home doesn’t it. 

So what’s the real cost of paying 38k for an over long Audi Q7. Is the lost opportunity too much to pay for a forty grand BMW X5.  54k for a Range Rover – OUCH. 64k for a Merc. This is not financial advice. I may have both experience and qualifications in the industry but I’m just talking, making you think.

 

When you weigh it up the Chevrolet Captiva is the right size, it’s got style, space, driving pleasure, comparative economy and improved safety for about 20k. It all spells value – what you get for your money.

Regards
Ralph Spence

How much does it cost to run a Chevrolet Captiva?

 I’ll deal with depreciation and opportunity/interest costs in another post. Here we look at day to day running costs:

• Maintenance,

• Insurance,

• Road fund license, and

• Fuel.

 Maintenance costs shouldn’t differ much from servicing an ordinary car as the Captiva uses car components and tyres. 

The Chevrolet Captiva is insurance group 12. Group 12 is the same as the Honda CRV, Kia Sorrento, Mitsubishi Outlander and most 2 litre cars. An XTrail is only 10. The Rav and Freelander are group 11. Other SUVs fall into higher groups. Many are in the expensive 16, 17 and 18 groups. The Merc GL 420 is group 20. 

Road fund license costs are based on CO2 emissions measured by grams per kilometer. The manual diesel Chevy emits 197 g/km. Other sub 200 g/km are the BMW X3, Honda CRV, Hyundai SF, Freelander, Lexus, Outlander and Rav. The Range Rover and Merc GL 420 break 300 g/km. 

CO2s are determined by weight and engine size. Automatic gearboxes increase emissions and all SUVs suffer from poor aerodynamics. So the bigger and more powerful the SUV, the higher the emissions. The Lexus and Hyundai- like the Chevrolet Captiva – provide the most amount of vehicle for their emissions. The Captiva can carry seven people. When you divide emissions by the potential number of occupants the Chevrolet works out well. 

You can use the same calculation when it comes to fuel consumption. Most SUVs are horrendously uneconomical. However, a Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 turbo diesel with an automatic gearbox can return up to 38 mpg on the open road. The other SUVs returning 35 to 40 extra urban are the CRV, Hyundai, Outlander and Rav equivalents.  

By my reckoning when you work out size, number of occupants, CO2s, and mpg the Chevy works out to be the most efficient in giving you the most for the least. 

When you then look at style, driving pleasure and safety, the Chevrolet is a winner.

Regards
Ralph Spence

What 97% of buyers want from car dealers

The main reason I write about cars is because back in 2005 I came across a MORI Europe wide survey commissioned by NCAP. They asked respondents what the most important aspects were influencing car buying decisions. Obviously NCAP were interested in the part played by safety.

 It was given the right type of vehicle at the right price were most important aspects. Which reminds me of GM’s old slogan, ‘a car for every purpose, a car for every purse.’

1. The two most important aspects were safety and reliability.
2. Third and fourth were performance and running costs.
3. Much lower in importance were prestige and appearance. So they said.

 I’m surprised comfort was not considered and can only think people associate comfort with the type of car. The results caught my attention because they support the fact since 1966 I’ve sold cars in terms of performance, versatility, comfort, durability, reliability, appearance, prestige, economy and safety. I’ve remembered these features by their initial letters as PVC DRAPES.

47% of car buyers sought safety information. The main sources buyers searched were magazines, newspapers, TV and friends. Today it’s probably the internet. So I try to post relevant articles to my weblog – blog.

Again in 2005, Bosch’s research revealed many UK motorists are completely unaware of active safety systems.

97% of respondents thought car manufacturers and car dealers should advise them on car safety. I took this on board and start my posts with safety articles. My experience is salespeople will only talk about what you show an interest in.

Here are some interesting findings to be going on with:

• 1% of motorists know of ESP
• 9% of accidents are caused by tailgating
• 25% of all injuries are due to skidding
• 30% of accidents happen at night
• 33% of accidents are caused by lane changes or unintentional lane departures
•  38% of drivers have been involved in a skid
• 50% do not know what ABS does
• 60% of fatal accidents are caused by side impacts due to skidding
• 66% of rear end collisions are caused by inattention
• 70% have experienced emergency braking
• 76% are aware of seatbelts
• 80% of accidents involve human error
• 89% are aware of airbags

Sources -Bosch, NCAP.

Bit of a worry.

Regards
Ralph Spence