Another question about Base vs Premium

[GordonGekko]

.... but the center gauges are part of the PP...

I should have said skip the leather seats and 8" screen!

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[Moddiction]

Sounds like you were looking for similar things as me. I skipped premium as the price hike was ridiculous for what you get. They throw in too much silly stuff and jack the price up.
You can buy oem leather seat take offs for $500 and install them and you have same leather interior but saved 4K. I actually like the cloth seats a lot. Much more comfortable and grip you much better. Also don't get hot or cold like leather.

 

[RitzGT]

that tiny 4" screen was enough to steer me away from a base, the leather, big screen, heated and cooled seats worth the upgrade

Does that larger screen REALLY influence most people? Just curious. I'm an "IT guy" and have done work in the mobile device industry. Mobile devices are updated at a far greater rate than integrated head units in cars, they're relatively cheap, and provide value to me also when I'm outside of my car. When a car manufacturer stops updating the nav system or operating system for your infotainment system, you're kinda stuck. If you're using your mobile device as "the brains" of that system, you always have the ability to easily upgrade for the latest features. A couple of inches of head unit screen real estate isn't enough to get me to plunk down the $$$ for the Ford unit. Anyway, that's why I stuck with the stock head unit and base configuration for the car. As long as the head unit supports bluetooth, I'm good to go.

Best,

 

[CompO5.sl0w]

Honestly, from what I've always found is that the premium trim of anything will always have a better resale value by a significant margin. Usually when people are in the late model used car market, they want the upgraded trims that they can't/don't want to swing brand new.

For me, premium was the only way to go in a Mustang. Why get a Mustang that performs and looks great, but skimps out on the inside? That's just how I feel about it though, do what you care about. :cheers:

 

[Clump]

I spent a lot of time (and beer) pondering the same question and ultimately bought a base GT with Performance Pack.

A little background-
I hadn't had a "fun" car for a few years and started looking around. This is not a daily driver, but something to enjoy and drive to work now and then. I was looking at new Corvettes, used C6 Z06 and Challengers mostly. Other than GT350 Mustang really wasn't on my radar. I didn't even consider a Camaro because 1-I think they look ridiculous and 2-I owned a Corvette and it seems like a huge step backwards.

As awesome as the GT350 is I just can't pay over sticker, so 1 down. At sticker it's incredible bang for the buck, but it still starts at $48K.

To get the bigger Hemi in a Challenger pushes it way over $40K and SRTs are pushing 50. Seems like a lot of $$ for a Challenger. Love the look though.

A base C7 is $55K. There are a lot of cream puff C6 Z06s around, but they seem to be holding their value pretty well. I found a few base C6s, but they were asking around the sticker on my GT for fairly low mileage cars in nice shape.

Which brings us to the Mustang -
Once I started looking at GTs I realized what an incredible bargain they are. I knew I wanted PP. I checked out premium and base and while I appreciate everything that comes with premium decided to go with maximum bang for the buck. To me that's a base GT PP.

My plan was to wait until spring, but I backed into a great deal and bought my car around Thanksgiving 2015. I haven't gotten to drive it nearly as much as I'd like yet, but even just looking at it puts a huge grin on my face. I'd like to have the stuff that comes with premium, but don't really miss any of it, except maybe the bigger screen.

The 1 thing I'd change is I'd like a better stereo. Depending on the price if they offered an upgraded stereo on the base GT I probably would have gone for it. A couple of weeks ago I replaced my DD with a '16 Escape Titanium and the Sony system sounds way better than the base system in my Mustang and Sync 3 has pretty much righted all the wrongs from MFT.

I'll probably do some upgrades to the Mustang stereo at some point, but the funny thing is with the Steeda axle back I keep it turned off most of the time and just listen to the Coyote howl.

 

[Strokerswild]

All I wanted was PP and leather (preferred the rear fascia too), and I didn't want to mess around swapping stuff after the fact so Premium it was.

However, I wish there had been some sort of "tech delete" option to dump the touchscreen setup since I couldn't care less about it beyond Bluetooth (I think I've had the radio on twice and I'm not a believer in total connectivity in a car like some are). But I do like the fit and finish of the Premium beyond that.

 

[Moddiction]

As for resale value premium will lose the most by far. You don't get anywhere near the extra it costs for premium back. Base will always hold value the best for any car.
Say you bought a fully loaded GT premium for around 40k 1 year ago. Already most you'll ever get for it is 30k used.
Buy a base GT for around 31k out the door. You will still get high 20's for it.

 

[RitzGT]

Honestly, from what I've always found is that the premium trim of anything will always have a better resale value by a significant margin. Usually when people are in the late model used car market, they want the upgraded trims that they can't/don't want to swing brand new.

That doesn't ring true. Sure, there is a slight "premium" on your resale price, but it doesn't come close to recouping the additional up front cost. So you're actually losing more money than if you bought a base vehicle. That said, it's not even a money thing for me. If I want to drive a luxury car, I'll drive my A8L. If I want a truck, I'll drive my truck. If I want a simple and fun to drive sports car, I hop in the Mustang. Springing for the extra bling doesn't do anything for me in a pony car, but I understand that others might feel differently.

Best,

 

[MrMike]

Considering the 16s w/Sync 3 will have Android Auto and Apple Carplay later this year, I would suggest only buying base if you absolutely don't care about electronics in your car at all. As was mentioned earlier in the thread by someone else, phones get updated more often and you'll probably swap your phone more than your car. Having a car that can run apps from your phone on the screen (Google/Apple Maps, Google Music, iTunes, etc) is a worthwhile feature. Once the Android Auto/Apple Carplay feature set/API is implemented, it will continue to work as new devices are released.

I agree with those saying that, percentage wise, Base GT with nothing will hold value the best, then PP, then Premium, then electronic options. Optional factory wheel options will probably tank the most percentage wise, to the point of making no difference on resale a few years in. I think Base is a great idea if it's a second or third car.

 

[RitzGT]

Considering the 16s w/Sync 3 will have Android Auto and Apple Carplay later this year, I would suggest only buying base if you absolutely don't care about electronics in your car at all. As was mentioned earlier in the thread by someone else, phones get updated more often and you'll probably swap your phone more than your car. Having a car that can run apps from your phone on the screen (Google/Apple Maps, Google Music, iTunes, etc) is a worthwhile feature. Once the Android Auto/Apple Carplay feature set/API is implemented, it will continue to work as new devices are released.

I agree with those saying that, percentage wise, Base GT with nothing will hold value the best, then PP, then Premium, then electronic options. Optional factory wheel options will probably tank the most percentage wise, to the point of making no difference on resale a few years in. I think Base is a great idea if it's a second or third car.

Carplay and Android auto are indeed interesting since you're effectively just extending your handheld's screen to the dash. So long as there's a standard protocol that devices speak that can integrate with the head unit's display, that's a win-win. I still wouldn't pay a couple of grand for the "privilege" though.

Best,

 

[Moddiction]

Once some aftermarket navi units come out it will be nice. Only features from premium I was interested in was larger screen, rear bumper looks better but not worth the price difference, and then the home link button. I will buy a replacement sun visor that has it built in soon. Once a nice nav unit comes in to replace the stock 4" one I will get that as well. Will be well under $1000 for those parts.

 

[1320']

Something to consider...

If you're wanting a leather interior but don't want the rest...go with Katzkin.

For $2,000 or less you could get full, real leather interior with a variety of design choices (the one with the Raven alcantara like material for the inset is super nice!). The center gauges you can add later with a bit of DIY.

The only thing you absolutely cannot add in with the base is the drive modes, you'll lose out on them.

 

[Moddiction]

Even much cheaper than that just buy oem ford leather take offs for $500 shipped and you have exact same leather interior as premium.
Drive modes you can still pretty much get except for the snow/wet mode but those are just silly anyways.

 

[Genxer]

I don't need navi with my iPhone. I get turn by turn voice directions thru SYNC. So that is not a selling point to me. Neither is leather because I simply don't care about it. The better sound system would be nice, but I rather prefer the sound of my exhaust. The black rear fascia means nothing to me as well. Driving modes would be cool, and to me that was the strongest draw.

A premium model will always have the best resale given cars compared are in equal condition. You pay more, you get more back when you sell it. Really no big deal, except there may be bigger depreciation if run up high miles in a short time on the premium model. Now the resale of an Ecoboost vs a GT? It will be interesting to see who takes it in the shorts more down the road.

 

[RitzGT]

A premium model will always have the best resale given cars compared are in equal condition. You pay more, you get more back when you sell it. Really no big deal, except there may be bigger depreciation if run up high miles in a short time on the premium model. Now the resale of an Ecoboost vs a GT? It will be interesting to see who takes it in the shorts more down the road.

You pay more, you get a little more when you sell and you take a bigger hit on depreciation. Translation: At the end of the day, you're out of pocket more $$$. That doesn't sound like a win to me. But hey, if that's what makes a guy happy, who am I to rain on their parade...

As for navigation, the point I was making is that the phones get more frequent updates and tend to have significantly more accurate maps. A car's built-in nav system will never be able to keep up with the same cadence of updates and improvements. That's not Ford's core business. And when they decide that it's no longer worthwhile, they'll stop updating it altogether. So a built-in nav system is worthless to me when I've already got a better and more accurate replacement in my pocket.

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