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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.
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Article From Motor Trend Magazine
Reborn to Run: 2005 Ford GTWith its stunning new 2005 GT, Ford reincarnates a Le Mans legend for the street -- and once again steals carrots from the prancing horse / By Arthur St. Antoine / Photography by Peter Brock /
Article provided by: Motor Trend Magazine
The curtain of morning mist that shrouds the racetrack is beginning to rise. Dan Gurney, back in the pits after his stint driving the car, offers me some feedback before I take the wheel: "The chassis feels very balanced and predictable out there. It's with you all the way." As I fire up the big V-8 engine and tighten myself into the low-slung racing seat, from the pit wall team boss Carroll Shelby gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up. I slip the chunky shifter into first and roar away, the 500-horsepower engine behind me pinning my helmet back and filling my ears with the mechanized brawl of eight ravenous cylinders feasting on all-you-can-eat helpings of fuel and air. As I swoop onto the track, a sister car flashes by at 120 miles per hour, a blur of scoops and flares and racing stripes and that unmistakable, unparalleled Ford GT40 profile.  Fast company: During a post-drive debrief in the pits at Laguna Seca, lead engineer Neil Hannemann (left) and GT visionary Chris Theodore (center) listen to an approving appraisal of their handiwork from former Le Mans winner and GT40 veteran Dan Gurney. Mmmmm, it's a delicious dream: I'm driving for Ford at Le Mans in 1966, the first of four consecutive years that the company's sleek GTs whupped Ferrari's fancy fannies at the world's premier endurance-racing event... Except that I'm not dreaming. This definitely isn't 1966--nowhere can I see a poster of Raquel Welch starring in "One Million Years B.C." And, judging by the conspicuous lack of people speaking French or sleeping on the ground, this isn't Le Mans, either (it's actually Laguna Seca, near Monterey, California). Otherwise, this could easily be the Circuit de la Sarthe in 1966. Former Grand Prix ace, GT40 pilot, and Le Mans winner Dan Gurney is here all right. So are Carroll Shelby, famed Cobra creator and head of the original GT40 effort, and legendary racer Lloyd Ruby, who also raced GT40s at Le Mans and did much of the team's development testing.  It's the car I'm driving that makes the Le Mans illusion complete. On hand at Laguna are three stunning Ford GTs, prototypes of the maker's remarkable new GT40-inspired supercar. This spring, Ford will begin selling GTs to roughly 1500 lucky individuals per year, at a sticker expected to come in at just under $150,000--a price that undoubtedly would've sent Henry Ford straight to Betty Ford. But the GT is more than just a sports car: It's a high-speed, high-profile declaration that the Ford Motor Company is once again out to take on the world's best. ... >>next page
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