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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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Review From Motor Trend Magazine
'05 Hot Cars & Drives: 2005 Pontiac G6 & 2006 G6 GTP
Accord-beater or alphabet soup?
By Todd Lassa
Photography by the author
Pontiac's Grand Am is a boring car. It's average, at best, from a driving dynamics and quality standpoint. And it's standard fare at many rental-car counters. But it's a huge seller. So its replacement has to be a direct hit, as there are significant sales volumes and lots of happy customers at risk. GM has changed everything, including the name, and the new G6 is aimed at other midsize high watermarks such as Camry and Accord. It's hoping to one-up these stalwarts by offering V-6 power and high content value for the same money as four-cylinder versions of the Japanese best-sellers.
The G6 comes with an iron-block overhead-valve V-6, at 3.5 liters, 200 horsepower, and 220 pound-feet of torque in the GT sedan and 3.9 liters, 240 horses, and 245 pound-feet in the GTP, the latter outgrunting the Honda twin-cam 3.0-liter by 23 pound-feet. (A 2.4-liter four arrives next year.) The original plan was for the G6 to get the same 215-horse 2.8-liter twin-cam V-6 that's added to the 2005 Cadillac CTS. But that would've added expense, and GM suffers capacity shortages with its new high-feature engine family anyway. The pushrod two-valver is as refined as overhead-valve engines get, but it drones and doesn't match the smoothness of a good multivalve. Mating the engine to an aging four-speed automatic (with manumatic control in the GT and GTP) doesn't help. The GTP, on sale by mid-2005 (as a 2006 model), will be available with a six-speed manual. A G6 coupe launches by next summer, sporting a rakish Infiniti G35-esque roofline, and the sub-$30,000 G6 hardtop-convertible, with a folding Mercedes SLK-style steel roof, arrives in the fall.  Base V-6 G6 sedans will sticker for about the price of an Accord EX four-cylinder, with V-6 GTs under $25,000. The G6's 112.3-inch wheelbase equals that of Chevy's stretched Malibu Maxx (the standard Malibu sedan has a 106.3-inch wheelbase), with which it shares the Epsilon platform. The standard G6 suspension is tuned like another Epsilonmate, the Saab 9-3, with 16-inch wheels, while the GT and GTP have stiffer springs and shocks, larger anti-roll bars front and rear, and 17-inch wheels (18s optional on the GTP). GM attributes the Pontiac's ride/handling characteristics to the rigid Epsilon unibody and long wheelbase. The GT's suspension is a bit stiff on harsh roads, with bumps resonating through the body like a tuning fork. Handling is controlled, with some roll and lots of understeer.  A 2006 GTP prototype (with stability control disabled) felt much the same as the GT--not a surprise considering that the GTP's optional 18-inch wheels mark the only suspension change. It's predictable and fairly taut, but not as crisp as, say, an Acura TSX sport sedan. And the 240-horse 3.9's acceleration doesn't feel much stronger than the 200-horse 3.5. With a wide band of useable torque available, neither engine's power will much disappoint devotees of twin-cam sixes, except for the refinement deficit. The GTP's optional six-speed manual is a welcome change over the four-speed automatic. It's direct with medium throws, but awkward in feel. On GM's new Nuerburgring-inspired test track, the G6 GTP felt sporty, but with a domestic-brand predilection toward understeer. The GTP's tail refused to rotate around corners at GM's test track until a cloudburst provided wet tarmac.
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07/18/2006 | 16:07 PM
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The Power List
The real power in the auto business isn't always under the hood. These are the 50 people who decide what you drive and when you'll be driving it
more
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The Power List
The real power in the auto business isn't always under the hood. These are the 50 people who decide what you drive and when you'll be driving it
more
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