Rebadged Vehicle Research Can Save You Money
When I posted about buying my SUV a while ago, what I probably didn’t mention was that after I narrowed my SUV down to which one I wanted, I actually had three to choose from, not just the one I had chosen. I ended up getting a Mercury Mariner because of a significant dealership discount I was eligible for through my sister but I could have also gotten the Ford Escape or the Mazda Tribute and came away with the same vehicle, simply rebadged.
Badge engineering saves auto makers money by having them not reinvent the wheel, so to speak. They come up with a good vehicle and share it among their divisions who then sell the vehicle under the different name. The divisions make their own customizations to styling and options but it is basically the same vehicle. It saves the auto makers tons of money.
What was the difference among my three options and why buy one over the other? The difference was minor styling and I only bought the Mercury because of the extra discount I was able to get that put the price lower than the alternatives. I would have been just as happy buying the Mazda or the Ford-branded vehicle, which are generally less expensive than the Mercury brand.
A good list of rebadged vehicles that I found was on Wikipedia.
Maybe there is value added by the dealership or the division but don’t just assume that the most expensive option is better than the others without a detailed comparison.
Sometimes, you really are just paying for the name on the emblem.
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