Which new car options to choose – and which to avoid

So you’ve decided which car to buy, but there are still plenty of choices to make – that’s where the new car options list comes in. Choose wisely and you can turn your good car into a great one, but choose poorly and the options could cost you a lot of money and make your car hard to sell on. So read on for our advice on how to choose the best new car options. What are optional extras? Optional extras are features that aren’t included as part of a particular model’s standard set of equipment but are available at additional cost. Every new car has a different range of options available, and they’ll be priced differently according to the make and model you choose. Options can range from alternative paint colours to different interior materials, gearboxes, alloy wheels and extra in-car technology. There are no hard and fast rules here, but these days most cars come with features like alloy wheels, electric windows, a radio and central locking. Most models of new cars on sale are available in a variety of different ‘trims’. These are priced differently and have different names depending on the manufacturer. The most familiar trims include Ford’s Zetec, Land Rover’s Vogue and Volkswagen’s GTI. Importantly, the trims all feature different amounts of standard equipment – the more you pay, the more equipment you get as standard. If you choose the trim level carefully, you can minimise the amount you’ll need to spend on options. How do I buy optional extras? When you order your new car, you’ll have the opportunity to choose from the options list. Most car manufacturers will list these options, and their prices, in brochures. And the more common options will likely be fitted to some of the cars available in your showroom. We recommend you test as many of your desired options before you order them, as their quality can vary enormously. For example, some expensive sat-navs fitted from the factory are little better than a standalone unit you could buy from a shop for £100. The cost of car options More and more motorists buy new cars on some sort of new car finance deal. Although traditional hire purchase remains popular, it’s the promise of cheaper monthly repayments provided by personal contract purchases (PCPs) that have really changed the way we buy cars. The beauty of PCPs is the ability to add on expensive options but only increase your monthly repayments by a few pounds. But tread carefully, because it’s possible to almost double the cost of your car – and your monthly car loan repayments – without really noticing. A MINI Cooper costing £15,500, can be pushed to more than £26,000, and it’s possible to add nearly £20,000 worth of options to a BMW 3 Series 320d, which increases its price by more than 55%. Company car options The value of any added options affects company car drivers too. The amount you’ll pay in company car tax is linked to the list price of the car (the price you’d pay at a dealer including options priced at more than £100, but excluding any discounts) and recorded for tax purposes as the P11D value. The higher the P11D value, the more you’ll pay in company car tax. The best new car options It sounds trite, but the best new car options are the ones you’ll get the most use from. Features like automatic self-parking might sound appealing, but you need to consider whether you’ll actually use them. That can be hard to work out until you buy the car, but it’s a decision you’ll need to make. From a purely financial point of view, there are options that are essential in order to ensure your car achieves the best price when you come to sell it. Air-conditioning is fitted to many, if not the majority, of new cars. That means if yours hasn’t got it, it may be harder to sell, and therefore worth less. The same applies to metallic paint. Other must-have options depend on the type of car you’re buying. Upmarket models are generally more desirable with leather seats and automatic gearboxes. Features that make your car easier to live with, such as parking sensors and sat-nav, are a good choice too, especially on larger cars. It’s important to remember that like the car as a whole, you’ll only recoup a percentage of the price of your options when you come to sell. Choosing leather seats might increase your car’s used value by £500 but might cost £2,000 in the first place. Not all options cost extra though. You’ll often be presented with a choice of ‘no-cost options’ meaning you’ll need to decide whether you want things like a space-saving spare wheel or tyre inflation foam (for the record, we always recommend the former). And in the case of sportier models, such as Audi S line or BMW M Sport models, you’ll have the option of replacing the uncomfortable sports suspension with a standard setup. Again, we recommend you do so. New car options to avoid It’s not really worth choosing lavish options, such as leather seats, on smaller, cheaper cars such as a Ford Fiesta. Such features are relatively rare on cars of this type, so used car buyers don’t really expect or need them, meaning they won’t really increase the car’s value. Over the last few years, there has been an explosion in the range of customisation options available. These usually consist of different ways you can dress up your car with contrasting paintwork, stickers, alloy wheel designs and interior trims. Cars like the MINI Hatchback, Vauxhall Adam and Fiat 500 have made a virtue of this to the extent that it’s conceivable there are some entirely unique examples on Britain’s roads. While it’s true to say you should buy the options you want and need, you should bear in mind that your choices could put off many potential buyers – decreasing your car’s value as a result. It’s important to remember that second-hand car values are driven primarily by dealers. If they become nervous because they don’t know how an individual buyer will react to an unusual colour scheme, for example, they’ll be willing to pay less for it. Rupert Pontin, head of valuations at used car price guide Glass’s said: “Factors such as colour have always had a large impact on used car values but the trend towards increasing visual personalisation is magnifying the effect. “You could have two Vauxhall Adams that are ostensibly the same on paper but, in the metal, are clearly hundreds or thousands of pounds apart in value because of choices that the original buyer made. “The mauve supermini with a tartan roof and yellow wing mirrors running on 13 inch white alloys might look horrendous to a middle aged man like me but great to a 17-year-old who has just passed their test. “The problem is that the trade finds it very difficult to know how to value some of these vehicles so will tend to price them down in order to minimise the financial risk.” More options or a more expensive trim? The new car options minefield is extraordinarily complex. But as a new car buyer you can get around this by upgrading the trim level you buy. You might spend £1,500 on options on a cheaper, lower level trim, but it might cost about the same to upgrade to the next trim up in the range. As well as making the new car purchase more straightforward, savvy used car buyers will see more value in a higher-spec trim than they will in a series of unrelated options. As such, they’ll usually pay more for it. Used car options The number of options you can choose on a used car is more limited than if you were buying a new car. Most options are installed at the factory and can’t be fitted at a later date. However most main dealers offer a range of accessories, ranging from tow bars to approved car mats. By buying used, you can take advantage of the money the original purchaser spent on options without paying as much for them.