Today, I’m going to talk about a dramatically unloved segment of the automotive population: base models. You probably know base models from their lack of window tint and tremendously ugly steel wheels.
Base models aren’t discussed very often, because they’re often not very cheerful. In some cases, nobody even really buys them. For instance: I was walking along the other day, glanced inside a new Forester that was parked on the street, and it had a stick shift. I also noticed it had no sunroof, steel wheels, and cloth seats. This thing is probably rarer than a Lamborghini.
But automakers like the fact that nobody buys their base models. In fact, the entire point of the base model is basically to ensure people want to spend more money for a nicer version of the car. Dealers tell you the car “starts at” twenty-four grand, but then you show up on the lot, and there it is: twenty-four grand of no air conditioning or radio. To get a decent car, you’ve got to spend a few thousand more.
It’s like the Virginia license plate situation. Over in Virginia, they have dozens of different license plate designs, including ones for Jimmy Buffet fans and Friends of Tibet and The Southwestern Virginia Society of Air Conditioner Repairpersons and stupid crap like that. And in order to make you want to choose one of these designs, they make the standard license plate as boring as humanly possible. It just says Virginia on the top, and there are some numbers. It doesn’t even include a standard Virginia scene, with rolling hills, or beaches, or D.C. metro area gridlock.
Some car companies are famous for this sort of behavior. I mean, yeah, sure, virtually everyone does it, but some do it much better than others. So today I’m asking: what car company makes the best base models? The cheapest, flimsiest entry-level trims in order to suck you in and force you to pay more, even when you desperately don’t want to spend a dime above the base price?
I think there are a lot of good contenders, but the winner is clearly Honda. In fact, one of the most offensive base models of all time is the 2008-2014 Pilot LX, which features, well, basically nothing.
In terms of wheels, this Pilot offers the most heinous work-van-style steelies you’ll ever see on a family crossover. Window tint is removed from all the back windows. Fog lights are unceremoniously capped with black pieces of circular plastic. And then there’s a black plastic line running down the side of both doors, an unnecessary addition designed to remind you that no, you really did not want to spend a penny on this thing, did you?
The CR-V is almost as bad. In the long, sad history of steel wheels, nothing will ever really top the CR-V’s five-spoke steelie for pure ugliness. “I got a base model,” it shouts. “And I’m proud of it.”
Honda’s base-level cars are pretty sparse on equipment, too. Although Honda is now running ads touting that all of their vehicles feature a standard backup camera, they fail to mention that the Honda Fit still uses rear drum brakes — even if you splurge on the top-level EX-L model. And we could also mention the fact that Honda is still installing four-speaker stereo systems in base-level versions of the Accord.
And so, I think Honda is the king of the base model. Not because their base models are good, but for the exact opposite reason: because their base models are so basic that they basically force you to spend more money. “Do I really want four speakers?” you might ask. “Drum brakes? Those wheels?” Of course, in every case the answer is no, and so you end up looking at an EX, or an EX-L, or an SE, or a Touring, or an Elite, and the next thing you know there’s a built-in vacuum cleaner in your Odyssey.
What’s your opinion? Which automaker do you think boasts the very best — and thus the very worst — base models?
The post QOTD: Who Does Base Models Best? appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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