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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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2007 Cadillac CTS Packages & Options
2007 Cadillac CTS Packages
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1SA
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1SA Equipment Group
- $0
Base vehicle with standard equipment
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Y40
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2.8L V6 Luxury Package
- $2,350
Front and rear alloy chrome wheels with 16 inch rim diam and 8.0 inch rim width; Smart card / smart key manual, includes memory seat adjustments and includes radio settings; Wood & leather steering wheel; Luxury trim wood & leather on gearknob and wood/woodgrain on dashboard; Memorized adjustment with two settings on door mirror position with four driver's seat positions; Bucket heated electrically adjustable passenger seat with fore/aft adjustment, height adjustment, lumbar adjustment, four adjustments and tilt adjustment , heated driver seat; Compass; Garage door opener; Coming home device; Peripheral anti-theft protection; Passenger door mirrors with automatic; If: [Y42] 17" Wheel Sport Package; New Price 1800.00:
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Y42
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17" Wheel Sport Package
- $1,940
Projector beam lens Xenon bulb headlights; Front and rear alloy wheels with 17 inch rim diam and 8.0 inch rim width; Front and rear all seasons tires with 225 mm tire width, 50% tire profile, W tire rating and black sidewall; Rear limited slip differential; Stability control
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2007 Cadillac CTS Options
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&30U
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Thunder Gray Premium Paint
- $995
Metallic paint; Excludes: [J004] Standard Paint Type And [J005] Standard Paint Type
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&80U
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Infrared Premium Paint
- $995
Paint
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&98U
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White Diamond Premium Paint
- $995
Pearl paint
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**4
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Full Leather Seating
- $1,300
Leather seat upholstery with additional leather
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AM9
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Split-Folding Rear Seat
- $400
Three asymmetrical bench front facing rear seats with zero adjustments
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CF5
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Express Open Sunroof
- $1,200
Glass electric tilting sliding front sunroof with sunshade and one-touch opening
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FE9
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Federal Emissions Requirements
- $0
Emission control level FED
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J004
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Standard Paint Type
- $0
Black paint; Excludes: [J005] Standard Paint Type
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J005
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Standard Paint Type
- $0
Gloss paint; Excludes: [J004] Standard Paint Type
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K05
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Engine Block Heater
- $100
Block heater
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LP1
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2.8L V6 VVT Engine, 210HP
- $0
2792 cc 2.8 liters V 6 front longitudinal engine with 89.0 mm bore, 74.8 mm stroke, 10.0 compression ratio, cast iron block, light alloy head, double overhead cam, variable valve timing/camshaft and four valves per cylinder LP1; Standard engine
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M82
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5-Speed - Automatic Transmission
- $1,200
Automatic five-speed transmission with mode select, lock-up, electronic control, manual mode, shift lever on floor, 3.420:1 first gear ratio, 2.210:1 second gear ratio, 1.600:1 third gear ratio, 1.000:1 fourth gear ratio, 0.750:1 fifth gear ratio and 3.020:1 reverse gear ratio 5L40-E; Fuel consumption: EPA urban (mpg): 18, country/highway (mpg): 27 and combined (mpg): 21; Fuel economy EPA highway (mpg): 27 and EPA city (mpg): 18; 3.420:1 axle ratio; Weights: curb weight (lbs) 3568
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MV1
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Aisin 6-Speed Manual Transmission
- $0
Manual six-speed sports or close ratio transmission with shift lever on floor, 4.150:1 first gear ratio, 2.330:1 second gear ratio, 1.530:1 third gear ratio, 1.151:1 fourth gear ratio, 1.000:1 fifth gear ratio, 0.790:1 sixth gear ratio and 3.670:1 reverse gear ratio Aisin AY6; 3.420:1 axle ratio; Standard transmission
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NB8
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Calif/Massachusetts Emissions Override
- $0
Emission control level other; Excludes: [NE1] Massachusetts/Maine Emissions And [NC7] Calif/NY/Vermont Emissions Override; Requires: [FE9] Federal Emissions Requirements
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NC7
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Calif/NY/Vermont Emissions Override
- $0
Emission control level other; Excludes: [NE1] Massachusetts/Maine Emissions And [NB8] Calif/Massachusetts Emissions Override; Requires: [YF5] California Emissions Requirement
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NE1
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Massachusetts/Maine Emissions
- $0
Emission control level Massachusetts; Excludes: [NC7] Calif/NY/Vermont Emissions Override And [NB8] Calif/Massachusetts Emissions Override
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U2S
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Bose Music System w/In-Dash CD Changer
- $1,000
Disc autochanger dashboard and 6; Audio system with Disc Autochanger and six-disc remote changer; Bose audio system; Eight speaker(s)
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UAV
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DVD Navigation/Bose Sound/6-CD Changer
- $3,145
Navigational systems : information type: full map and voice and knobs/touch buttons controls DVD; Display screen front; DVD/VCD; Audio system with satellite; Voice activating system includes navigation system; Includes: [U2S] Bose Music System w/In-Dash CD Changer
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YF5
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California Emissions Requirement
- $0
Emission control level California
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Spy 2008 Cadillac CTS
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2006 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards
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no synthetic oil for me, thanks!
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Sexiest Cars
Business mag Forbes (I know but bear with me) has selected what it considers the sexiest cars for 2006. In a twist,...
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