A $100k pickup truck...

One issue I had when ordering it was how hard Ford pushes you into the high dollar trucks by the way their options work.

Not just Ford. I've been looking at a smaller diesel for a while and RAM does the same for their 1500 Diesel, not available in the regular cabs. The Colorado was worse on the diesel, only available in the super-huge-crew-cab. I really would have liked an actual small diesel pickup, instead, except for the height it's not much smaller than the "real" half tons.
 
. . . One issue I had when ordering it was how hard Ford pushes you into the high dollar trucks by the way their options work. For example certain engine/drive train options aren't available until you go up to a higher trim level. Some options only come as part of a package full of stuff one doesn't need, etc. I found it frustrating. Hence why my next truck will be a strip down 3/4 ton and I'll just install any creature comforts I want as an aftermarket add-on rather than pay the trim&package tax.

I can't imagine it works any differently for any other high-volume manufacturer. Most packages are designed to include the most popularly-chosen options in order to simplify the production/ordering process. Having someone order the heated seats but not the heated mirrors means you're likely having to keep a custom trim or control-unit that omits those options, which is increased inventory for a rarely-optioned vehicle. Inventory costs are a killer for manufacturing, so lumping options into packages helps keep lesser-chosen options from having the inventory associated with it pile up unused.

Also, the thing that is increasingly difficult to do from an aftermarket perspective, is the integration. Prior to this decade, many of the electronic options were separate modules that could be added on fairly easily. Now, most vehicles use a central nav screen to control HVAC/heated/cooled seats, and a slew of other options. This means simply buying a base model vehicle and adding a lot of aftermarket goodies is much more difficult because it has to inter-phase with a dozen different systems, which is almost impossible for aftermarket manufacturers to adapt to. Even adding a subwoofer can be a royal PITA if the head unit from the factory isn't equipped for it.

If this is a Ferrari, there's likely a lot more flexibility with low-volume vehicles as well as a shorter list of options. You pay dearly for that!
 
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I can't imagine it works any differently for any other high-volume manufacturer. Most packages are designed to include the most popularly-chosen options in order to simplify the production/ordering process. Having someone order the heated seats but not the heated mirrors means you're likely having to keep a custom trim or control-unit that omits those options, which is increased inventory for a rarely-optioned vehicle. Inventory costs are a killer for manufacturing, so lumping options into packages helps keep lesser-chosen options from having the inventory associated with it pile up unused.

Also, the thing that is increasingly difficult to do from an aftermarket perspective, is the integration. Prior to this decade, many of the electronic options were separate modules that could be added on fairly easily. Now, most vehicles use a central nav screen to control HVAC/heated/cooled seats, and a slew of other options. This means simply buying a base model vehicle and adding a lot of aftermarket goodies is much more difficult because it has to inter-phase with a dozen different systems, which is almost impossible for aftermarket manufacturers to adapt to. Even adding a subwoofer can be a royal PITA if the head unit from the factory isn't equipped for it.

If this is a Ferrari, there's likely a lot more flexibility with low-volume vehicles as well as a shorter list of options. You pay dearly for that!

This is very true. I think we tend to be used to the days where you could pick every single option individually, but realistically that wasn't as much of a burden on the manufacturer as it is with the integration. Now you do see cases where a manufacturer charges more for just a software unlock, but wiring harnesses are expensive and complex to make. And really, most people want (or at least don't mind) the bundles that are offered.

I think the prices we're seeing on a lot of vehicles are ridiculous these days, but in addition to inflation you're seeing new technologies come out. I'm actually the most amazed to see how some of the higher end cars (thinking BMWs, for example) are keeping the inflation of their costs relatively low over the past 15 years.
 
If this is a Ferrari, there's likely a lot more flexibility with low-volume vehicles as well as a shorter list of options. You pay dearly for that!

My brother in law is one of the folks who is responsible for the back-end that allows you to order a Porsche with the color of the stitching on your seats customized.
The reality is that the packaging of options has little to do with the needs of production, inventory control etc. Every car has a build sheet and the system orders bits and pieces from the suppliers in the quantities and for the hour slot required.
If a cable company placed a fleet order for diesel Colorado's they could get them as a short cab, long bed with an open hole where the nav screen would go and the bumpers in gray primer. Those fleet orders would be built in the middle of a line of dolled up gas engine crew cabs with chrome bumpers and nobody would bat an eye.

Optioning and packaging is driven by what the manufacturers think they can sell and the fact that they make the biggest margins on the options, not the base vehicle.
 
I have over $100k in my airplane; plus I have to pay some serious fuel bills, hangar fees and maintenance.

And I have yet to pull a stump out of the ground with it or pick up a bag of groceries at Publix. So by that measure, I guess I am a moron for owning it.
 
My brother in law is one of the folks who is responsible for the back-end that allows you to order a Porsche with the color of the stitching on your seats customized.
The reality is that the packaging of options has little to do with the needs of production, inventory control etc. Every car has a build sheet and the system orders bits and pieces from the suppliers in the quantities and for the hour slot required.
If a cable company placed a fleet order for diesel Colorado's they could get them as a short cab, long bed with an open hole where the nav screen would go and the bumpers in gray primer. Those fleet orders would be built in the middle of a line of dolled up gas engine crew cabs with chrome bumpers and nobody would bat an eye.

Optioning and packaging is driven by what the manufacturers think they can sell and the fact that they make the biggest margins on the options, not the base vehicle.

I agree with most of your point, especially about what options they can sell/make good margin on. But again, if you would speak to my original example (heated seats/mirrors), it's a very valid point. There are options which, if ordered individually would result in odd bits of inventory to be held/created. Some vehicles have "dummy" buttons/placeholders where un-ordered electronic options would typically go. Sometimes, options are combined into packages to avoid having 8 different combinations of a console interface to stock because one guy wants heated seats but not heated mirrors, or a heater, but no A/C, or rear-view camera but no rear-sonar. Wiring harnesses are another item which gets simplified by having just a few harnesses to choose from in order to accommodate a wide array of option choices. However, 20ft of unused circuits in a vehicle harness cost a manufacturer a small amount of money, but when you multiply it by 100,000+ vehicles, you're talking real money at some point.
 
Another aspect is that - especially these days - it seems that most people buy a car off the lot, not from the factory. So in that regard, the packages make things much easier from the dealer's perspective.

It was unusual to find the exact truck I want mainly because of the manual transmission, but the packages make it more likely to find what I want.
 
I can't imagine it works any differently for any other high-volume manufacturer. Most packages are designed to include the most popularly-chosen options in order to simplify the production/ordering process. Having someone order the heated seats but not the heated mirrors means you're likely having to keep a custom trim or control-unit that omits those options, which is increased inventory for a rarely-optioned vehicle. Inventory costs are a killer for manufacturing, so lumping options into packages helps keep lesser-chosen options from having the inventory associated with it pile up unused.

Also, the thing that is increasingly difficult to do from an aftermarket perspective, is the integration. Prior to this decade, many of the electronic options were separate modules that could be added on fairly easily. Now, most vehicles use a central nav screen to control HVAC/heated/cooled seats, and a slew of other options. This means simply buying a base model vehicle and adding a lot of aftermarket goodies is much more difficult because it has to inter-phase with a dozen different systems, which is almost impossible for aftermarket manufacturers to adapt to. Even adding a subwoofer can be a royal PITA if the head unit from the factory isn't equipped for it.

If this is a Ferrari, there's likely a lot more flexibility with low-volume vehicles as well as a shorter list of options. You pay dearly for that!

For popular vehicles, and I know the F-150 is one of these, you can get aftermarket panels that replace your radio/HVAC center and allow you to install an aftermarket stereo. So it can be done, of course there is extra cost....
 
Aren't packages and options marked up at least 100% and are big money makers for dealers on new vehicles?
 
For popular vehicles, and I know the F-150 is one of these, you can get aftermarket panels that replace your radio/HVAC center and allow you to install an aftermarket stereo. So it can be done, of course there is extra cost....

The physical hole is the easy part. With many modern cars the head unit does a bunch of other stuff. The simplest being backup camera display. But for instance on my Colorado it also has the only way to change a ton of vehicle settings like how long the lights stay on after locking, which doors unlock with each push, etc.

Of course, aftermarket wiring harnesses and converters are also available for this for the popular models, but once again, even more cost and time to install and make it all work correctly. Luckily(?) I ended up with one off the lot that already had the uplevel stereo, so I'm not feeling the need to upgrade it and deal with that fun.
 
The physical hole is the easy part. With many modern cars the head unit does a bunch of other stuff. The simplest being backup camera display. But for instance on my Colorado it also has the only way to change a ton of vehicle settings like how long the lights stay on after locking, which doors unlock with each push, etc.

Of course, aftermarket wiring harnesses and converters are also available for this for the popular models, but once again, even more cost and time to install and make it all work correctly. Luckily(?) I ended up with one off the lot that already had the uplevel stereo, so I'm not feeling the need to upgrade it and deal with that fun.

Exactly, and more often these days, there's little reason to upgrade over the factory units unless there's something you can't get around (external outputs/inputs being one). I suspect it's a shrinking market for Pioneer/Alpine/etc. to make aftermarket head units when so many newer vehicles come with touchscreens by default.
 
That's what I thought back when I ordered my truck(and a Mustang around the same time period) and made sure I got the Sync system and nicer radio. TBH as far as sound quality I think even the bottom end aftermarket stereo sounds as good or better than most factory setups I've heard. And now a few years later there are much nicer aftermarket options out there and reasonably priced installation kits for them.

I haven't looked at many other makes or models, I imagine some may be a lot more difficult than others.
 
Now imagine walking through the pasture and getting your boots caked in mud, hay, and horse manure then sticking your boots right into that $100,000 humidor.

What are they thinking? Do they not know what trucks are for?
Nope.
You should see some of our dumb rich city folks around here. They drive big trucks and SUVs that have never seen proper use. They live only on pavement and are hand-washed and waxed every weekend, kinda like a Porche or BMW. *shrug*
And of course they would never drive their 4x4 baby over a curb or through a puddle, god forbid, that's not what trucks are for. *gasp* :D

I rest my case. These will sell like hotcakes. ;)
 
Nope.
You should see some of our dumb rich city folks around here. They drive big trucks and SUVs that have never seen proper use. They live only on pavement and are hand-washed and waxed every weekend, kinda like a Porche or BMW. *shrug*
And of course they would never drive their 4x4 baby over a curb or through a puddle, god forbid, that's not what trucks are for. *gasp* :D

I rest my case. These will sell like hotcakes. ;)

Kinda like those idiots that buy personal airplanes, eh? LOL.
 
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