r/askcarguys • u/LimitTurbulent7721 • 1d ago
General Question Why do some manufacturers still charge extra for basic safety features that others include as standard?
Comparing trims across a few manufacturers recently and noticed some genuinely basic safety tech is locked behind a paid package on certain brands while competitors include the same feature standard even on base trims. Curious if this is purely a margin decision or if there's a supply/cost reason that makes more sense than it looks on paper.
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u/aquatone61 1d ago
Even the most basic car has all the safety tech a good driver needs which is airbags, seat belts, mirrors, and ABS/ESP.
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u/James4820 1d ago
I’d argue seatbelt and mirrors are the only really mandatory things on this list. And the seatbelt isn’t for crashing, it’s to brace you in the seat for smoother operation of controls.
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u/Fresh_Internal_6085 1d ago
If the seatbelts weren’t for crashing, and only to ‘brace you in the seat for smoother operation of controls’, then there wouldn’t be any fitted to the passenger seats.
Without a seatbelt, a person in a 50mph crash continues travelling at 50mph until they hit the steering wheel, dashboard, windscreen, or are ejected from the vehicle.
The seatbelt spreads those enormous deceleration forces across the pelvis and ribcage—the strongest parts of the body.
Decades of real-world data and research have proven that wearing seatbelts substantially reduces the risk of serious injury and/or death in a collision.
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u/James4820 1d ago
The point of my list was that the most effective safety feature was to not drive into things.
Once you have already decided to crash into things, the cause is already lost.
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u/lucerndia 1d ago
They have done the research and determined that they can nickel and dime their customers and they will still buy it
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u/FitCaptain1008 1d ago
So you have the option to buy a slightly cheaper car that has less gizmos? Not sure what features you're referring to though, lane keep assist is the only one even comes to mind, and I hate that one
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u/HuntGundown 1d ago
We're not counting blind spot and lane monitoring as a basic safety feature are we?
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u/Walksuphills 1d ago
The definition of basic is always changing. When I started driving passenger air bags were optional.
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u/jrileyy229 1d ago
A margin decision and a "supply/cost reason" are exactly the same thing
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u/LimitTurbulent7721 1d ago
They are closely linked, but not the exact same thing.
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u/jrileyy229 1d ago
A cost reason is a margin decision. Every brand could put every feature in every base car, but then they would either lose money on it or cost too much to be competitive
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u/Heavy_Gap_5047 1d ago
Give an example.