Are optional extras on new cars worth it?

By: Bruce Newton

If you’ve bought a new car, you know the scenario.

The contract’s about to be signed, and you’re sitting in the sales office revelling in a few moments of satisfaction and quiet excitement before you drive away in your new purchase.

And then a friendly young salesperson sidles up to you, offers congratulations, and starts the hard sell for paint and fabric protection, tinting and maybe roof racks and a tow bar.

Ah the add-ons. Yep, there’s more to buying your sparkling new vehicle than considering how big it needs to be, what you need it for and what your budget can afford.

There are also all those options and accessories that are on offer before, during and after the deal is done.

But which of these many choices are worth it, which should you avoid and what is the best way to go about acquiring what you want?

All good questions, so let’s get some answers.

What are new car options and accessories?

While they are identical in some people’s minds, the fact is new vehicle options and accessories are actually very different things.

Options – or factory options as they are also called - are the equipment choices you make when deciding on what features your car will have when it leaves the factory. They are almost always installed as your new purchase is rolling down the assembly line before it goes on the ship to Australia. Think of things such as leather seats or a powered sunroof.

Craftily, many car makers offer option packs as well as or in place of individual options. An upside is the pack may be cheaper than ordering those features individually, the flipside being you’re paying for some features you might not want.

Subscription-based features have been on the rise in recent years. Just like a streaming service, you pay a monthly fee for access. Stop paying and the feature is turned off – even though its functionality has been built into the car (and its price) in the first place.

The best-known example of this is BMW’s idea to charge for access to heated seats via a subscription. Ironically, BMW copped a lot of heat about this from consumers and the media, and abandoned the option.

It would be fair to say the luxury European brands play the options game with more intensity than just about anyone else. The Japanese brands by contrast, tend to package their options into the model so what you buy is what you get. You want leather? It’s at the top of the range.

Accessories are parts that are added to your car after it arrives locally. They can be fitted by the dealer before you take delivery, purchased afterwards, fitted by a third party or even you.

Floor mats are a good example of a basic accessory that is dealer fitted before delivery, installing a set of roof racks could be a job for you on a Sunday afternoon, while a bull bar is something you might go to a third-party supplier for.

It’s important to note that authorised accessories fitted by the dealer to a new car are often – but not always so please check – covered by its warranty. Accessories bought in the aftermarket are not.

Dealer-fitted accessories can also be rolled into the purchase price of the car and amortised across a repayment schedule. But doing it that way raises the total price of the car. Using aftermarket suppliers is often cheaper and offers wider choice.

What range of options are on offer?

Given the diversity of the new car market from small city runabouts to hulking 6.0 metre utes, it makes sense there are different options and accessories that suit different vehicles.

Starting with the basics, you should negotiate to have floor mats included in the recommended driveaway price of the vehicle.

All new cars have tinting or pigmenting of some kind on the side and rear windows, often with darker ‘privacy’ tinting on the rear side windows. But you may be offered additional darker tinting to be fitted by the dealer. Just make sure it stays on the legal side of the regulation

This is likely to be significantly more expensive compared to having it done independently. Dealers rely on the convenience of having it done before you pick up your car, rather than you taking your car to have it done later, and can charge accordingly.

Seat covers are another protective option you might consider, but again, take the time to shop around and save yourself some money.

As the type of vehicle and the way it is used gets more specialised, so the equipment considerations become more complex.

If you’re doing a lot of country and night driving, then a bull bar is a logical purchase. There are cautions here though, because not all bull bars are created equal.

The best are compatible with the safety systems in the car so airbags still work and forward facing radar sensors and cameras aren’t interfered with. There should be a confirmation on your invoice, and a sticker on the bull bar certifying compatibility.

It’s also important to ensure a bull bar doesn’t interfere with the cooling of the engine by blocking air flow to radiator inlets. You may not notice any issues with engine cooling when driving around the suburbs, but demands on the cooling system change dramatically once you’re towing a two-tonne trailer up a hill on a hot day.

If there’s an issue with a vehicle overheating, vehicle technicians always ask first what sort of bull bar is on it.

Approved and non-approved accessories

This is a good time to mention the conflict between approved and non-approved accessories for your vehicle. In theory, approved accessories designed by the manufacturer or their agents are the best choice.

But sometimes they are just re-branded examples of what you can get cheaper in the aftermarket. Sometimes they simply aren’t as good.

Sometimes the manufacturers get it wrong when they develop genuine accessories on their own rather than in co-operation with the expert companies.

If you’re off-roading regularly in a 4x4, then the correct tyre choice is a must. You want deeply grooved all-terrain rubber to improve grip on loose and soft surfaces.

Alternatively, if most of your driving is on the highway, then that’s the type of tyre you want. It will have finer tread and therefore be quieter and have less rolling resistance, saving on fuel costs.

If you’re doing the big trip around the country then you might want to consider a set of inbuilt drawers for your wagon, a tub liner for your ute or a heavy-duty rear suspension upgrade for whatever you are towing your caravan with.

One trend that has become especially noticeable as dual cab utes have risen in popularity are models coming from the factory with popular accessories such as bull bars, snorkels, sports bars, side steps and tonneaus already fitted.

It’s simply the manufacturers recognising the opportunity that’s built up around accessorising utes and cashing in ahead of the aftermarket.

What are they worth?

There’s no doubt options and accessories are big money-spinners for the auto brands, their dealers and third-party suppliers.

But that’s not so much the case for the vehicle buyer when it comes time to sell to sell the vehicle sometime down the track.

Yes, generally speaking, the evidence is that loading your vehicle up with extras doesn’t boost residual values, at least not much. That especially applies to factory-fitted options.

“When it comes to the used car market you tend not to get the same value you paid for an option or option pack when the car was new,” explains Ross Booth, the global general manager of vehicle valuation expert Red Book.

“Does that mean the option has depreciated at a greater rate than the base model? The answer is 100 per cent yes. People value the car or model more than what they do the individual options.”

So to put that into real world context, you buy a car for $50,000 with a $5000 option pack. Over five years the car’s value depreciates 50 per cent to $25,000. But the value of the option will depreciate substantially more. It’s now worth much less than $2500.

An even more obvious example is metallic paint. Brands can demand $2000 or more as an option, but it generates little or no extra value in the used car market.

“It’s great for you when you tick the options box because that’s what you want – full personalisation. The reality is they don’t hold their value as individual items when you go to sell,” says Booth.

But as always there are exceptions to this rule. When an option fundamentally changes the vehicle and the demand is great in the used car market, then it can boost value.

“Especially on vehicles such as BMW M3 with performance packs, performance brakes and things like that,” explains Booth. “Be careful though, after six options you’re up to $20,000 and to get that back is difficult.”

What about accessories added to the car by the dealer or aftermarket?

“As a general statement there is value in accessories but it’s very hard to quantify,” says Booth.

That especially applies to the ute segment, which is subject to a high level of accessorising.

The best returns are gained by accessories that have a good reputation. For instance, a high-quality tray fitted to a cab chassis ute will improve its value.

“It’s the same story with nudge bars and bull bars – people know the good quality stuff,” says Booth.

But go beyond the common changes, to extensive and expensive modifications like suspension ride height changes and there is little to no chance of making any money back.

They can also void your warranty so think hard before doing it.