Blind to the Value
As equipped, our test Patriot Limited 4x4's price was $29,700, and people found that hard to stomach. Dig deeper, and you find the base price for this trim is $24,550, which is a bit lower than that of the CR-V's and Tucson's higher trim levels (see them compared). The roughly $5,000 difference amounted to our Patriot's long list of options, including the automatic transmission, a moonroof and a premium stereo with unique flip-down rear speakers in the liftgate. There's also remote start, Bluetooth phone connectivity, HomeLink, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a cargo cover, roof-rack crossbars, a readout for the tire pressure monitoring system and more. The in-dash multimedia system included a well-executed navigation system with a free year of Sirius Traffic Service. It also featured both analog and digital jacks for playing and controlling audio sources and for loading songs and photos onto the onboard hard disk drive.
It's actually a lot of features for the money, but there's such a disconnect between the price and the perception of quality that people seemed blind to the value of the added options. If this doesn't illustrate the importance of aesthetic quality, nothing will.
See also:
Freeing A Stuck Vehicle
If your vehicle becomes stuck in mud, sand or snow, it can often be moved by
a rocking motion. Turn your steering wheel right and left to clear the area around
the front wheels. Then shift back an ...
Enabling And Disabling Parksense
ParkSense can be enabled and disabled with a switch
located in the switch bank of the instrument panel or
through the Customer-Programmable Features section of
the EVIC. The available choices ar ...
To Raise Rear Seat
Raise the rear seatback and lock it into place. If interference
from the cargo area prevents the seatback from fully
locking, you will have difficulty returning the seat to its
proper position.
...