How important is the "Right" spec?

[Matty]

We live in an era of 100's of options, packs, and addons on cars, with various colours. Do you wait until the right spec you're after is for sale, or just have a range you're looking for that broadly ticks the box? Or just buy whatever is currently available?

I still remember buying my VXR8 in a spec I didn't want, in a colour I didn't want. It didn't massively impact the ownership, but kinda wished I'd waited.

Poll created as @mik has been lazy recently.

[Rich B]

I’m not too bothered about options - my GTi was an end of model loaded one and had everything and it was nice, but not worth paying more for, whereas my M2 was basic with no options at all. i might have held out for one with an updated stereo if i’d realised quite how shit the basic one was!

i have to have the right colour though.

[Beany]

I might be misreading the poll options, but (beyond mileage/condition) I tend to prioritise options, and not be *overly* fussed by colour.

IE on the Z4, I wanted something with a manual, heated sports seats and xenons.

Wasn't too fussed about the colour, as long as the condition was generally OK and it had the right options. Just happens that the colour I got is one I like.

[V8Granite]

I have to have certain options for the car, try and get the right colour but the drive is more important than that.

The ML had to have air suspension all round and be a true sport with half leather.

Dave!

[Barry]

I'm at the point where I want some basics, and the less of everything else the better, as it's less to go wrong.

AC, cruise, heated seats, otherwise the less of the more modern nonsense the better.

[Jobbo]

Most cars seem to be available in a very limited range of monochrome colours these days, so I'd be flexible on colour (generally dark metallics good, silver and white not).

Options are absolutely critical on some cars though. I remember how much nicer my second 545i was because it had the softer SE suspension with active anti-roll bars rather than the Sport suspension; it both handled and rode massively better.

So I'd be picky but not too specific if the perfect spec wasn't available; something close is generally good enough.

Oh, and for my daily car I want active cruise control with lane following now; I simply wouldn't consider anything which hadn't had that box ticked. Amazing how few German exec cars have it because it's a ~£2k option new.

[GG.]

I wanted a blue or grey manual GTS with Alcantara and bought a Black PDK with full leather Its a bit ying and yang though as it was loaded with a lot of other options such as PDCC, carbon interior, 14 way seats, illuminated sils, etc.

The RR had to be a Vogue SE as they have soft close doors and anyone with a wife and kids knows that you need that on a large 4x4 unless you want to endure the rest of eternity waiting for people to reclose doors that haven't latched properly

[Mito Man]

The RR had to be a Vogue SE as they have soft close doors and anyone with a wife and kids knows that you need that on a large 4x4 unless you want to endure the rest of eternity waiting for people to reclose doors that haven't latched properly

And I bet you the moment you got a car with soft close doors your family flipped a switch and just slam the doors every time

[mik]

1. Poll created as @mik has been lazy recently.

2. I still remember buying my VXR8 in a spec I didn't want, in a colour I didn't want. It didn't massively impact the ownership, but kinda wished I'd waited.

1. True true

2. One of the things I really liked about the VXR8 was that there were no options other than manuel/auto and Nav.... which was known to be crap. In saying that, I waited for a manual LS3 in anything-but-red.

I'm generally flexible on spec, and generally happy with an "any colour except" approach.

Evora had to be a manuel SportsRacer (which meant all the options packs) - I really only wanted it in one of two hues though

E-Tron had to have the 705w audio upgrade, and mrs mik was adamant it had to be jet black.

[Ascender]

Depends on the car and the cost (what will it be used for... a main car, weekend one only etc) along with what options are standard, what are extras and what I think are must-haves. Not too bothered about options having an effect on resale value as I think that's perhaps something that's not really an issue now.

I am kind of getting bored of most cars being black, grey or something in between though.

[GG.]

The RR had to be a Vogue SE as they have soft close doors and anyone with a wife and kids knows that you need that on a large 4x4 unless you want to endure the rest of eternity waiting for people to reclose doors that haven't latched properly

And I bet you the moment you got a car with soft close doors your family flipped a switch and just slam the doors every time

No they've gone the other way - I'm more worried they'll burn the motors out.

My son "closed" the door the other day and it wasn't even close enough for the motor to grab it and he said "oh its OK - it will close itself"

[GG.]

I am kind of getting bored of most cars being black, grey or something in between though.

I think I am clearly in full midlife crisis mode as I've suddenly got a real hankering for Orange Gallardo Performante Spyders

I don't think I've ever owned anything that hasn't been silver, black, blue or grey

[scotta]

M240i - Must haves of HK sounds, ZF, Heated Seats. and colours of Blue, white or Orange. I wanted an LCI car also. Anything out with those I discounted out.

128ti - Must have the HK sounds - colour I chose white to keep it under £40k for tax purposes. Slightly different as it was brand new and i basically chose the spec.

Alpine - Must haves - Bucket seats, Active Sports Exhaust, Big Brakes. Colours - not black or dark blue. Ideally orange but those are only available on later cars. White Pearl was a bonus as it looked great in the sunshine.

[integrale_evo]

I tend to buy the first one I like the look of that’s in my price range. There are things I’d probably change on all of my cars in an ideal world, but I get impatient and often want something that might not exist anyway.

My compact was probably the car I had the clearest list of ‘musts’

Had to be a genuine sport, had to have aircon, had to have the black dash / interior plastics, could not be in an oap spec colour, must have seats which weren’t destroyed and wasn’t rotten.

Then I saw an interior photo of one and knew that was the one I wanted. I ignored that it had no mot and some dodgy paint because it ticked the other boxes and was sensibly priced.

I’m probably better at picking cars for other people than myself because you can be more objective. I persuaded my mum to buy the mito she did because it was the right model and had some nice extras which made it stand out compared to others for sale at the same time.

[JonMad]

iirc when I bought the Yeti the spec was important, plus price/mileage/condition/history
conversely, the Swift... beyond wanting 5dr vs 3dr, there's only one spec for the later model I was after at the time, so the only other spec element was the colour

Generally I'd narrow down to the spec I want.

[Gavster]

In the past I only cared about the right engine and model variant, e.g. being a BMW Sport, or a Type-R.

Maybe it's my age, buy nowadays I'm very fussy about about spec, with colour being important but less so. I spent weeks scouring the adverts for my Ateca and increased my budget by a few £k in that time to make sure I could get the spec I wanted. When this one came up, it ticked all my boxes and as a result, I really enjoy driving it. Loads of the options don't impact the 'thrill of driving' but make the cabin a far nicer place, such as the panoramic sunroof and the top-spec sound system, and I'm really glad I held out for them.

[Matty]

2. One of the things I really liked about the VXR8 was that there were no options other than manuel/auto and Nav.... which was known to be crap. In saying that, I waited for a manual LS3 in anything-but-red.

I wanted white or blue, 6.2, Wortec, Manual.

I ended up with silver, 6.0, Walkinshaw, Manual....so 1/4 that being said, probably my most memorable collection - dude was US Military, incredibly nice bloke, even signed me into the miltary base he was posted at, had a quick tour (genuinely felt like being in America, even all the cars) and brimmed the tank while paying something nuts like 20p/litre.

[DeskJockey]

I would like to fuss over spec and colour, but we've never seemed to be in a position to do that.

Volvo was bought on short notice as the Mighty Micra had been condemned by rust. It was the best of the four cars we looked at.

Mazda was bought at short notice when the Volvo was stolen.

The Galaxy was a case of there being very few cars anywhere within 100 miles that fit the bill and budget, so choice was very limited.

Zoe was bought during lockdown and was the only one at the local Renault dealer.

[IanF]

@Jobbo the 992.1 Touring spec is interesting and maybe your sort of thing?

https://www.instagram.com/stories/joeac ... pzdWE0aA==

[John]

I'm aiming to scratch the Caterham itch in twelve months or so, is there any other car available with so many different options?

I've narrowed it down to a 310, probably an S but wouldn't turn down an R if the price was right. I'd be happy with the standard width body but again if a nice SV was available I wouldn't say no.

So to answer the question, the spec is important but it's flexible