QOTD: How Much Does It Hurt to Lose a Base Engine?

by Tim Healey

Published: July 1st, 2024

qotd how much does it hurt to lose a base engine

Hey there B and B, I am going to level with ya a bit. This week has gotten off to a slow start in part because it's a holiday week and news is slow, in part because I was working on our podcast, and in part because I've been working on a long op-ed. So the QOTD is a bit late today.

We're going to try to get some more normalcy tomorrow and Wednesday, but we'll be off Thursday and Friday is a work in progress.

But I digress, you came for a QOTD. Today it's a very simple one, because of the reasons mentioned above.

Will you miss the base engine on the Toyota Supra? More broadly, does it bother you when a vehicle lose a base engine option, thus almost always having an higher price of entry?

Let's apply this not just to sports cars -- a segment where base engines have long helped enthusiasts buy a car that they otherwise might not be able to afford -- but to every segment.

You know what to do. Sound off below.

[Image: Toyota]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 47 comments

Zerofoo 2 days ago
I would rather that car companies put the correct engine in the car to start. The "base" engine is almost always there for rental car fodder. Simplifying drivetrains would go a long way to reducing costs. If you want a smaller engine, buy a smaller car. The trend of putting small highly-stressed engines in big cars sucks. Hybrid drivetrains are even worse - complex, heavy, and certain to cause future high repair bills. All for a few MPG. Finally, to hell with CAFE standards. Just divide the fines among all the units you sell and get some lobbyists to get rid of the standards the Federal Government has no constitutional right to set anyway.

1 Reply
- VoGhost 2 days ago
  How many Z4s do you see at Hertz?
  
  Like
- 1995 SC Yesterday
  Eenterprise has them
  
  Like
Bd2 Yesterday
If it were my parking garage; I'd invite a bunch of friends over, get naked and start rolling around in there to protest this outrage!

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