With the 2039 model-year cars now on the market, many people are considering the purchase they have been putting off. However, many people do not understand what goes into determining the price of a new car, or what other options they have, and often get stuck with a model that is either too expensive, or doesn't fit all their needs.
The Car Wars rules show how to calculate the value of any vehicle; simply add the prices of the individual components. However, it must be pointed out that the value and the price of a car are not the same thing. The value (in Detroit Standard Exchange Rates) is what the AADA is interested in when assigning Divisions; they don't care if you got a good price or if the dealer took you to the cleaners. While the price a dealer charges you is based on this value, it will seldom be identical to it.
For standard models, the price of a new car will be very close to the value, as described above. The difference is usually minimal, a few percent in either direction, and will depend on the popularity of the model, where the sale is taking place, how high up on the sales chart that particular salesman is, etc. It is up to the referee to decide whether or not a "standard model" exists with the features desired by a player; the AADA Vehicle Guides and the Combat Showcase make excel lent references. If an appropriate model does exist, it could take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks for delivery.
The next possibility is to modify an existing model that comes close to the specifications that the player desires. Some modifications are, of course, trivial, such as switching tires and ammo types. Others are still easy - adding spoilers or airdams, installing weapons links and other electronics, or changing the armor locations. These jobs can often be performed by any well-equipped backyard mechanic.
Other jobs should only be attempted by well-trained mechanics at qualified garages. These include replacing weapons with others that take the same space or less, installing a smaller power plant, adding rocket platforms, or removing gunner positions and excess weapons. Often, the new room from removed hardware can result in useful cargo space. In any case, remember that retrofitting will cost 10% and up for the new parts, plus an hourly fee ($100 or more) for the garage, and that salvaged parts rar~ ly fetch more than 50% of their original price.
More extensive, and more difficult, changes cost more and take longer. Exchanging a front-mounted weapon for a rear one or replacing a rear weapon and medium power plant with a large power plant could probably be done at any qualified garage. The problem, of course, is not one of finding the necessary space, but of finding it in the proper place.
Consider, for example, the problems faced by a mechanic who wishes to remove a small power plant (from the front) and a rear-mounted autocannon, and replace them with a super power plant (in the front). The space and weight requirements match exactly, but he still has to move many of the components of the vehicle back, rearrange many others, and move the firewall back about a foot before he can even begin to match up the powerplant linkages. That is why this sort of modification is done at a specialty garage.
To calculate the cost of this rebuild, figure around $1,500 for every "space" that has to be moved from one position to another, and then add the cost of the new components and a
50% retrofit cost, not to mention a good-sized tip for the head mechanic.
All of the above prices are figured before any discount for prestige of a character. Though prestige discounts are offered by some garages for word-of-mouth business, the specialty garages do not generally discount their work - nearly all of their customers are already in the top fraction of the profession. Also, it should be noted that the "value" is calculated exactly as before, by summing the prices of the individual components that are still in the car.
The last option, usually open only to very rich duellists or those with heavy corporate sponsorship, is to design a vehicle from scratch. Because of the standardization in today's bodies and components, a car can be made with almost any combination of size and options, within weight and space limits. This standardization has made the design task much simpler than it was 50 years ago, when months or years of testing were needed before a new model was released. Still, not just anyone can either draw up the blueprints or do the final assembly.
After contracting someone to do the design, blueprints will be available in two to three weeks. The cost of this service is around $500 plus 5% of the car's value. The component cost will be around 250% of the vehicle's value; most of this extra money goes into tools, labor, and testing. Allow about six weeks for construction.