A guide to car options, packages, and accessories
A guide to car options, packages, and accessories
A big part of the car-buying process is making sure you鈥檙e getting all the features you want. This sounds fairly obvious in theory, but in practice, it can be challenging for those new to buying cars or unfamiliar with auto industry jargon. Each automaker has its own terminology and hierarchy for how it names and equips the on its vehicles. Then there are cases when you might want certain features from a higher trim but not quite everything else that comes with going up in the range.
This is where car options and packages come in. These features add to the content that comes standard on any given trim level. This information is easy to spot on a new car since it鈥檚 found on the window sticker, but when you鈥檙e shopping used, it requires a bit of a deeper dive. shares what buyers need to know about car options and packages, and how to identify them on a vehicle they鈥檙e interested in.
Stand-alone Car Options
Options are features that weren鈥檛 included as standard equipment on the vehicle. Examples of items that appear as options are: a panoramic sunroof, an alternate engine, different wheels, a fancier color paint, four-wheel drive, and more.
Depending on the vehicle or manufacturer, and , some trims aren鈥檛 eligible for options, and some upper trims may not need options because they already have all the features.
Shopping tip: Individual options on a used car should be relatively easy to spot if the shopping website has good photos. They might also be listed in the vehicle features and specs section of the listing. If you鈥檙e looking at the vehicle in person, keep an eye out for the options you鈥檙e interested in. Pop the hood, open up the sunroof, or check during the whether there are controls for all-wheel drive.
Packages
Packages are several options that are bundled together, often with a common theme. Here are some common examples.
A technology package might include a larger touchscreen, an upgraded audio system, or features.
An off-road package might add four-wheel drive, upgraded shock absorbers, off-road tires, and underbody armor to protect the fuel tank and other components.
A towing or payload package, usually found on trucks, includes items such as a tow hitch, a wiring harness for lights, a trailer brake controller, and sometimes a revised axle ratio.
Cold-weather packages might add a heated steering wheel, headlight washers, all-weather floor mats, and an engine heater.
The names of these features will vary greatly. Sometimes they鈥檒l have an obvious name, such as 鈥淭ech package,鈥 while others might label them something like 鈥淓quipment group 402A.鈥
How can you tell if a feature you want is part of a trim, an option, or a package? This may require some online legwork, starting with the research pages on car search platforms. Select the year, make, and model. The vehicle overview should have a section detailing which features came standard on the car at each trim level. If you know for a fact that a feature exists but isn鈥檛 on the standard features, then it was likely an option or part of a package. Similarly, if you鈥檙e looking at two vehicles with the same trim, and one has a feature that the other doesn鈥檛, it was likely an option. If there are several differences, it likely involved a package.
Shopping tip: The trick here is to hone in on a 鈥渕ust-have鈥 feature and look for it in the dealer鈥檚 inventory. For example, let鈥檚 say you wanted a power liftgate on a 2023 Toyota RAV4. It was a standard feature on the XLE Premium. That was a stand-alone trim level that model year above the XLE, but it might be priced above your budget.
In some scenarios, the liftgate might be referred to as 鈥淧ower hatch/Decklid.鈥 Once the list of vehicles has been narrowed down, the buyer would see that a few regular RAV4 XLE models come up in the search results. It turns out that the 鈥減ower hatch鈥 was a part of the 鈥淴LE Convenience Package鈥 that year, which also included a moonroof. And the icing on the cake is that this particular model costs less than a comparable XLE Premium. Just like , trim level doesn鈥檛 always tell the whole story.
To recap, not every 2023 RAV4 XLE will come with a power liftgate, but if you find one with a moonroof, it鈥檚 easy to tell that it has the XLE Convenience package, which includes not just the power liftgate but also a few other upgrades.
Dealer-installed Options, aka Accessories
Accessories (also called dealer-installed options) are vehicle parts and features that dealerships sell and install. These items are often added when either the dealership or the customer wants to make a vehicle stand out. These dealer-installed options can range from cosmetic parts, such as alloy wheels, to roof racks, running boards, or even performance parts.
Shopping tip: Since accessories are less common than options and packages, you aren鈥檛 likely to come across as many in your search.
It鈥檚 Easier Than It Seems
If all this feels a bit overwhelming, here鈥檚 something to put your mind at ease. As long as you focus on the must-haves鈥攍ike a great 鈥攔ather than trying to learn all the trim levels on a given model, you should end up with the right car for you.
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