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Remember the old insult, “You’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny.” (OK, maybe only I remember that.) Ugly cars can be a beautiful thing. Honda Element, which I find cute, repulses my wife. She’d prefer the CR-V. However, a 2006 Element retails for $17,765 while the CR-V is $19,501. Skip the “cute ute” and drive the “brute ute” and you’ve got a good deal.

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Remember “Let’s Make a Deal” with Monty Hall?

He would offer contestants, who had a sure thing, a big box on stage in trade. Inevitably, it seemed like there was a donkey pulling a cart behind the box and not the shiny new car the man dressed like a pineapple hoped for.

The same can be said of “Special Editions” pushed by manufacturers like the Subaru Forrester LL Bean Edition. Frequently they’re little more than a pair of fancy floor mats and shiny wheels. Or, they’re painted special colors that look cool until you drive it off the lot. That whistling sound you hear is the rapidly dropping value of all the special editions on the market.