After one of my bosses booted me from the grossly superior company vehicle to one with non-functioning AC, a non-functioning CD player, and relatively nonadjustable seats, I noticed his motives. Comparing a Chevy Equinox to a BMW X5 there are very few changes concerning looks or amenities. Which makes me question how much is a more expensive vehicle really worth? Rather how much are the respective badges from auto manufacturers worth?

In the mid 90′s, I had a somewhat similar but more blatant experience when trying to make repairs to a mid 80′s Chevy Nova. After a few trips to the junk yard and talking with one of the owners it became very apparent the car I was fixing had cousins if not siblings being made at Ford, Toyota, and Honda. Does the brand of a car matter to you if nothing else is different other than the people working on final assembly? Do you think more or less of people that buy brands?