February 6, 2026
Infinite Cars Replies
Thanks to everyone who replied to my last message where I asked how much they’d pay for an infinite car.
The answers ranged from:
“Zero. I’d never want that.“
to:
“About 25% more than my current car.”
to:
“Maybe up to a million dollars.”
So, yeah...
A pretty big range :-)
What was perhaps more interesting were the questions people replied with to help them come up with a valuation.
Things like:
“Would I own the car or would it be more like a lease?”
“Would the purchase be transferable?”
“Would I be able to let other people drive the car? Could people borrow it? Could I rent it out?”
“Would the car company be tracking my location and other data all the time in order to provide the services?”
“Would it magically morph into a new type of car every five years or so as my needs change? (e.g., sports car to station wagon to SUV to pickup truck)”
“What if it gets outdated or banned if something changes like, say, self-driving cars become the norm?”
“What if the car company goes out of business and stops providing the maintenance and support services?”
Good questions!
It’s amazing how many intangibles factor into a decision like this.
Speaking of which...
I found it notable that not a single person asked me about the tangible features or quality or “fanciness” of the car (e.g., Mazda vs Maybach).
This might be because of the way I worded the question, or that it’s sorta beside the point, or that they were imagining an infinite version of their current car.
Here’s the thing...
I think there are a few things this exercise tells us:
- Potential buyers don’t have a sense of a “fair” price for an extremely novel offer.
- Value is totally subjective. To some, your offer is worth $0, while others would happily pay top dollar.
- Intangibles that are not core features of your offer can have a significant effect on a buyer’s willingness to pay premium rates.
Fun exercise! Thanks for playing along, gang :-)
Yours,
—J