Originally Posted by
tandempower
Why would you even use personal information about your mother like this?
Why not?
I don't think your mother needs to buy a bike rack if she won't use it, but I don't think it would hurt her to have one built into a car she buys if it doesn't add significantly to the cost. Many standard items are included on cars that aren't really necessary. Why does everyone need to pay for carpeted floors and ceilings, for example? Why not just leave them bare? Rivets? Why not just spray-coat them? What about having non-upholstered seats made out of flexible plastic? Glove boxes? Why? Molded dash board, consoles, steering wheels, etc.? The price of cars/trucks could be much lower if none of these items were included standard.
The reason unnecessary items are included for everybody is economy of scale. If
nearly everybody needs or wants an item it will often be more economical to include it for everyone rather than tool up to make it optional and deal with the impact in terms of administrative overhead, assembly procedures, etc. It's not up to you to tell the world what should be standard on an automobile. Auto makers have been making those decisions for years and years and have all that worked out pretty well including various factors of which you are probably not even aware.