Two disparate experiences precipitated today’s QOTD: a quick stop at the local Hyundai dealer … and a conversation with my nine-year old.
From unpredictable East Coast weather to trying to guess next week’s gas prices, there are an abundance of variables in life around here. One constant, however, is my penchant for driving through a dealer’s lot or three to check out inventory whenever I make a trip to town. Yesterday, I turned a wheel at the Hyundai store, idly wondering if how many Santa Cruz pickups will be in stock when they finally make production.
Sitting on the front row was a current — and final — model year Hyundai Genesis with just slightly over 10,000 miles, presumably a demo. Caspian Black, entry-level Premium model. Now, when I say entry-level, I’m not exactly talking about a base Ford Aspire. Sumptuous 12-way adjustable leather seats, a panoramic sunroof and dual-zone automatic climate control are all on board. Toss in a capable 3.8-liter V6 shuttling 311 horsepower through all four driven wheels and someone is going find themselves in what they no doubt will think is a very luxurious ride while getting in excess of ten grand off the $43,000 Monroney.
Contrast those thoughts with the utterances of my nine-year old while riding in this week’s whip from the press fleet: a 2017 Honda Ridgeline Sport. At nearly 40 large (CAD), the trucklet is well thought out but nevertheless devoid of leather, satellite radio, and other appurtenances of luxury. The Ridgeline failed to “feel like that much money,” according to my offspring who, it must be said, appears to be jockeying for my gig as an auto journalist. I told him he’ll have to learn to like shrimp if he wants my job. Digressions aside, he’s right — in Sport trim, the Ridgeline is lacking in niceties found elsewhere at similar price points. (Buying advice? Make the $3000 walk to an EX-L, a trim level which would silence all my grousings by providing more features for only a bit more cheddar.)
Still others define luxury as the ability to do or experience things which were previously verboten. Not those things, you dirty bugger. Take Tesla’s Autopilot, for example, which allows drivers to lean back and let the car steer for a while (how well it does that is up for considerable debate and a subject for another column). Humans being the way they are, most of them will use that newfound freedom behind the wheel to quickly respond to a text or read an email (not that we recommend you do so) without fear of haphazardly piloting their car directly into a school bus full of disabled orphans. That freedom is a new luxury not heretofore afforded to drivers, a luxury held in higher regard by some than any amount of premium Napa leather.
So what is luxury? Is it an abundance of features which didn’t exist in your previous ride? Prodigious power? Enough technology to make Elon Musk blush? Me, I recall appreciating the ability of my grandfather’s ten-year old GMC to claw its way to the door of his woods camp on the weekend, saving me the effort of bundling up like a mummer and having to travel there on a worn-out Yamaha Bravo. To me, that’s true luxury. How about you?
Minor nit: $3,000 is no pittance and will raise the payment almost $100/month. It’s right at 10% of current ATP, correct?
That was the first thing that came to my mind. It may be difference from me buying a a loaded Camry and a Avalon.
Most do a 72 month loan these days. 3k is a lot closer to $50 a month for most folks.
Signing a 72 month car loan is the first glaring sign that you have no business spending an extra $3,000 to go up a trim level.
The best luxury of all is having a paid-for car. Being bled for five or six or eight hundred a month for five or six years (then starting all over again) is not worth it.
You can buy a very good luxury car (or whatever else you want) for a few thousand cash – just get it properly inspected before buying it. Being tens of thousands of dollars ahead… aaaahhhhhh…..!
I used to think that. Then I purchased some used luxury cars and realized there is truth to the statement “If you can’t afford it new, you can’t afford it used”
Now having said that and I have gotten to a place where I can afford it new, some vehicles I’d get used because it would still be cheaper but by in large I prefer a new car and to drive my money out of it.
If you look at the average two car household you realize that most will never be without a car payment. My family is on a 10 year replacement cycle for our vehicles, but all that really means is that my wife and I each get a new car every 10 years, but we split it on 5 year intervals so that we don’t have 2 payments at a time.
At my current commute distance, I drive roughly 20-25k a year. That’s more than 200k when 10 years is said and done assuming the car makes it that long – the car will be fully depreciated at that point. Buying something a few years used just means I’ve bought it with less useful life left, and maybe payment overlap with my wife’s car if I can’t keep to a 10 year cycles.
Yes, but if you buy a 3 year old car to keep for 7 years, you can probably pay it off in 2-3 years for the payments you’d make on a brand new car with 5 year financing.
:shrug:
Heated steering wheel.
I thought it was a stupid gimmick. It’s not. Only applies to these living in colder areas, tho.
Heated steering wheels are worth much more to me than heated seats… My fingers go frozen while the rest of my body is plenty warm enough. Many suffer the same problem and heated steering wheels are a godsend. It is literally warmer than gloves in zero temperature weathers. Bare hands in zero temperature weather yet still warmer than gloves! Gloves seem to hold in the cold for me somehow and yes, I have 10+ different pairs of gloves and hand warmers… heated steering wheel beats them all by a mile.
I have a heated steering wheel. My car also needs a heated gearshift knob. (6MT)
Good call. Ironically, the only car I’ve had a heated steering wheel on was my former Nissan Leaf, and I really miss that feature at this time of year!
Agreed, we have our first auto with a heated steering wheel. Very nice when it’s 5 degrees out like it was yesterday. I would also add AWD. Probably won’t want to purchase another vehicle without it.
There’s nothing stupid about a heated steering wheel. I live near Memphis. I don’t know if that qualifies as a “colder area”, I know this though. It was 21 degrees outside this morning, and I sure wish I had one! I hate wearing gloves, And that steering wheel was cold.
A ventilated steering wheel it was 83 degrees yesterday and the car had been sitting out for a few hours in the sun.
Another vote for heated wheel. My 04 BMW has (had) it until last winter when I used it, smelled a burning odor and the heated wheel was no more. I’m totally bummed about it, but glad that it’s more popular on modern cars. As I car shop, it’s actually been of the choices that’s narrowed the field. I test drove a SHO with it, hopefully will be trying out a Challenger later this week. Heated stuff is fantastic, heat the door sills, the shift knob, the pedals, I freaking hate the cold.
One thing I did find myself doing was putting the back of my hands on the wheel in order to warm up frozen digits; it’s a great feature, but it can’t solve all problems.
@Yesac13 I agree with everything you say about heated steering wheels. It was -35C here on the weekend and with heated steering I’ts more comfortable without gloves than with. Also I feel like I’m more control with bare hands than when I’m wearing great big “garbage man” mitts and I don’t have to take them off to change the radio station. I hate that Ford/Lincoln Toyota/Lexus wheels barely heat up to the 10 and 2 positions but not higher. Toyota, Mazda and Subaru have been the slowest to offer heated wheels and only offer them on the highest trim levels of the Highlander, Sienna, CX9 and Legacy. Meanwhile Kia and Hyundai have offered them on their entire lines for years.
Heated seats have another use that applies to moderate climates as well: it works to mitigate the temperature preference between driver and passenger. My girlfriend is from Singapore, so anything less than 80 degrees is cold for her. Solution: cabin at about 70 degrees and her seat warmer turned on full.
This. My Pathfinder has it, and I laughed at first. Then it got cold, and I used it. It’s awesome.
Another vote for Heated Steering Wheel. Early-onset (rheumatoid) arthritis sufferers can find this life-altering on cool (not even cold) mornings. The wife JGC has it, and my next car will have it at any cost.
This is weird.
My aunt was a die-hard Saab lover and after totaling her last Saab 9-3 she replaced with a new BMW 330i xDrive (which she insists is not as good as her Saab). The big problem with the Bimmer seems to be that it doesn’t have a heated steering wheel like her Saab.
My wife’s car has this and I love it.
My next car will have it if I can find it at the right price. I already want out of my current commuter because it lacks heated seats, and that sucks when it’s 20 degrees out in the morning and the car isn’t garaged.
Only if you can turn it off…
My Wife’s cayenne has a heated steering wheel thats AUTOMATIC. Its AWFUL. You cannot shut it off. my hands are hot and sweaty and its HOT. ugh.
Most cars have a shutoff though.
Heated wheel, no contest. At least where I live in Minnesota.
While heated seats are a deep “ahhh” once warmed up, the abundance of nerves in the hands mean that a heated wheel is “oh god oh god oh god keep me alive please you heated wheel keep alive”.
Thick gloves make driving a chore and sometimes dangerous. Thin gloves are hopeless upon a 10F steering wheel.
My butt, torso and legs can get by fine. But my aching fingers would trade a heated seat ANY DAY for a heated wheel.
“Heated wheel, no contest. At least where I live in Minnesota.”
I live in MN. Must be one of those things you don’t miss until you have it. Couldn’t trade me remote start for a heated steering wheel, but maybe having both would be nirvana. When we have temperatures like we did last weekend my vehicles get started and run for a long time before I get in them. Meaning they are nice and toasty warm when I get in them.
I had remote start with no heated steering wheels.
Heated steering wheels without remote start is more bearable for me! Better have heated seats if no remote start, tho. Many states or towns/cities are starting to ban remote start because of… “pollution”.
Get the heated steering wheel for the next ride in the future!
I have both on my 300, and the remote start turns on both the wheel and the seat. It’s amazing. I can start the car from my desk, step inside it 5 minutes later and it’s like I parked in a heated garage all day.
Without these things, it was a little hazardous driving all bundled up and unable to turn my head as much as I’d like. There’s no “pucker zone” where the heat isn’t warm yet, the windshield is still frosty around the edges, and my body isn’t clenched up in a ball.
All these things plus climate control make north-of-the-jet-stream winters really bearable. Give it up for FCA, none of these systems have ever hiccuped on my 92000 mile car.
The remote start turns on the heated seats in my Tahoe. It will also only run for so long before it shuts back down. Which I suspect most systems do.
Snowmobiles have had heated grips and throttles for a long time so I can see where a heated steering wheel in a car would be nice.
I have enjoyed the heated steering wheel and heated seats when driving my SO’s Cadillac, but for me they don’t really enhance the experience so much that I wish I had them.
Remote start is the big thing that I couldn’t do without. My Impala doesn’t have heated seats or steering wheel, but it has GM’s factory remote start that allows me to start the car from my phone. It used to require an OnStar subscription, but last year they started offering a free bare-bones OnStar package that includes the remote start app. The ability to start the car from my office, inside a shopping mall, or anywhere else that is out of range of a typical remote really makes a huge difference on a cold Buffalo day.
Seriously, a plush fake sheepskin cover for no more than 5 bucks fixes all of these issues. And it also keeps your hands from burning on sunny days. Hard to find decent quality ones now that they have gone so hilariously out of style though. All gas stations used to sell real ones back in the day here.
“So what is luxury?”
a brand, more or less.
Cylinder count.
Much engine
Such luxury
Amaze
You know you’d love a $70,000 E400 2.0T.
Power locks that actually work for the life of the car (as opposed to five~ish years) and don’t cost hundreds of dollars to replace the actuator.
Looking at you, Volvo and Toyota…
A heated steering wheel and rear wheel drive.
One feature that is almost always worth the money in a non-luxury car (and sometimes even then) is the premium audio-system option. There’s nothing more depressing than needing to crank the bass all the way up on a cheap sound system.
Other than that, I’ve gotten spoiled by proximity keys, and I sure appreciate remote start on cars that are available with it (mine wasn’t, though other Volkswagens are).
Interesting. The only reason I’ve ever turned on the “sound system” in my ’13 Sonic is because you HAVE TO in order to change the time on the clock, which gains 3 minutes a month.
I suppose that’s why you can no longer get a car without a radio. At least my Acura has a clock separate from the radio, so I never have to turn the radio on for any reason.
“One feature that is almost always worth the money in a non-luxury car (and sometimes even then) is the premium audio-system option.”
I can think of a number of exceptions to this.
Unfortunately, this is a case-by-case basis. There are some fantastic premium audio systems out there, but there are just as many where the improvement is negligible over the base system. It’s truly dependent on trial and error as far as I can tell.
“There are some fantastic premium audio systems out there, but there are just as many where the improvement is negligible over the base system.”
It also depends on how much you demand out of your audio system and what “sounds good” is subjective. The Bose systems in my 3 GM vehicles all seem pretty damn good to me. I’ve heard people comment how bad they are. I’d never bother going with the cheap system and then spend time & money tearing apart a new car to put in an aftermarket. I’ll be honest that with the last 2 new vehicles I bought I would have never even thought to compare the base and upgraded audio systems. Not how I roll, just put the better system in and be done with it.
This is one of those examples where less is, almost always, definitely more.
It’s a sad fact that premium sound systems are often non-upgradable. I went through this dance with my MKZ. I had ordered (and gone through the serious trouble of fitting) some high-end drivers for the doors, only to discover that the difference in speaker sensitivity (relative volume) totally screwed up the active noise cancellation. Worse, it resulted in this bizarre low-end feedback. Not having the tools to recalibrate this, I was left with no choice, the mediocre “premium” speakers went back in the doors. In my cars equipped with Bose systems, I just had to suck it up and live with them.
Conversely, my base-model Tacoma responded very nicely to the speaker upgrade (Focals, with the addition of a modest aftermarket amp). That was quick and easy. Unfortunately, if you’re an audiophile, compromise is often necessary with luxury cars.
On a list of features this is LAST. An aftermarket audio system is almost always better. However these days these audio systems are so integrated into the Nav or A/C controls that your pretty much stuck with whatever junk the OEM decided to wire up. Since most people don’t know what good sound is (IE: BOSE crap) the OEMs can put garage audio components in then up charge you claiming its an amazing system. Like most things its all a matter of comparison. So your idea of a good sound system is most likely very different then mine.
After clipping a wall yesterday backing up I being to think parking sensors and a rear view camera are must haves. However these are become standard options, but at one point they were considered “luxury” items.
When I think luxury its normally related to materials, fit and finish and sound insulation. Everything else is just a gizmo which will move downmarket over time. Right now message seats are pretty high on the list of luxury only goodies.
“An aftermarket audio system is almost always better. ”
LOL no. I haven’t looked at the really high-end stuff, but the aftermarket speakers selling for $100-200 a set are almost all garbage. nonsense like cast aluminum frames and sparkly mica cones can’t offset a poorly-designed speaker.
Bunkie, your MKZ probably had factory DSP applied to the signal. Even though your Focal speakers were better, those OEM speakers at that local were likely fed an adjusted signal that compensated for the peaks, valleys, and troughs.
If you have an iPhone and the original ear buds that came with it, download the free Dirac player to see what a difference a good DSP can make to mediocre hardware. When you’re spending more for the high end factory systems, what you’re mostly getting is more R&D into the final effort.
OK, I’m going to call this out. yes, factory systems are heavily equalized.
Why? *because of the goddamn car.* 90% of the EQ in a factory system is trying to account for the listening environment, not the speakers. you can take a good speaker with flat frequency response in its passband, but once you put it into a car door that’s all wrecked. and by “wrecked” I mean “in the car the frequency response deviation is now +/-10 dBSPL.
Listening to speakers inside a car is like listening to a multi-way cabinet home speaker, except you’re sitting *inside the speaker cabinet.* if you think you can swap speakers, neutralize the factory equalization, and have an *accurate* sounding system without any equalization you’re delusional. you might *like* the way it sounds, but that’s another thing entirely.
If it’s a BOSE or similar, it has crisp and clear highs, once you tune out most of the bass. Then piggyback an amp with high-level input, built-in low-pass EQ/crossover, then subs.
Tap into the rear-deck speakers for the amp input, and use the fader to control the sub volume.
Not a big deal, nor expensive. Easily removed for trade-in, lease return, etc. Just the base, cheesy stereo in a pickup truck can sound 1000X better.
$250 worth of after market speakers sound better than the $1500 premium sound system for my car.
Bun warmers, a necessity on leather/vinyl seats. I love them, and Wifey has an after-market heated seat cushion our son-in-law bought her for her 2002 CR-V. She loves it to death!
yea even here in Texas, it was 26 this morning, I first got heated seats in a 2007 Audi and won’t live without them now. Moving to Sonora CA in a few months maybe I’ll think about those heated wheels next car.
What does luxury mean today? Who cares? A Chevy Cruz has more content and better materials than a 3 Series did in the 90s.
Safety is the most important factor for me, and that feeling that comes with knowing that you put your family in the safest car you could.
I’m looking at replacing my aging family kicker and the new Pathfinders and Highlanders I’ve been looking at are nicer in every way than the Devilles and Sevilles I drove when I worked for a Cadillac dealer in the early 2000s, and as safe as any Volvo out there.
If I can get a good deal on a Pathfinder with AWD and a moonroof, it may as well be a Rolls as far as I’ll be concerned. Better yet if I can get a nice cloth interior instead of leather.
You’re asking two questions.
“What feature or ability is worth the money?”
For me, driving feel. It’s not something that’s easily measured but I like for a car to feel “right”. This encompasses a variety of items.
How does it sound (aural theater)?
What’s the view like over the hood (visual theater)?
How do I fit in the car?
How’s the interior?
What’s the gauge design?
How responsive is the engine?
So for me, it’s not one particular thing but a combination of these and other factors which culminate in a visceral driving experience.
As for the second question…
“What is luxury?”
Uncompromising.
Not sure your questions are based on options.
True, but his point is well-taken: no compromises.
One defining factor, for me, is effortless power. That means no turbo-lag, no aural cacophony, no feeling that I’m asking for too much from the engine.
The rear back-up camera on the ‘Hoe is worth every penny anytime I’m hooking up a trailer. Man I love that. Expensive though because you had to get the Navigation to get the camera.
I really like cruise control. I came up on beater Volvos with cruise, so I really missed it when I switched to modern economy cars. It seems difficult now to find a car with both a clutch and cruise, which is why I bought the Sonic.
That’s not been my experience. To the extent that it’s true, it must be limited to the very bottom models. Every car I have test driven or bought in the last ten years has had both cruise and a manual transmission. Examples are Infiniti G37 and Ford Focus (bought both), Mazda3, BMW 3 series, Audi TT, Porsche Cayman. Even my 1984 RX-7 and 1998 Subaru Legacy had cruise.
Kia is infamous for not having cruise control on manual transmission cars, which are only available in the lowest trim level and usually the smallest engine available.
My 2015 Tacoma has a manual and cruise.
One reason we didn’t buy a Hyundai Elantra touring (wagon) was that to get a manual you had 2 choices, AC,PW,PL not much else, Or to get cruise control a $4000 package of everything else. Yet the equivalent base auto had cruise. I can live without the power windows and locks, even the AC in VT, but my Sciatica appreciates cruise even on short drives.
With modern computer controlled engine management I really don’t trust aftermarket cruise.
Just wait until you try adaptive cruise…
Once I had adaptive cruise, i could never go back. It literally lowers my stress every day I’m on the highway making me a happier better person with much less road rage.
Adaptive cruise would probably make me angrier. Most left lane slowpokes are unaware of anything more than about 5-10′ off their rear end and thus they don’t get the #$%* out of the way if you’re farther away than that. That and adaptive cruise would constantly slow me down when I maneuver around these knuckleheads to pass them on the right.
Thought of another feature that I like: the “small” wheels on the bottom of the line models. Because I don’t want to pay to replace 18″ or 19″ tires after a few years of ownership.
Absolutely. Smaller diameter wheels (matched with higher profile tires) make cars quieter, smoother riding, and less expensive to maintain long-term. Frankly, whatever ultimate handling improvement one gets with bigger tires seems a poor compromise in added unsprung weight and a flintier ride. It isn’t like most brands need the wheels to clear larger optional brakes.
One feature I’ve come to like is folding mirrors. They can turn a minor incident into a minor scratch vs. a torn-off mirror housing and door damage. I had a bicyclist clip my mirror once when the car was parked on the street. It folded right back and the broken mirror lense cost me $11 (Mazda5). My Ford Taurus had it’s mirror housing snapped into pieces when my ex clipped the edge of the garage door. Let’s just say that cost a lot more and required taking the inside of the door apart to bold the new one on. Would I buy one car over another for this feature? Frankly, it never even occurred to me to look when I bought the cars, but it’s appreciated after the fact.
Oh yes! I forgot about the folding mirrors… or at least ones that have some “give” built in for when I have a moment of indiscretion (and imperfect depth perception).
Oddly, I thought 18″ WERE small wheels.
My last few cars had 20s (2010 Camaro SS, Ford F350 Lariat).
I was pretty excited with my newest car because it had smaller wheels which would be cheaper tires (18″)
Which is clearly your point.. haha.
Yep… you get it.
A lot of us grew up driving on 13″, 14″, and 15″ wheels and somehow we survived.
So many features have become standard equipment in the last 5-10 years (we can thank the Korean brands for moving that forward). We might have previously said things like “auto door locks” or “power windows,” but everyone has those now along with many other things.
There are a few technologies that currently strike me as luxury/premium items: Adjustable suspension modes, gigantic Tesla-style touchscreen interfaces, heated AND cooled seats, and performance-based use of electric engines (Tesla, supercars, etc). I would pay extra for all of those things.
The Kia Soul offers heated/ventilated front seats (and heated rear seats), so that feature is no longer exclusive to the “premium” makes. Even advanced safety features like forward collision prevention, lane keeping assist, etc. are becoming available on lowly cars like Corolla.
Gadgets trickle down (and become outdated) so quickly nowadays that materials, build quality, power, and “exclusivity” are the last remaining markers of luxury.
Sounds deadening material. It’s a pain to retrofit (dropping and reinstalling the headliner is no fun) and gives any car a perceived level of refinement.
Ooo this is a great answer. Our perception of luxury is so heavily tied to this.
Yes. I’ve driven Hondas — not known for their quiet — for the last 18 years. They’re great cars, but tend to have high levels of road and tire noise, and in my current Fit (yes, I know it’s the bottom of the line) 3700 rpm engine noise at speed. Premium audio would be nice, but only if you can actually hear the difference above the car’s own noise.
Agreed, this is very important and a fundamental measure of comfort, particularly on long drives.
High road noise was one of the major reasons I got rid of my Acura TL earlier this year–highway driving (which is most of what I do now) was miserable.
Luxury is fun to drive, reliable, affordable to maintain, effective transportation. When I was 16,that was an 89 civic dx hatchback mt. I loved it so much and hated the guy who told me it was a pos.
Being stuck at the side of the road, or endlessly searching for gremlins ruining your lux features is not luxurious.
Agree 100%. The most important features and a luxury for many (unfortunately) is a vehicle that they know will get them or their family safely and without any worries to and from any trip that they take it on, any day of the week.
@Arthur Dailey
People thought I was crazy for cross-shopping Hyundai with cadillac and BMW, but ultimately getting my family from point A to point B safely was the most important thing for me.
So whatdya know? I bought a Hyundai because I thought it would be the safest and most reliable option.
Just a few options that are worth the money. Order of importance. My opinion based on living 30 minutes from canyon runs and ski resorts.
1. AWD
2. Heated seats and steering wheel
3. Dual climate control
4. Remote start
5. Ventilated seats
AWD was never a huge deal, despite living in the snowiest city in The United States of America (Syracuse NY).
I’m in the industry and always find it odd that there is a correlation between 2WD cars and Snow amount. The snowier the place, the LESS likely people are to buy AWD!
AWD is most popular in places that “occaisonally” get snow.
So I bought my wife an AWD porsche, but I just drive a 2WD.
I wouldn’t even consider number 3 (Dual climate control) a luxury item. I would consider that an absolute necessity. I would never drive a car without it.
I also despise heated steering wheels, but love heated and ventilated seats. I think remote start is “worth the money” but not essential.
But hey, we definitely have different opinions. How about a fold down rear seat so you can take skiis to that ski resort? haha. I didn’t realize thats not standard on some cars!
Wait, Syracuse gets more snow than Buffalo, New York?
If we are talking cities over 50K people, yes.
Syracuse, Erie, Rochester, Buffalo
Lake Erie/Lake Ontario really f@ck those places up.
Houghton/Hancock, MI and places out west get more snow, but don’t have the population.
“The snowier the place, the LESS likely people are to buy AWD!”
Unless there are hills, you don’t really need it. The snowiest cities usually have the most people who understand how to drive in the snow too… and the idiots who don’t make themselves known by ending up in the ditch, the way nature and Darwin intended!
There was a car commercial a few years ago with some lady’s voice talking about driving in the rain and how AWD was so good. I wanted to yell at the radio, “Shut up! Nobody needs AWD for rain. You are making America suck!!”
I like your old GMC-as-luxury analogy and will throw in with it. The ability to get my young kids into the backcountry is a feature worth paying for. A new rig capable of doing so will cost as much as that discounted Genesis and you will enjoy far fewer creature comforts, but a Genesis won’t help you make memories with your kids.
I don’t know. GMC trucks, depending on model, can be quite luxurious. I test drove a Sierra Denali. Very smooth, very quiet, had many bells and whistles.
See, you can have your cake and eat it too!
I built a GMC Denali Canyon with the diesel just for fun. Had that baby up to $49K MSRP no problem. For that money it better be luxurious.
Heated seats are nice.
Air conditioned aka ventilated seats are luxurious!
More so than a specific do-dad or feature, the ultimate “luxury” to me is the utility of a vehicle to fit me, who ever I’m driving, and all of our things to get to where we need to go without a second of doubt as to whether the vehicle will struggle with weather/road conditions. For me this narrows the field down to basically midsize/fullsize SUVs depending on just how many people/dogs are along for the ride. I don’t want to worry about pothole-d I86 near Erie ruining my day with a blown out tire or bent rim, I don’t want to worry about epic lake effect snow impeding progress. Now I may not absolutely NEED the full capability at any one moment, but the assurance that it is there if need-be is perhaps the ultimate luxury.
If only a truck-based SUV can do that, you live in a place where the weather is too miserable!
Lake effect driving through Erie is an almost guaranteed issue (in addition to the terrible pavement there and near the Seneca reservation). We’ll be making the drive from Indy->Canton-> Ithaca, my 4Runner and its snow tires are part of that sense of assurance, although something a bit more highway oriented with a longer wheelbase would be best. A few years ago in the spring I was hauling a trailer through that stretch of I86 after a winter’s worth of freezing and salt and the pavement was Siberia-tier, saw 4-5 cars with flats in the 11 mile stretch of road the NYSDOT simply marked as “rough road next 11 miles”
There is only one feature truly worth the money: reliability.
Bingo. Every Hondota is a luxury car.
LOL
He’s right, and the sales figures show it. Which of the top-10 sellers in this country is cheapest-in-class? Which of them will have real trouble making it to 250,000 miles?
None, and none!
According to the missus, a feature worth paying for is a power tailgate. That’s all she asks — that is beyond the standard kit these days — for the next one.
What is luxury? Indeed, HubCap — no compromise.
I can’t imagine my wife going back to a non powered tailgate.
Power tailgate with an electric motor to open and close it or with a gas strut to open it?
What I like about the power tailgate on my older Lexus is that I have the luxury of being able to open and close it manually if I’m in a hurry, Can’t do that with many other powered liftgates.
You *can* do that on my C-Max. I wouldn’t though.
@Adam, Is it hard to move? Does it make a terrible high pitched whirring sound? The new Lexus SUV’s are like that if you try to close them manually. On Mine it’s like opening a regular tailgate if you want to open, or close it manually. It’s the way the motor is designed.
It is not happy about being opened or closed manually. Terrible noises. I like the design on your vehicle better. Probably costs $.85 more and that’s why no one has it anymore.
@Adam, On mine the motor is separate from the struts, see that lump in the ceiling.
http://gtcarlot.com/colors/car/24203224-13.html
in the New ones the motors are somehow integrated into the struts.
http://www.truedelta.com/images/mk_reviews/1462243466-RX-cargo-area.JPG
My wife loved to power tailgate on her cayenne, until she saw the non-power one on my hyundai. It may not be power, but it opens automatically just from standing behind it (then you have to close it yourself).
My wife’s opens and closes with a motor, but you have to push a button. Since she often has her hands full from the store or something, the “power tailgate” was less beneficial than a non-power on that opens itself!
VW4Motion and 87Morgan and pktojd: I’m with you guys, as well as radar and cameras.
I traded in my 2011 for a 2014 which had all these options.
1. A straight tub devoid of corrosion
2. A wiring harness with no splices, rewires, or changes
3. An engine whose camshaft drive, water pump, and oil pump can be changed in the car
4. A gearbox that can be removed by itself to change the clutch
5. New OEM parts available online from a faraway dealer
6. Trailer wiring that can be added by unplugging and replugging connectors
7. A trailer hitch that requires no drilling or sawzall work to install
8. Enough stiffness in the tub and bushings to avoid shivers, shakes, and wandering
9. A powertrain that can give you a big kick somewhere, either down low, in the middle, or up high
10. Real connection to the road through the ride and controls, transmitting back what’s beneath you the whole way and making you want to take the twisty way home.
Bigger touchscreen headunits 9-10 inches
Highspeed usb ports
Power outlets
Ventilated cooled front and rear seats
What are you doing such that the speed of the USB port in your car matters?
One feature that I thought was just a gimmick until I had it was automatic climate control. And in some cars, it is – but a good automatic climate control system is a nice luxury. It’ll use the light sensor to figure out how much sun is hitting the car and compensate with the air conditioning. It’ll have another sensor that helps it to keep the windows from fogging up in the winter.
I used to consider it just normal to have to keep tweaking the settings to deal with little details like that. And not all cars that list “automatic climate control” on their features list actually get this sort of thing right.
Just today on my way home from work in the cold I appreciated my auto climate control. It’s definitely nice to have the cabin stay at a constant temperature without any fussing.
There are two themes to these answers: features and subjective things like “feel” or “specialness.” I agree with both of them.
Automatic climate control is the one feature I can’t do without. It’s thankfully become almost universal in the last couple of years, but was limited for most of my driving life to loaded and luxury machinery. In cars without it I’m constantly irritated by the need to make tiny adjustments all the time. The best of the auto climate systems (I’d particularly single out the one in my former 2004 TSX) just mean I never have to think about the temperature, ever. Even the worse ones reduce the amount of constant tiny adjustments needed.
As to subjective factors… I want something that gives the car a sense of being special. In my history that’s sometimes meant a rare or oddball car. But when the car isn’t rare or oddball, it means having every option, including the rare ones. Used early LS460s are a dime a dozen, but I felt driven to look all over the country to find one with a few rare options, and I ended up driving it home 800 miles from California.
Luxury to me is Isolation from rough roads. I also like certain features.
1. Power tilt and telescoping steering column (I’m looking at you Volvo!)
2. Heated, and Ventilated seats, Heated steering wheel.
3. Real Wood, not the fake stuff.
4. Lighted vanity mirrors (looking at you Tesla!)
5. Rain sensing wipers (my favorite feature of all time, I could never go back to manual wipers)
6. Auto dimming outside mirrors (Not just the inside, This one is very helpful!)
7. Ambient Interior lighting (Illuminated door sills with the car companies name, Lights in the cup holders)
What cars don’t have lighted vanity mirrors? Not since my ’77 LTD have I had a car that didn’t have lighted vanity mirrors and that includes a ’92 base level Probe.
If a 1977 LTD had illuminated vanity mirrors, Then you’d think a Tesla Model S would too. But it doesn’t.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/vanity-mirror-550×183.jpg
The Model X has them though, so maybe Tesla is finally learning something.
2009 Ford Focus SE definitely does not have lighted vanity mirrors, nor a rear dome light. If you’re loading the baby in the car seat at night and something falls on the floor, goodbye! until morning.
Auto open AND close for all windows and sunroof. Most German cars seem to have auto up and down on all, others have it for just the front, some just have auto open, but not close.
I want auto open/close on every single thing that opens/closes and extra bonus points if I can do it with the keyfob. My BMW has spoiled me to this, all potential replacements fail to measure up (not buying another German).
Look at Ford (not auto for the rear windows though)
My Lexus has all of the above, and most lower-line Lexuses do too (CT being the big exception).
Actual mechanical LSD on a sports car
Actual low range/locking diff on a truck
Air suspension on a road car that will not be tracked/autocrossed
Adjustable suspension on a car that will be tracked/autocrossed
Sunroof delete
Full size spare
Luxury = Want
Most of the time it’s anything over basic functionality, like heated seats, premium sound, etc. When I was a kid, it was air conditioning, power windows, and cruise control. In the future, it may be autonomous driving.
For me it equates to a paid off car that let’s me use the car payment for other things.
I agree seems 2 questions here. What would you pay extra for every single time vs what is luxury. I think there was an article about what is luxury not too many weeks back on TTAC.
And reading these comments, I now understand why car companies offer so many different choices and upgrades. Because as someone living within 100 miles of Canada, and hearing everyone rave about heated steering wheels, I should really like them. But just the last 2 days I was using one and it’s off within about 3 minutes. Anything longer and my hands are getting too hot and start getting clammy. Blech.
I’ll leave out the basics like cruise or power windows. Nearly every car has those now. Not really a pay extra option anymore.
For me the heated seats (if leather) and ventilated (awesome as someone who tends to run hot) would definitely be on my list.
Otherwise the HID/LED headlamp upgrade. Great headlamps are worth every single dollar when you live in darkness. However after seeing those IIHS scores last week, maybe I’m equating HID with better visibility and I shouldn’t be doing that. I just know the BMW and VWs I’ve had with HIDs have been incredible at night.
Lastly, its a tough one, but I really love the 360 degree parking sensors as well. Not sure if I’d pay for that one as a stand alone though.
After 4 years in Boston without them – HEATED SIDE MIRRORS
Not available in 2012 Special Edition Accord
In no particular order…
Head Up display
AWD–even in warm weather its worthy for those big rain days
Heated/cooled seats
Heated steering wheel
Ultra bright headlights–should be standard for safety
Surround camera on larger cars
Adaptive cruise control
Adaptive high beams
Massaging seats (better than you think)
Your mileage may vary
Soft upholstery, fake wood, quiet ride and a fancy “Limited” or its equivalent badge on the trunk lid. Everything else is bound to be in there.
I never used to care about luxury, having driven econoboxes and old junkers most of my life, primary concern being the ability to work on it myself.
Then my wife bought a used 2003 Hyundai XG350L. It was old and beat up but the interior was immaculate! Completely spoiled me, I felt like a million bucks when I drove it.
I traded in the Aveo for a King Ranch, then that for a Sonata Limited. Can’t go back…..
I’m gonna say low NVH, along with ride quality. Those are luxuries. A machine by nature is loud and uncomfortable. It takes extra work and engineering effort to make it not so.
Multi-way power seats and power lumbar support. The 4-way passenger seats in Honda/Acura products drive me nuts. I always drive our Odyssey rather than sitting shotgun because the passenger seat sucks for tall occupants.
I recently saw somebody install those 12-way power seats from an E38 7 series into his E39 5 series. Fantastic idea.
1) HUD (Heads-up display), when executed well – I’d pay extra for it, but most cars still can’t have it at any price, and some implementations are really cheesy.
2 & 3) effortless power and silence
If you like light colored interior than Leather upholstery is a must-have. Tan fabric seats will be stained quickly; tan leather ages very well.
For Me personally I’m always willing to pony up for
– Remote Start!!! I can’t imagine ever owning a vehicle without this again.
– Two tone interior with earth colors (no black or grey anywhere please). If the seats are a lighter tone than I need leather.
– Sunroof
– True 4×4 (the kind you can destroy by using it on dry pavement)
– Bluetooth phone calls
– tilt/telescoping wheel with the two functions adjusting independently. The kind where you adjust at once don’t really tilt they just raise and lower the height. I want my wheel near 90 degrees dammit.
Also I’d define luxury as a vehicle for which there exists a cheaper alternative that’s functionally equivalent but you buy this expensive one anyways. Or to phrase it another way if the vehicle sits at the base floor in price in a segment it’s not luxury no matter how expensive it is. A $70000 Suburban isn’t a luxury vehicle; cheaper alternatives that are functionally equivalent do not exist. However a Range Rover is certainly a luxury vehicle as cheaper variants that do the same thing are readily available (4-runner, Jeep GC, etc). Midsize sedan covers everything from an Altima to an E-Class.
Two features that I must have in any given car:
Power windows, because operating the passenger window roller is impractical and even unsafe in moving traffic, especially with today’s bulky center consoles. Luckily the vast majority of cars have this.
An AUX jack I can plug my iPod Touch into, although Bluetooth has matured to the point I would not mind having in my next car.
I can do without almost everything else.
When I think of luxury I don’t really think of gadgets or features. I think of really nice, classy interiors. Nicer than average materials used throughout, stylish layout, real wood, comfortable, fully adjustable seats, and multi-zone climate control. It should look expensive inside.
AWD and heated anything I need to sit on or hold.
Comfortable, heated seats with lumbar support. Uncomfortable seats are a show-stopper – I don’t care how good the rest of the car is.
My point of reference is 10 year old cars, so for me its:
– Full touch screen infotainment (or equivalent- no more Casio calculators)
– Bluetooth
– Auto up/down windows all around
– Tilt & telescope wheels
– HID or LED headlights (low AND high beam)
Android Auto/Apple Carplay sound nice too but I have yet to use either.
In a multi-driver household, I’m all about memory seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors. I don’t see enough mornings of below freezing temps to care much about a heated steering wheel. Would pay some for cooled ventilated seats, but it’s not must have. Longevity is my next favorite luxury feature.
+1 on memory features. If I could just add one feature to our C-Max (which both drivers in the household drive regularly) that would be it.
Push-button transmission.
Flo-Thru Ventilation.
Whitewall Tires.
Pyroxylin Finish.
Bigger tail fins than last year’s model.
TruCoat. You don’t get it, you get oxidation problems and it’ll cost you a heckuva lot more than $500.
I live in a metro area where I have to drive about 45 minutes in any direction before I start escaping the sprawl. Thankfully, my commute is short, but for weekend trips, my (tiny) kingdom for radar cruise control. I can deal with just about everything, but the ebb and flow of speed for asinine reasons drives me psychotic. I assume when I eventually buy a new car years from now, it’ll be more common on lower-end cars, but if I had to go buy something new tomorrow, it’d be enough to get me to consider a ’17 Corolla.
HVAC and audio system that
“Go to 11”
“Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and…”
Why don’t you just make 10 louder and make 10 be the top number?
Rear locker. Because I just don’t need a 4×4 but that locker makes the boat ramp so much less stressful.
The keypad on the door. Admittedly I’ll be retired from the Army soon so no more morning PT, but the ability to not lose my car keys during a too long for my age run has proven priceless.
Oh yeah, remote start. I don’t have it but I spent 4 years at Fort Drum wishing I did.
Momma momma can’t you see,
What the Army’s done to me?
Gave me a cool avatar,
So I could post on Truth ’bout Cars…
If you like that, you’d probably love the vinyl (seats) sticks to kids cadence.
“Rear locker. Because I just don’t need a 4×4 but that locker makes the boat ramp so much less stressful.”
Meh – Even on a really good ramp my Sierra HD PU w/eaton locker has spun both wheels trying to get my boat out in 2WD. Put her in 4WD Low and forget about it. I tow in the winter so you couldn’t give me a tow vehicle without 4WD.
I’ve always been fine with LSD… 2WD with LSD makes me 100% happy.
Never had an issue with the boat ramp, but I also don’t have to get my tires wet.
Not a luxury item really but man the Magne-Ride on the GT350 – yeah it irons out imperfections when your going down the road but the real charm lies in its ability to keep the car composed over crap that would send earlier Mustangs skittering off the road and in combination with Ford’s stability and traction control the car is fairly unflappable.
I’m glad the GT and EB Mustangs are getting Magne-Ride in 2018 its an option that’s certainly worth the cost.
The only down side for the Mustang community is that the system is so well integrated that spring and sway bar swaps are generally out of the picture with the system. I found this out looking into the R spec components and the mag-ride on the R and the standard GT350 are incompatible since the system takes into account the rate on the bars as well as the ride height and springs and the dampeners are application specific as well so swaping out the control unit from the R still wont address the issue.
Really a small price to pay for such a great option.
Most desirable (for a 4×4 crew cab truck in Saskatchewan):
– backup camera, remote start, heated seats/steering wheel, park assist that beeps when too close, TPMS that shows individual tire pressure, oil life monitor, transmission temp, a battery that can be reached and serviced, headlight bulbs that can be replaced without removing many parts, an oil filter in an accessable location, audio and heater controls on steering wheel
Least desirable
– sunroof (if you’re >6ft, you run out of headroom, transmissions with a gazillion gears, leather seats, fancy stereo systems,
The big luxury to me is a quiet ride that doesn’t suffer from excessive road noise. If non-luxury makes were better with this, I probably wouldn’t feel the need to upgrade (probably part of the plan). Fortunately, they are starting to take this more seriously. The “tin can” feeling is really fatiguing.
I will say one feature I thought was gimmicky but have come to really appreciate are parking sensors, don’t know if I ever want a vehicle without them now.
Reading this is *Crazy* in my mind because a lot of these “luxury” items I would consider “absolute necessities” to even consider driving a car.
Dual Climate control? heated seats? Memory Seats? These are all things that aren’t luxury items, but total necessities to get from point A to point B. I would never even consider a car without them.
I’ll pay more for ventilated seats, adaptive cruise control, keyless enter-n-go, Automatic high beams, premium audio, automatic climate control, auto windshield wipers, NAV
But I don’t really consider any of those “luxuries” either, just mainstream features with costs.
I think of luxury being something you wouldn’t pay for… but would be nice to have… as in those things that are so nice they are in no way worth the money unless you are rich. If “lots of people buy it” it doesn’t seem like a luxury to me.
Alcantra headliners, Ultra-high end leathers, more than 350 HP, autopilot, massaging seats… those kind of things.
But maybe thats just because of what you are used to. I mean for me, every car I’ve owned in the last 12 years has had heated seats and memory seats, and every car I’ve had for 20 years has had dual climate. Once you have something for a long time I think you simply accept it as a given.
I was literally set to buy a new car a few months ago. I got in it, said I liked it, and then realized the next model up had memory seats and I thought, “What? its 2016 and a car doesn’t have memory seats?” I could have bought it that day, but that little piece alone made me walk.
I ended up with something else.
Auto-climate.
Sunroof.
Adaptive Cruise.
Good LED headlights.
Plentiful N/A power!