Luxury (and premium) vehicle drivers - what are you currently driving?

2019, Subaru Crosstrek, bought for cash.

18 mb e class wagon. Cash purchase.

To me, luxury is based on fit, materials, finishes and latest tech infotainment.

The non luxury may be too much use of hard plastic inside the car finishes, cloth or fake leather seats, slow and out dated infotainment. Every premium brand will have a low to higher trims within a model, the objective is to fit the buyers budget and preferences.

Lambo

Luxury/premium is debatable, but Mercedes CLA250, 2 year lease, $0 down, 24,000 kms/year for $248/month including tax and maintenance #2 and #1. One of the better RFD opportunities we've taken advantage of.

What is luxury and what is premium is also in the eye of the beholder. If your a single parent of two kids and working minimum wage job than a Honda Fit can be pretty premium.

kev604 wrote: ↑ What is luxury and what is premium is also in the eye of the beholder. If your a single parent of two kids and working minimum wage job than a Honda Fit can be pretty premium.

I could have any income and I would still love the Fits over any entry level base luxury car.

2013 Lexus RX 350. I am looking at the Lexus NX new PHEV expected as a 2022 model. I wanted to trade up this year but passed with the RX running so well and little driving due to covid.

2015 S550

smacd wrote: ↑ Luxury/premium is debatable, but Mercedes CLA250, 2 year lease, $0 down, 24,000 kms/year for $248/month including tax and maintenance #2 and #1. One of the better RFD opportunities we've taken advantage of.

Where did you get this offer?

NuF518600 wrote: ↑ Where did you get this offer?

It was made available at the start of the pandemic last year. If I’m correct it was a Calgary MB dealer that had a number of vehicles coming back from a rental company that went bankrupt. Lots of people took advantage of it across the country.

2018 Lexus RX350 with luxury package, since didn't like the red leather in F sport. Paid outright at the time. Could have bought a German car but I'm owning this and wanted reliability and low maintenance cost.

kev604 wrote: ↑ What is luxury and what is premium is also in the eye of the beholder. If your a single parent of two kids and working minimum wage job than a Honda Fit can be pretty premium.

Fully agree, when I was younger a car with leather and navi was premium.

eldiablo wrote: ↑2015 S550

Any out of warranty issues you have had to deal with so far?

None so far. This is my second MB. I am rather tall and am not into SUV's.

2016 X3, bought it used for work - financed
2007 GT3 paid cash

I love my German cars as their designs and driving dynamics really suit me. I can/will never purchase a luxury/premium Asian made vehicle.

2018 S4 - leased, 2021 M4 incoming

Features and technology gap used to distinguish premium and mass market brands, that has really closed in last few years, with majority of tech/safety/comfort features can be found on Civic class of cars these days.

In general premium vs mass market brand comes down to powertrain choices and intangible quality differences. Most mainstream cars, to cut cost and max economy of scale, have 1 or 2 sluggish engine choices only and in most cases they are not inspiring to drive. What separates a A4 from a loaded Accord these days is down to stuff like chassis tuning, NVH refinement, quality of materials used, and to some extent the tech/infotainment. Whether those things are worth 10k is up to the buyers.. personally right now I see little value in getting the base engine choice in the lower end of a luxury brand's range. Objectively cars like CLA250 and C300 don't offer nearly enough extra to justify the upcharge.

Then... what separates true luxury to premium brands is the name recognition. Some still don't put Audi in same category as MB and BMW (FWD architecture, VW parts blah blah), and it's a even harder battle for Acura/Genesis etc.. More curious where people define Lexus and esp Tesla these days

Currently driving 2019 QX50 (leasing). Decided to go with because we have previously owned Infiniti vehicles and have overall liked interior quality and performance.

Though we have come close to financing BMW and Audi vehicles, but it's usually various vehicle issues that have kept us away.

I agree luxury and premium could be subjective, though some brands are well known to be luxury.

I recall coming across a thread not too long ago, where someone was comparing a CX5's interior to a particular BMW's. Got me thinking if CX5 has really improved the quality of their interior to that extent. It's been a while since I have sat in a CX5.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ My suggestion is a Tesla Model Y.

I have test driven Model 3 and found it to have overly simplistic interior/dash. Sorta reminded me of Ikea. Saw some videos of Model Y and appears to have similar interior. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I suppose it's preference.