FWD entry level luxury sport sedans

[del]

i would consider a maxima a near luxury car. not quite on par with those listed above but certainly not amongst cars like camry's, accord and altimas. same with the vw passat, makes that line between an accord and a tl, for example, pretty fuzzy. kinda in a class of their own. i would put the 300c in this group as well. none carry the prestigious image of your typical luxury marque like infiniti or audi but all can be had in some pretty luxury-like trim. just my $.02

[porscheguy9999]

Well, of course that is your opinion, but the Buick Lucerne isnt exactly a "Sport Sedan". And the Ralliart is more focused on the "Sport" aspect. But it's up to you what you think is the best.

[VAD0R]

Well, the Buick Lucerine might have an updated chassis from the Park Avenue but the suspension and I was wrong about the V8 engine, it is the same 4.6l Northstar as found in the STS and Bonneville GXP so it is going to be pretty sporty even though it is indeed probably focused more on luxury, but isn't that what baseline luxury sedans are basically all about. Also unlike some other GM divisions Buick has had a good reliability record beating out Nissan/Infiniti and Mazda but not quite at the standard Honda or Toyota are at. Even though the Ralliart's interior is indeed race inspired you can't rebuke the fact that it is still rather plush and luxuriously equipped, you can think of it as a lesser but more rally like equivalent to the race inspired Aston Martin interior. That is though if they do indeed take every interior detail for the production version from the concept.

[kman10587]

Sure, you can get a fully loaded Nissan Maxima for less than a lightly loaded Infiniti I35, have a better car and save hundreds of dollars, but you're still just driving a Nissan. Part of the reason people buy luxury cars is for the prestige factor that comes with the brand. As nice as the Maxima is, it'll never be a true luxury car, as long as it wears the same brand name as cars like the Sentra and Altima. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, at least not to me, it just invalidates it for this comparison.

[porscheguy9999]

Originally Posted by del

i would put the 300c in this group as well.

I was going to. But the 300C is RWD, so I couldn't.

[BP2K2Max]

Originally Posted by kman10587

Sure, you can get a fully loaded Nissan Maxima for less than a lightly loaded Infiniti I35, have a better car and save hundreds of dollars, but you're still just driving a Nissan. Part of the reason people buy luxury cars is for the prestige factor that comes with the brand. As nice as the Maxima is, it'll never be a true luxury car, as long as it wears the same brand name as cars like the Sentra and Altima. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, at least not to me, it just invalidates it for this comparison.

well, there's a sucker born every minute. the only differences between a fully loaded maxima and a fully loaded I35 is about $3000 and the physical appearance. if you're only criteria for how good a car is, is based on what emblem is on the front, then you're just waiting to be taken advantage of.

[kman10587]

well, there's a sucker born every minute. the only differences between a fully loaded maxima and a fully loaded I35 is about $3000 and the physical appearance. if you're only criteria for how good a car is, is based on what emblem is on the front, then you're just waiting to be taken advantage of.

You know what? I completely agree with you. This is part of the reason that I'm so hesitant to buy a BMW, because I know that I'm paying hundreds of dollars for a stupid badge and an image that I don't even care about. But you have to understand that to many people, a car is nothing more than a fashion statement. These people don't care about performance or value, they just want a car to impress their clients with. In this case, what badge is on the hood becomes of paramount priority.

[lamehonda]

TL is not even comparable to the others. It is too much better.

[mason_RsX]

Originally Posted by kman10587

You know what? I completely agree with you. This is part of the reason that I'm so hesitant to buy a BMW, because I know that I'm paying hundreds of dollars for a stupid badge and an image that I don't even care about. But you have to understand that to many people, a car is nothing more than a fashion statement. These people don't care about performance or value, they just want a car to impress their clients with. In this case, what badge is on the hood becomes of paramount priority.

I comepletely agree with both of you, there is such a premium on the name on the hood, granted bmw makes amazing cars your still paying extra for the name...and its amazing how many ppl in my office have these exact cars...theres a couple ppl who have Audi A4's with the 1.8T, and they get SO offended when I call it a Jetta...

[porscheguy9999]

Originally Posted by mason_RsX

theres a couple ppl who have Audi A4's with the 1.8T, and they get SO offended when I call it a Jetta...

haha. I never thought about that.

[edonis]

My vote goes to the Saab 9-3 SS! It's the only car here I really want. A rebagded Honda Accord? No, thanks, though the TL does look good.