It’s time once again that we address the true definition of a car category. This time, it’s one that’s been driving me crazy for years, and I think it’s about time that we either give it some parameters or, better yet, stop using it. Are you down to help?
The category? “Luxury cars.” That’s a term I really don’t know the meaning of, but based on how it’s often used, I don’t think anyone else does either.
The 1988 Lincoln shown in the ad below is virtually identical to the 120,000-mile example that I once bought, and it was a “luxury car” in virtually any sense of the word you could imagine. Cushy, button-tufted seats, and whisper-quiet up to around 60 when wind noise from the house-like aerodynamics took over. That’s an easy one to define.
The definition of luxury gets murkier as you move away from such obvious textbook examples. Some time back Matt asked a question on Slack about a car recommendation for a friend:
This kind of sent the staff off in different directions with suggestions. Our own S.W. Gossin mentioned that the Durango and Chrysler’s Aspen version of that SUV were quite plush and comfortable for him; they fit his definition of “luxury,” and he’s probably right.
Unfortunately, in my mind, anyone who actually uses the word “luxury” to describe what they want wouldn’t touch an old Dodge or even Chrysler with a ten-foot pole. This person is using that as a code word for a brand name. They want a cheap Mercedes, a BMW, or something with a cachet. The badge is what that luxury means to them.
Any number of European “luxury” SUVs could answer Matt’s question. But as a car person with only $15,000 to spend on a “luxury” SUV, I’d have to say the answer is a high-mileage Lexus RX all day long. NEVER suggest an over-five-year-old European car to a “normie,” or you’ll never hear the end of it when the Euro car does what depreciated Euro cars do. You will personally get all of the blame for bad German electrical engineering.
The whole “luxury” thing seems rather superficial and silly. A fully loaded Camry with wood and leather inside (and certainly an Avalon) seems very much like a quiet, comfortable luxury car in anyone’s book, but will it be allowed to fit in that “luxury” category?
On the other hand, an old BMW 318i might instantly get the “luxury” stamp by most people, but does that vinyl-upholstered, firm-riding compact with an operating-room-sterile interior have any of the characteristics that truly qualify for the category?
What are the essentials for a luxury classification? Does the badge matter?
Top graphic image: Mecum Auctions
Luxury is subjective depending on the person and the bar moves every product cycle. One could argue today’s EVs match the luxury criteria of the Great Recession era but with better reliability.
I’m not within the income or investment tax bracket to shop luxury but I do know that while I look uphill from main street that whatever the German brands are putting out, is not luxurious at all. My K4 is more luxurious than whatever the A3 or Golf could hope to be.
Genesis is the only brand that gives “luxury” to me in the present day that people could afford. The current and past generation G90 have the design, presence, material quality, and reliability that I associate being worth handing over extra coins compared to a mainstream brand.
Bentley and Rolls Royce are luxury brands of course, but I would say that they are opulent luxury, AKA in a whole different class of their own.
Side note, a lot of mainstream brands have pursued becoming premium to catch those in the middle class whose investment income is outpacing their wage growth. Infiniti I would say has always been premium, and the Q70/L was their only true luxury vehicle.
For the normies, it’s 100% brand-name and 0% actual quality or engineering.
The third cupholder.
Cruise control, working radio and a backup camera.
When it has billionaire doors.
https://youtu.be/IJIAOosI6js
A luxury car is any car that loses about 50% of its value as soon as it drives off the lot.
My first car was a 2CV. Luxury is not having to hand pump your washer fluid.
I’ve had two Lotuseseses, which were simultaneously luxury cars and more basic than any car I’ve had since the 2CV.
I daily a motorcycle. Your decadent 2CV had doors AND a roof!! Luxury!!!
So easy…
The French were a great example:
Same for a W123 Mercedes. You could have the blasted thing in 200D version, all 55hp of it, manual eveything. It was still luxury.
Great article. I’ve wondered the same thing all my life. It all boils down to the verbiage that sells you a desired image without much real tangible evidence (aka marketing).
In the 80’s my dad would go ballistic with the car commercials advertising “luggsury” with a drawnout overemphasized pronunciation.
He’d say “that’s a pile of gimmicky bs and not how the word is even spelled.”
The worst were the Chrysler commercials as I recall.
Back in the day, it was pretty easy – once leather seats made an appearance, luxury. This was a time when vinyl of varying quality was more or less standard and cloth was mostly a “foreign car” thing.
Until GM and Chrysler started in with the plush velour seating.
A luxury car is one that is always out of my financial reach.
By the traditional definition a lot of EV’s are luxury vehicles. Quiet, move out rapidly and typically ride decently because they’re chonkers. Luxury also means found around people who have lots of money or want to give that impression. For example, a ski boat is most definitely a luxury good while a bass boat definitely isn’t. They both may have a $50k engine and go 60 mph but one exists solely to turn money into fun while the other may bring home dinner.
“I cannot define luxury, but I know it when I see it!”
Luxury has a different definition for everyone, and none of them really matter. In general, I believe luxury is a combination of nameplate, NVH and materials used. An A class MB is not luxury. A Kia EV9 is not luxury.
Where this gets into the weeds are all your in-betweens. I agree, I would not call a Chrysler luxury. I would not call a Tesla luxury. I would consider the nicest Infiniti luxury, but that’s right on the border.
It’s different for everyone, and none of it really matters.
It’s been my evolving opinion that true luxury in a car has traditionally been tied to engineering and amenities above and beyond what is needed for standard transportation needs. Usually with a bend towards making a users life easier or the drive more comfortable while expecting a longer usable life span. Think old Mercedes sedans that in some markets doubled as cabs.
Many things we take for granted today, like an automatic transmission, automatic headlamps, power seats, heated seats, etc all started in higher end cars.
This could also apply to early Range Rovers. They have been “luxury” for as long as I’ve been alive but what made them different from a Jeep was mostly the cabin being enclosed and usually with leather seats. But the luxury was it could get it’s owner to their favorite hunting spot just as easily while in comfort.
As cars got more complicated luxury has shifted to gadgets. Cars now have plenty of power to safely merge, transmissions are brainless and almost everything has AWD as an option. Every car will run to 100k miles with minimal maintenance. To stand out you need features like automatic perfume spritzing or AI assistants.
I don’t like modern luxury all that much.
Corinthian leather, Opera windows, the finest vinyl wood grain, “chrome spoke” wheel covers, or anything that resemble an Excalibur.
ULTRA luxury
Luxury, in my mind is defined as a typical thing that is over engineered, over packaged, and over scarce, by design; which makes it aspirational.
Look at watches, my $30 Casio Calculator watch can tell the time in two different time zones, knows what the date is, and can do everything a pocket calculator can. From a feature set it is a very capable device.
Now compare that to a Rolex, that if left unworn for too many consecutive days, will just stop working entirely. But the Rolex is a luxury good, and the Casio is a commodity product made to a price.
Same thing with Automobiles, a true luxury car is something like a Rolls Royce, or a Bentley. My Civics do the same jobs, and in some cases probably better (parallel parking, MPG, overall cost to maintain), but my Civics are in no way Luxury goods.
Scarcity used to be part of the marketing of true luxury cars. That disappeared in the Seventies and Eighties, at least with Detroit luxury cars when their ethos was to sell to anybody who wanted one. Before that era, luxury cars were overbuilt, not necessarily over engineered. Lincoln would give you a bulletproof 460/C6 combination. Cadillac would give you a bulletproof 472/TH400 combination. Chrysler would give you a bulletproof 440/Torqueflite combination. They were nothing fancy, but their reliability was second to none.
When I say overengineered, I mean things like burlwood interior components, hand laid by craftsmen when a simple piece of plastic or leather would do.
Your engine comparison does work though, largest engine in the lineup, detuned and underperforming so it will run quiet, and for a very long time; albeit very slowly.
Funny thing is that Rolex and certain European luxury marques have traveled the same path – at one time, they were all about putting their resources into build and material quality, and that was primarily how they were known (esp in contrast to many others).
But these days, nobody seriously argues that Rolexes are more capable watches in whatever the metric is, likewise the cars.
I think luxury automobiles travelled the same path. Rolls Royce for instance was making the Model 20 at the same time as the Model T was still in production.
When Rolex started making watches they were better than their competition, but over time thanks to advancements in marching, and technology; they were just worn for their status, not because they were better than competing watches.
In a world of $100,000 Fords and $35,000 Cadillacs, a lot of it is simply how the brand is positioned via marketing, and which details and attributes are emphasized in the design.
Exactly why I bought a Blazer instead of an XT5. I got everything I wanted, minus Cadillac’s “pleather” seats, and saved ~$10K on what is essentially the same vehicle.
It’s tough, because if the definition of luxury is super strict, being more than absolutely necessary for An Car, my cloth trimmed Scion FR-S would qualify just for being a sports car, and by the definition of some people, that’s a luxury. No-one actually needs more than a 2CV or Beetle.
Personally it’s Leather seats and a relatively smooth ride with fewer sporting pretentions than a similar model in the range, I could see that being the “Luxury” model. But even then it’s less the outline of a shadow in the sun, and more one on a cloudy day. It’s nebulous.
The overblown stretched Chrysler K-car in the opening shot is the most ungainly looking thing I’ve ever seen. A luxo-wannabe.
It’s the vibes, man. With pretty much everything loaded with features and former options, it’s look and feel. Quiet, maybe. Materials and comfortable seats.
Very personal – like the ethusiast thing 🙂
People called the Citroën DS and CX luxury cars, but to me they are just enthusiast cars. Same with my old Porsche.
It felt very luxurious to upgrade from a cargo bike to the Toyota Aygo, It had radio, AC, power steering, roof, windows, doors, engine… everything!
I think a core tenet is that they have to have a presence. A specific kind of je ne sais quoi when you see them on the road. And while that means it’s pretty hard to quantify how you get that, it’s pretty easy to know when they don’t.
No K-Car derivative did no matter how much padded whorehouse red velour seats were thrown at them. Stuff like the late 80s Grand Am-looking Cadillacs didn’t either. The Escalade didn’t until the second generation, even though fundamentally there’s not really a difference in execution between it and the first generation. I think that’s also the reason that the various attempts Ford made to make a truck version of the Navigator failed, while the Navigator itself became a status symbol. Or the peak yuppie status symbol SJ Wagoneer vs every attempt Jeep made afterward to reuse the nameplate.
LOL, I still feel like I’m betraying my status in life because my Mitsubishi Mirage has push button start and a leather wrapped steering wheel.
Don’t gotta flex us on us so hard man. Jeez.
We kept true to ourselves and custom-ordered our non-luxury 2024 Trax so we could get one with an actual keyed ignition switch.
Oddly enough, the 2nd-generation Trax looks a lot more luxurious than the 1st-generation did.