Money Mag's Top 10 Luxury Cars under 50K

[Amused]

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/car/

1. BMW 3-Series
Still the sport sedan king,
despite several attempted coups.

2. Mercedes-Benz C-class
Sedan pretty and posh; budget-
priced coupe a major disappointment.

3. Cadillac DeVille
A surprisingly good car under the
Social Security styling.

4. Infiniti G35
Performance trails only BMW; best
buy among rear-drive, luxury sport
sedans.

5. Lexus ES300
Beautifully built, unobtrusive
performance, too Camry-esque for
some.

6. Lincoln Town Car
Design refreshed but still painfully
dated; relies heavily on fleet sales.

7. Acura 3.2TL
Lovely and loaded with technology.
Makes a convincing luxury
statement.

8. Mercedes-Benz E-class
Lovely and loaded with technology.
Makes a convincing luxury statement.

9. Cadillac CTS
Competent performance, polarizing
exterior, atrocious interior.

10. BMW 5-Series

 

[Taggart]

Boy do I hate Cadillac. I dislike American cars in general, but now GM is trying to rebrand Cadillacs to appeal to younger consumers, which isn't going to work. It was a real shame seeing them in Matrix Reloaded...the car chase just wasn't as awesome with a Cadillac sedan!

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: Taggart
Boy do I hate Cadillac. I dislike American cars in general, but now GM is trying to rebrand Cadillacs to appeal to younger consumers, which isn't going to work. It was a real shame seeing them in Matrix Reloaded...the car chase just wasn't as awesome with a Cadillac sedan!

Whatever you say, Jimmy.

 

[imported_Mike]

hehe, an economy class for the rich, got to love the benz. Why is the 5-series 10, should be closer than that...

 

[BigSmooth]

I wonder what the criteria were... it seems to be just the preference of the writer.

Funny that the CTS is even on the list considering they say it has an "atrocious interior"... isn't that kind of an important feature of a luxury car?

 

[andy2812]

Why would they choose the Lexus ES300 when the GS300 is a better and sportier car. It's a true luxury car, unlike the ES which is just a glorified Camry.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

The Caddillac DeVille is under $50k?? Didn't know that. Their list seems right, they took the best cars out of all the different luxury segments and made up this list.

I believe them with the DeVille and Town Car, is a ultra-smooth & comfortable car for under $50k; kinda like the poor-man's LS430.

 

[psteng19]

Money autos writer, Lawrence Ulrich, calls the Infiniti G35 "the best buy among rear-drive, luxury sport sedans." It offers performance bettered only by the BMWs for $7,000 less.

Performance-wise, the G35 beats every 3-series other than the M3.

I hope he's not referring to the 330; being $7,000 less than it, it seems like he is.

 

[LittleWolf]

Originally posted by: Amused
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/car/

1. BMW 3-Series
Still the sport sedan king,
despite several attempted coups.

2. Mercedes-Benz C-class
Sedan pretty and posh; budget-
priced coupe a major disappointment.

3. Cadillac DeVille
A surprisingly good car under the
Social Security styling.

4. Infiniti G35
Performance trails only BMW; best
buy among rear-drive, luxury sport
sedans.

5. Lexus ES300
Beautifully built, unobtrusive
performance, too Camry-esque for
some.

6. Lincoln Town Car
Design refreshed but still painfully
dated; relies heavily on fleet sales.

7. Acura 3.2TL
Lovely and loaded with technology.
Makes a convincing luxury
statement.

8. Mercedes-Benz E-class
Lovely and loaded with technology.
Makes a convincing luxury statement.

9. Cadillac CTS
Competent performance, polarizing
exterior, atrocious interior.

10. BMW 5-Series

Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: LittleWolf

Originally posted by: Amused
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/car/

1. BMW 3-Series
Still the sport sedan king,
despite several attempted coups.

2. Mercedes-Benz C-class
Sedan pretty and posh; budget-
priced coupe a major disappointment.

3. Cadillac DeVille
A surprisingly good car under the
Social Security styling.

4. Infiniti G35
Performance trails only BMW; best
buy among rear-drive, luxury sport
sedans.

5. Lexus ES300
Beautifully built, unobtrusive
performance, too Camry-esque for
some.

6. Lincoln Town Car
Design refreshed but still painfully
dated; relies heavily on fleet sales.

7. Acura 3.2TL
Lovely and loaded with technology.
Makes a convincing luxury
statement.

8. Mercedes-Benz E-class
Lovely and loaded with technology.
Makes a convincing luxury statement.

9. Cadillac CTS
Competent performance, polarizing
exterior, atrocious interior.

10. BMW 5-Series

Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

LoL CTS at number 9 beating out a 5 series ? WTF ?
I have nothing more to say

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: LittleWolf
Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

LOL. that's what i was gonna say

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: LittleWolf
Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

awwwwww, pissed off that audi and vw didn't place a single spot on the list?

 

[Argo]

I like how they rant on C230 coupe. Especially the part about "cheap interior". I own one, and trust me - there's nothing cheap about the interior. Beats anything japaneese or us automakers have ever produced.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: Argo
I like how they rant on C230 coupe. Especially the part about "cheap interior". I own one, and trust me - there's nothing cheap about the interior. Beats anything japaneese or us automakers have ever produced.

well if compared to the bigger brothers.. it could be considered cheap.
I personally like the interior of it.

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: Argo
I like how they rant on C230 coupe. Especially the part about "cheap interior". I own one, and trust me - there's nothing cheap about the interior. Beats anything japaneese or us automakers have ever produced.

well if compared to the bigger brothers.. it could be considered cheap.
I personally like the interior of it.

Well, you get what you pay for. You won't get napa styled leather and wood trim in a sub 30k car. Yet, by saying cheap they're implying it's worse that an average car. That statement is pretty far from the truth.

 

[Random Variable]

Originally posted by: BigSmooth
I wonder what the criteria were... it seems to be just the preference of the writer.

Funny that the CTS is even on the list considering they say it has an "atrocious interior"... isn't that kind of an important feature of a luxury car?

The interior of the 2004 CTS is much improved.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I dunno. Seems to me my Passat is a better "luxury" car than the CTS. Ah well, in the eye of the beholder I guess.

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

Toyota Tundra 4WD V8

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: BigSmooth
I wonder what the criteria were... it seems to be just the preference of the writer.

Funny that the CTS is even on the list considering they say it has an "atrocious interior"... isn't that kind of an important feature of a luxury car?

The ratings are based on sales figures, not performance, fit & finish, features or interiors -

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- The BMW 3-series, with a wide range of models, easily tops a list of the most popular luxury cars in America for less than $50,000. Sales figures were provided by WardsAuto.com. In the first quarter of 2003, 27,430 of the 3s were sold. That beats the next selling car, the Mercedes Benz C class, by 10,000 units.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: LittleWolf

Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

I ran across it online and posted it because it had 'interesting' results. Chill out.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: LittleWolf
Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

awwwwww, pissed off that audi and vw didn't place a single spot on the list?

Personally, I think that their whole comparison system doesn't make any sense.

Who's bright idea was it to compare a sport sedans like the Infinity G35 or BMW 3 series against land yaghts like the Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DeVille?!? It makes about as much sense Anandtech comparing laptop and desktop computers together to figure out which one the "best value" is. They aren't in the same catagory, so they shouldn't get lumped together!

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: LittleWolf
Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

awwwwww, pissed off that audi and vw didn't place a single spot on the list?

Personally, I think that their whole comparison system doesn't make any sense.

Who's bright idea was it to compare a sport sedans like the Infinity G35 or BMW 3 series against land yaghts like the Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DeVille?!? It makes about as much sense Anandtech comparing laptop and desktop computers together to figure out which one the "best value" is. They aren't in the same catagory, so they shouldn't get lumped together!

they're all under 50 grand...

 

[Mani]

This lost all credibility with me as soon as I saw C-Class at #2.

 

[Spac3d]

That list sucks.

 

[LittleWolf]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: LittleWolf

Tsk tsk you guys are really crazy to read a "Money" magazine for car rankings. It's like Car & Driver decides to rate the top 10 mutual funds in US....

I ran across it online and posted it because it had 'interesting' results. Chill out.

Easy buddy... nothing personal. Just making an observation. :frown: