When does a simple car become a luxury car? Is it price, quality, aesthetic value or all of the above? Depending on the brand nearly every manufacturer offers some mix of "luxury" appointments. But there is a distinct difference between using the word "luxury" in a car's advertising, as opposed to leveraging its practical benefits. Therefore, in an attempt to begin to illustrate true value rather simply accepting advertising slang we have broken out a couple of the more important aesthetic and practical advantages to help with one's decision-making.
Aesthetic Value - Clearly there is significant divergence between the look of a "box on wheels" and a premier luxury vehicle. Whether categorized as an SUV, Mini-Van, Truck, Sedan or Sports Car, vehicles identified as true luxury models tend to the allow owners to immediately leverage visual prestige, as if the car is subliminally saying aloud, "I am someone of note"; because design shapes and lines are smoother, paint is more vibrant, and engine sounds are more distinct. To prove the point, park a Toyota Corolla next to a Mercedes AMG sedan and you'll get the idea quickly.
Quality Of Design - Premier luxury cars are designed to meet stringent technical requirements across-the-board. Even in the case of well-appreciated marques such as Mercedes, BMW or Cadillac there are differences in the quality of fit, finish, operating efficiency and overall performance between lower priced models, and cars at the apex of a brand's food chain. For example, buy a BMW 128i at $29,900.00 and you'll get a good car, buy a BMW M6 at $102,100.00 and you get the ultimate in over-the-road machinery.
Operational Dependability - There's a reason that 60's product designer Brooks Stevens coined the phrase "planned obsolescence." In this case his rationale was highly subjective and simply a way to shorten his actual thinking which was; "Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary." However, over the years Stevens' original thinking has been skewed by others to spawn an entirely new cost center inside and alongside the car business, the service segment.
When discussing dependability in context of a premier luxury car, average service costs are significantly lower year-over-year as compared with lower priced models. The practical point in this case is, does one want to front-load or back-load one's operating costs? In the case of major drivetrain issues associated with engine and transmission, or problems associated with today's vehicular electronics service costs can equal 20% - 40% of the original car's purchase cost within three years. As the axiom says; "You get what you pay for."
Whether one is considering the value of visual appeal, or a straight return on investment (ROI) in the context of dependability, if possible buy up. It tends to pay off in the long term.
