Luxury Brand Cars vs Non-Luxury Brand Cars

[William_Cannon 86]

Educate me...I’ve never bought a luxury car before.

 

I’m looking at mid-size sedans and there seems to be a huge overlap in price and amenities between low-end models in luxury brands (e.g. TLX or IS300) and their non-Luxury brand counterparts in a high trim (e.g. Accord Touring and Camry XSE).

 

What are some considerations that I may be overlooking when deciding between say a Honda and an Acura, or a Toyota and a Lexus? Maintenance cost? Fuel type? What else you got?

 

Thanks in advance,

WC

[immamac 43,266]

Mechanically they will be extremely similar and from a servicing cost will be more similar than not. 

The color, body panels, and quality of leather choices may differ significantly, as well as some creature comforts. The luxury brands can be far more optioned in most cases and typically will include a premium sound option not available on the non luxury brand. 

If you are looking in the used market the luxury brand gets hit much much harder by depreciation overall so a used car will be a better deal on the luxury brand than the other (in general) 

[TwiceHorn 31,628]

The upper end of the standard brand and the lower end of the luxury brand are going to be pretty comparable in every respect, including price.  

With Toyota/Lexus, the Camry and the ES300 are comparable, not the ISXXX, which is its own animal.

Probably not much difference in maintenance cost, although sometimes the luxury brands have pretty fancy paint that can make body repairs more expensive.  Lexus is fairly notorious for this.

You nailed one thing, though.  The luxury brand is apt to have a higher performance engine that might require premium fuel.  You will be told that you can use non-premium with a degradation in performance.  But, with modern turbo engines, I would recommend sticking with premium if you want the engine to last past warranty.

The dealer experience might be a bit more "premium" with a luxury brand than the standard.  That, though, is a triumph of form over substance, usually.

[Dahobbs 17,704]

All of the above is correct. But my advice is to not get too caught up in comparing luxury vs non-luxury counterparts. Figure out your budget and then find particular cars that you like and fit within that budget. What features are you looking for in a vehicle? What is most important to you (e.g., performance vs comfort vs tech)? It is easier and better to compare specific vehicles rather than brands. 

That said, if you want maximal luxury on a budget, check out Genesis (luxury off shoot of Hyundai). They've made some impressive strides since launching as an independent company. 

Here is a comparison between a G90 and Mercedes S-Class from my favorite car channel, Throttle House. I realize these particular vehicles are probably not what you're looking at, but it'll give you an idea of the value you can get with Genesis and how good the brand can actually be. 

 

[TwiceHorn 31,628]

Imma raises a good point about used and depreciation.  While the new standard and luxury models may be very comparable, you are probably wise to look at 1- 2- 3-year olds to see what the depreciation is.  That might drive you to a bargain vehicle in the used market, but it's also worth knowing what you are "up against."

[Hank Scorpio 17,731]

Buy the luxury car coming off of a 3 year lease with low miles and dealer service records and a few years of warranty still left. 

[torre 1,286]

58 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

 

The dealer experience might be a bit more "premium" with a luxury brand than the standard.  That, though, is a triumph of form over substance, usually.

Very sage statement - so true in many things.

[RPM 26,370]

40 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Buy the luxury car coming off of a 3 year lease with low miles and dealer service records and a few years of warranty still left. 

This has been my strategy and it's worked well. Lease returns and fleet cars have excellent maintenance and records. 

[CooterBrown 18,035]

Buy the luxury car coming off of a 3 year lease with low miles and dealer service records and a few years of warranty still left. 

70% of Mercedes cars are leased. I assume it’s similar to other luxury brands. Tons of good certified inventory out there to choose from.

[William_Cannon 86]

  The luxury brand is apt to have a higher performance engine that might require premium fuel.  You will be told that you can use non-premium with a degradation in performance.  But, with modern turbo engines, I would recommend sticking with premium if you want the engine to last past warranty

Well it seems the whole world is opting for I4s with turbo instead of naturally aspirated V6s. I guess I should see if those also require premium gas too.

[DalTxHornFan 3,121]

3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Buy the luxury car coming off of a 3 year lease with low miles and dealer service records and a few years of warranty still left. 

Yep.  I've been saying this for a long time here and on TOS.  I've been doing 30k-ish Mercedes E350s (or equivalent) for over 30 years.  Never paid more than $25k for a car and have always gotten over 150k out of them.  Let somebody else buy it new.  But you need to find a good independent automotive shop.  The luxury car dealership shops will kill you moneywise.

[52-80 19,272]

4 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Buy the luxury car coming off of a 3 year lease with low miles and dealer service records and a few years of warranty still left. 

Luxury brands have the shortest warranties

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

70% of Mercedes cars are leased. I assume it’s similar to other luxury brands. Tons of good certified inventory out there to choose from.

One theory: luxury brands can't sell many cars new.  So they pump the big discounts into the lease.  When they get the car back (because who keeps these leases nearing end of warranty...), they make up the difference by marking it up as certified pre-owned. 

 

You could argue people operating cars on leases don't give a shit about long term durability to treat them well. 

 

CPO qualifications are perfunctory spot checks anyway.  I'm not aware of one that includes thorough actual examinations like compression tests, boroscope of cylinder wear and valve deposits and things like that.

[DalTxHornFan 3,121]

19 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

Luxury brands have the shortest warranties

One theory: luxury brands can't sell many cars new.  So they pump the big discounts into the lease.  When they get the car back (because who keeps these leases nearing end of warranty...), they make up the difference by marking it up as certified pre-owned. 

 

I've never gone the CPO route.  The markup isn't worth it, IMHO.  I've not had a bad MB purchase thus far (knocking on my burled wood dashboard.)

[TwiceHorn 31,628]

1 hour ago, William_Cannon said:

Well it seems the whole world is opting for I4s with turbo instead of naturally aspirated V6s. I guess I should see if those also require premium gas too.

Most of em do (the four bangers) and I think it's particularly important with the turbos that you use the high octane stuff to ward off detonation and damage.  To get good mileage (CAFE) and acceptable (borderline crazy, near 300 hp/tq) power from them, manufacturers are pushing them pretty hard and I think it wise to use the premium if you want it to go past the warranty.

[William_Cannon 86]

Can you negotiate with an Acura dealer the same as a Honda Dealer, etc? For reference, I was able to negotiate 10% off of MSRP on the last Honda I bought. While it wasn’t the 30% off I scored on my F150, I felt pretty good about it. I know Honda doesn’t do incentives like Ford and it was also right after a ton of cars were flooded by Harvey. Some dealers refused to budge a penny off of MSRP.

[immamac 43,266]

You don't really negotiate at dealerships anymore. Use truecar and just be done with it. 

[TwiceHorn 31,628]

30 minutes ago, William_Cannon said:

Can you negotiate with an Acura dealer the same as a Honda Dealer, etc? For reference, I was able to negotiate 10% off of MSRP on the last Honda I bought. While it wasn’t the 30% off I scored on my F150, I felt pretty good about it. I know Honda doesn’t do incentives like Ford and it was also right after a ton of cars were flooded by Harvey. Some dealers refused to budge a penny off of MSRP.

As a previous Acura owner, during their second resurgence (04 TSX), I don't think I'd bother.  I think the Accord is a better looking car and unless you are going for the A-Spec TLX, I'd get the Accord because there's not enough difference in the running gear.  And I wouldn't get the first model year of the A-Spec.

Acura is lost.  They may be finding their way back, but haven't yet.

Edited August 9, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[William_Cannon 86]

As a previous Acura owner, during their second resurgence (04 TSX), I don't think I'd bother.  I think the Accord is a better looking car and unless you are going for the A-Spec TLX, I'd get the Accord because there's not enough difference in the running gear.  And I wouldn't get the first model year of the A-Spec.
Acura is lost.  They may be finding their way back, but haven't yet.

I was just using these as examples, could have been Nissan vs Infinity etc. And yes it appears that Honda revamped the product line while Acura got complacent. Same can be said about Lexus; they had to retro Apple Car play as an aftermarket offer and they didn’t do it for all models. The 2021 TLX is supposedly all new and the type S is supposed to be a beast. We’ll see.

You don't really negotiate at dealerships anymore. Use truecar and just be done with it. 

Where’s the sport in that? This actually looks like a good option for brands that usually don’t deviate too far from MSRP

[bschoolprof 6,273]

Can you negotiate with an Acura dealer the same as a Honda Dealer, etc? For reference, I was able to negotiate 10% off of MSRP on the last Honda I bought. While it wasn’t the 30% off I scored on my F150, I felt pretty good about it. I know Honda doesn’t do incentives like Ford and it was also right after a ton of cars were flooded by Harvey. Some dealers refused to budge a penny off of MSRP.

Ymmv, but I’ve had much more luck negotiating down infiniti and Acura vs the euros like bmw and mb. It’s a demand issue. Ze Germans command a premium.

[Hank Scorpio 17,731]

There’s a good chance Infiniti doesn’t exist in a couple of years. 

[Updawg 2,287]

There’s a good chance Infiniti doesn’t exist in a couple of years. 

Really? What’s up with that? Nissan issues catching up to them?

[Hank Scorpio 17,731]

https://www.thethings.com/reasons-why-infiniti-is-in-big-trouble-in-2020/

[bschoolprof 6,273]

Is that the teen vogue of car websites?  Jesus, that was terrible.  

In any event, I'm actually trading in my infiniti tomorrow for a beamer.  

[Dbeasy 15,138]

You don't really negotiate at dealerships anymore. Use truecar and just be done with it. 

Truecar sold out the consumer to secure continued lead revenue from dealers. They don’t negotiate the best prices. They indicate “fair” prices.

[Hank Scorpio 17,731]

Buy a car off bring a trailer and update this thread as you bid. That would be entertaining. 

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

On 8/8/2020 at 12:39 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Imma raises a good point about used and depreciation.  While the new standard and luxury models may be very comparable, you are probably wise to look at 1- 2- 3-year olds to see what the depreciation is.  That might drive you to a bargain vehicle in the used market, but it's also worth knowing what you are "up against."

An Audi I'm looking at for the wife is still under the factory warranty but has depreciated 45% in 3 years and has less than 35K miles on it.

Edited August 9, 2020 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[Redpuma 146]

On 8/8/2020 at 12:35 PM, RPM said:

This has been my strategy and it's worked well. Lease returns and fleet cars have excellent maintenance and records. 

I have done this twice now and very happy with the results. The last car didn’t even have 20k miles on it.