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But to be fair, the things were $65K or more 25 years ago. Based on CPI that's a $120-125K car today.
It was just an off-cuff example.
The E46 3-series were very handsome and classy looking cars. Even the 5-series was nice. Bangle comes along and the BMW look went straight to hell. Fugly.
I just chose the 740i because it was really the zenith of BMW design at the time. What they were capable of coming up with before they so foolishly bangled themselves.
Like I said, most car design today is unattractive. Weirdly, there are a lot of nice looking SUVs on the road.
Look at the Kia Telluride. I had one for 3 years and just traded it in...should have kept it.
The Mercedes I bought isnt much better for all the extra cash...huge mistake.
Only downside of the Kia is the driver seats isnt very comfortable on trips of 4+ hrs...to me and a friend anyways...he had the Hyundai Pallisade, and traded it in due to seat discomfort on long trips.
Porsche Macan's cabin feels tiny, and they are $20k more than rivals...for what? Prestige, which you dont want anyways.
German cars cost a fortune to maintain after the warrenty ends...stick to *** and Korean SUV's. I had 2 Highlanders and both were perfect...but boring to drive and look at.
Mazda interiors plastic looks cheap...Kia's much nicer and hold up better over time.
My wife has the itch for a new car after having hers for 9 years. She wanted the Porsche Macan (which we were both onboard of getting), but after some thought, she does occasional business trips to lower income rural parts of the country, and doesn't want to show up to the worksite with a Porsche.
We stopped and browsed some Mercedes over the weekend, but nothing excited me to tell her to buy. I used to be a BMW guy but all the new ones look like bland Hondas. Her requirements are 4 doors and that its a car or suv, we don't care about gas mileage.
We will probably look again this weekend, but there is nothing new that excites me on what we should look at. I was thinking of just looking at the 4runners but she probably won't like the truck platform, and they have a new model coming out later this year, so don't want her to get a new, old model car. Any ideas, on some interesting cars?
On the Macan. I just put 1800 miles on a 2024 and was "underwhelmed." I rented a F Pace in California and felt it was a nicer all around SUV than the Macan but the Porsche felt sportier. Both the F Pace and the Macan are going all electric for 2025 so get a 2024 if you want either in gas form.
BMW X3 M40 would be my pick at that price point/size. Inline 6, turbo motor is rare these days.
4Runner is a turd, people love them but I just don't understand the price/performance/poor fuel economy.
Ah yes, the forum police! Thou shalt ONLY answer the specific question asked, thou shalt never attempt to provide perspective or possibly a gentle guidance nudge toward a possibly more beneficial approach to a question!
I'm sorry, but I guess I missed that clause in the TOS.
You are welcome to contribute anything, it is just frustrating when you ask for help and get everything but.
It all depends on the extent to which the OP and his wife value driver-engagement (acceleration, handling, nimbleness). If these things are unimportant, then something quotidian and bland should serve the purpose, with focus on interior-comfort and reliability. If these things are important, then one has to make compromises, maybe on price or on what might in some circles be termed ostentatious appearance.
There really are no high-performance yet modest "sleepers" anymore. The market for them has withered. The German cars, as others here have noted, were formerly staid and respectable, but driver-oriented... now they're, how shall we put it, less so?
If rural acceptance isn't an issue, I'd just get a Tesla model-3 and call it a day.
On the Macan. I just put 1800 miles on a 2024 and was "underwhelmed." I rented a F Pace in California and felt it was a nicer all around SUV than the Macan but the Porsche felt sportier. Both the F Pace and the Macan are going all electric for 2025 so get a 2024 if you want either in gas form.
BMW X3 M40 would be my pick at that price point/size. Inline 6, turbo motor is rare these days.
4Runner is a turd, people love them but I just don't understand the price/performance/poor fuel economy.
"Reliability" is the answer. The old European cars from Mercedes, BMW were great, but the electronics of newer European cars can leave you stranded in the cold. They also are the most expensive to maintain in some places. And yes, if you do it yourself (one of my coworker has a couple of BMW's), then you can save in maintenance. He has the programs to maintain his cars in a laptop that is dedicated for troubleshooting, diagnostics, and so on. "I have heard that some of the RAM models can be expensive to maintain", but I don't really know.
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