WHAT TO BUY...

     Say you've come into some cash recently & you find yourself in the market for a nice new luxury car. Fresh off the lot with soft leather, all the electronic aids you'll never need & that awesome new car smell inside just itching to be one of the crowd in a sea of luxury sedans littering every parking lot in Suburbia, USA. 
     You've set your budget to approx $40,000-$50,000 give or take including the applicable destination charge but decided NOT to order any packages or options. What's out there in this price range you ask? Starting with a base price of $40,000 but no higher than $55,000 we picked out entries from Acura, Lexus, Infiniti, Hyundai (yes I said HYUNDAI), Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Cadillac, & Lincoln. 
Most of these come similarly equipped right out of the gate. Acura should have just quit while they were ahead years ago with the Legend. I mean they are the 3rd most expensive car here yet with some of the least amount of standard flashiness that gives buyers a reason to check them out. 
     The XF is priciest of the bunch however it's got a lot of standard goodies like navigation for the extra dough plus it does have that certain Jaguar sex appeal on its side as well. When you compare the standard features that come on the Genesis vs. what paying $6600 more gets you in the E-Class, it seems the Koreans have a knock out here too! 
Take a peek...

ACURA 

RL

$49,000

300 hp V6

Front Wheel Drive

18" Wheels
Moonroof
Power Rear Sunshade

Leather

BOSE Surround Sound Audio

Base
Tech

Advance

INFINITI 

M

$48,500

330 hp V6

Rear Wheel Drive

18" Wheels
Rear View Monitor
Moonroof
10-way Power Seats

Leather

M35 Hybrid
M37
M37x

M56                    
M56x

                  

LEXUS 

GS

$48,000

305 hp V6

Rear Wheel Drive

18" Wheels
Back Up Camera
Sunroof
10-way Power Seats

Power Rear Sunshade
Perforated Leather

Surround Sound Audio

GS 350
GS 450h Hybrid      

HYUNDAI 

Genesis

$45,500

385 hp V8

Rear Wheel Drive

18" Wheels
Rear View Camera
Parking Sensors
Lane Departure Warning
Smart Cruise Control
Sunroof
10-way Power Seats

Power Rear Sunshade
Ultra Premium Leather
Cooled Driver Seat / Heated Front & Rear Seats

LEXICON 7.1 Surround Sound Audio
Navigation

3.8                   

5.0                   
5.0 R

                

AUDI 

A6

$42,500

210 hp Turbo 4-cylinder

Front Wheel Drive

17" Wheels

Sunroof

8-way Power Seats

Leather

10-speaker Concert Audio

Premium                  

Premium +      

Prestige               

S6                                    

BMW 

5-Series

$47,000

240 hp Turbo 4-cylinder

Rear Wheel Drive

17" Wheels

Moonroof

10-way Power Seats

SensaTec Leatherette

HD Audio

535i                       

550i                       

ActiveHybrid 5       

M5                         

MERCEDES-BENZ 

E-Class

$51,500

300 hp V6

Rear Wheel Drive

17" Wheels

Sunroof

14-way Power Seats

M-B Tex Leatherette

DVD Audio

E 350 BlueTEC     

E 550                     

E 63 AMG
              

JAGUAR 

XF

$53,000

385 hp V8

Rear Wheel Drive

18" Wheels

Rear Parking Aid

Sunroof

10-way Power Seats

Bond Grain Leather

400 watt HD Media Hub

Navigation

Portfolio               

Supercharged      

R

                          

CADILLAC 

XTS

$45,000

305 hp V6

Front Wheel Drive

19" Wheels

Rear Park Assist

10-way Power Seats

Leather

CUE Infotainment

BOSE Audio

Luxury          

Premium      

Platinum      

LINCOLN 

MKS

$43,500

305 hp V6

Front Wheel Drive

19" Wheels

Parking Sensors

Blind Spot Mirrors

Heated/Cooled Seats

12-way Power Seats

Bridge of Weir Leather

SYNC Infotainment

MyLincoln Touch

3.5 EcoBoost 

3.7