Cars.com Best Bets for New Luxury Vehicles

To rank models as first, second and third best, and so on, is to suggest that all people want the same thing in a vehicle, and that's just not the case. For this reason, cars.com Best Bets include one or more models that are "best overall" or best in a category, but all other citations center on a subcategory or a particular aspect in which the model excels. To understand the methodology behind the picks, click here.

Sadly, this already long list excludes consideration of the following untested models, as well as any model above $100,000 (because who cares what I think).

• Infiniti Q45
• 2006 Infiniti M
• Land Rover LR3
• 2006 Lexus RX 400h

Volkswagen — Dishonorable mention: To be clear, this is not about the Volkswagen Phaeton; it's about the company that brought it to market. The Phaeton is actually a very nice luxury car. And why shouldn't it be? It's basically an Audi A8 with slightly different but still handsome exterior and interior styling and a steel body instead of an aluminum one. So why the heck would anyone pay the same money for a heavier, slower, less fuel-efficient version of the same car that says VW instead of Audi? Apparently very few have, though some are being lured by embarrassingly high rebates. Hello, Wolfsburg? Has that new car smell impaired your thinking?

Best Bet Selection Methodology

Below are the criteria considered in choosing luxury vehicle Best Bets, in rough order of importance. In selecting Best Bets, the luxury category is at least as inexact as the others, and possibly more so. The reason is that buyers' notions of luxury and luxury brands are broad. For example, one buyer might equate luxury with comfort, in the form of a cushy ride. Another might prefer the performance of a sport sedan, or define luxury as a rich, lush interior. And there's no telling what makes people see prestige in one brand name over another. We tend to be pragmatic when it comes to vehicles. A great car is a great car, regardless of the badge. With that, here are the criteria we consider and recommend that you do, too.

A luxurious interior, complete with leather upholstery and wood trim, greets occupants of Lincoln's Navigator SUV.

Luxury (including interior quality and comfort) is the most important criterion mainly because it's the one aspect that ties these different vehicle types together. Also, we have a Sports Car Buying Guide that includes luxury models, so here we concentrate on the luxury aspect. Luxury is a personal issue for which I can't account. I can, however, judge interior quality and to some extent design — particularly in terms of how a luxury model is distinguished from the modest model on which it might be based. (For example, the Lexus ES 330 versus the Toyota Camry, the Lincoln Navigator versus the Ford Expedition, etc.) Comfort relates to roominess, seat comfort, noise level and even ergonomics. By and large, European and Japanese brands excel in seat comfort. The Germans' electronic controls are an ergonomics disaster. Jaguars do well in both but are oddly cramped despite their exterior dimensions.

Ride quality is another important factor, as it influences our definition of luxury. In this day and age, even a car with exceptional handling need not ride poorly. Traditionally, luxury cars were appreciated for how they isolated their occupants from the road and the environment. This remains one of the attributes that defines luxury vehicles — and makes nonluxury models seem more luxurious. American brands used to be more soft-riding, though that has begun to change. Almost all Lexus models are "isolationist" where the European brands tend to be more taut.

BMW's iDrive interface uses a knob on the center console and a dash-mounted display to change many vehicle settings.

Gizmos and technology might not be necessary, but they're one of the attributes that distinguish luxury models from the rest, especially as automakers adapt older or more common luxury features in more modest vehicles to woo buyers in a highly competitive market. Our definition of technology includes engineering that's behind the scenes, such as air suspensions, adaptive shock absorbers and other features that make a noticeable difference in the driving experience. Features such as rearview cameras and other safety and convenience provisions also count. Technology can mean high-tech interfaces and other electronic features, but these — when poorly executed — hurt rather than help a model.

Dynamics describes how the car handles, how its weight affects its movement through space, its stability, and a bunch of other aspects that are felt and not seen. This aspect figures as highly as it does because of the luxury sport utility vehicle category. Some luxury cars handle and feel like sports cars, while others lean toward road isolation. It's not for me to decide which is "better" for your tastes. Any car that's dangerous, of course, would be disqualified, but I can think of none. SUVs, on the other hand, can be dolled up and made luxurious inside, but the truck-based variety are still trucks, and some of them exhibit the top-heaviness and other attributes that turn off many buyers. I hold luxury SUVs to a much higher standard in this regard.

Despite weighing more than 5,000 pounds, Porsche's Cayenne Turbo manages to accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds.

The powertrain is always important, but it has less bearing in the luxury class than in others mainly because acceleration is the price of entry to this category. In other words, luxury vehicles are expected to have solid kick, and most do. Despite typically heavier weight due to additional features and noise control, the resulting lower fuel economy is less of an issue to the luxury buyer. Because the sportier luxury cars fit into the Sports Car Buying Guide, models considered here merely have to exhibit adequate acceleration or better. The greater differences are in the experience of driving these cars. Best Bet cars depend more on how the engine and transmission perform as a team. Poorly selected gear ratios, throttle lag, a rubbery shifter, bad clutch or unresponsive automatic transmission knock the contestant markedly. I am particularly hard on automatic transmissions. Optional all-wheel drive adds value, but standard all-wheel drive isn't necessarily a benefit.

Cargo capacity plays little part in terms of small differences between vehicles in a given class. That said, practicality demands, as it does in all Best Bets, that any vehicle with significantly substandard cargo capacity lose ground in this contest. Full-size luxury cars seldom have folding backseats, but they tend to make up for it with large trunks and a ski pass-thru. Full-size SUVs only come in the form of trucks, but in other classes, the truck-based models are usually space-inefficient, with less room inside than one would expect from the exterior dimensions.

I generally give styling very little or no consideration because it's such a subjective issue. I make an exception in the luxury class and in sports cars because image plays an important part. Clearly ugly or humdrum vehicles aren't good for one's image. I make any judgment of a vehicle's appearance based more on reactions I've collected from others than solely on my own tastes. Styling that is controversial or has many detractors is no secret.

Cost of ownership is less an issue in the luxury category than in any other. To some buyers, the more expensive the car, the more attractive it is. Are these folks going to care about buying premium gasoline or getting an oil change? As in any class, a model that has proven to be a maintenance disaster would be disqualified, but the relative reliability of one brand over another plays no great part in the luxury vehicle Best Bets.

Crash-test scores are at or near the top of many Best Bet categories. Why so low here in luxury? Not because it matters less but because the class as a whole — and particularly models that distinguish themselves in the other criteria — performs very, very well in crash tests. As I've now stated for many criteria, clear disasters immediately get eliminated from the running. From one model to another, though, differences are difficult to determine.