Mid-Buck Bargains: $30,000 to $40,000
Except for people who buy Louis Vuitton handbags, who doesn’t want to get more for less, or at least a lot more for the same amount? In a culture where what you drive is an extension of self, unless you’re in the market for a $1000 winter beater, what you buy matters—a lot. Product appeal is an enigmatic brew, with billions spent trying to lock down the ingredients. They include packaging, newness, value, and brand appeal, although not necessarily in that order.
Car companies work hard on seduction, attempting to woo warm bodies into their folds and keep them there. Expensive cars are sold for whatever triple-plate chrome emblem is on the hood, and cheaper cars are sold using the best financing scheme an ailing car company can come up with. The car business is much like fashion. There are people who only buy name brand, people who only buy name-brand closeouts, people who buy similarly styled copies of the name-brand products at a heavily discounted price, and people who shop only resale.
Like the fashion industry, car shoppers do well to focus on content rather than branding, as content rich doesn’t have to mean richly priced. If your self-worth depends not on listening to classist titters from the Joneses, we’ve wrangled five vehicles for you priced from $30,000 to $40,000 that offer compelling arguments over vehicles sometimes more than twice their price.
1. 2008 Mazda CX-9 vs. 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe
2. 2008 Hyundai Genesis vs. 2008 Mercedes-Benz E550
3. 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X vs. 2008 BMW 335xi
4. 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8 vs. 2008 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
5. 2008 Cadillac CTS vs. 2008 Infiniti M45
