What features characterize a luxury car in 2026, and which are the most worthwhile?
Posted by EntropicDisorder@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 11 comments
For some background, I’ve never really been a car guy myself, and grew up riding in and driving basic trim Toyotas and Hondas for most of my life. Basically just point A to B machines. This year I finally bought a car for myself, and it was a Model Y… for the ability to take me from point A to B with minimal input from me 😂. So yeah, I’m not the target customer lol, but I want to hear from people who are.
It’s already got a lot of cool functionality that would have been considered “luxury”before, despite being only an average priced new car (based on the reported $50k average new car price in the US today) - heated steering wheel, heated seats, ventilated and cooled seats, auto folding mirrors, blind spot indicator, cameras, infotainment system, advanced driver assist, etc.
I’m curious what features or characteristics y’all would consider important in setting a luxury car apart from a “normal” one in 2026 and are most worth the extra cost? Should it be immediately apparent from how the car feels to drive or ride in?
PageRoutine8552@reddit
Some sort of autonomous driving capability - specifically, the ability to detect surrounding road users and obstacles, and navigating around them.
ACC, AEB, Lane Keep and 360 camera are around for nearly a decade now (maybe longer), and have already moved down to more mid-range cars (like early 2020s X-Trail, Forester etc)
EntropicDisorder@reddit (OP)
I don’t think I could go back to not having this lol. But I’ve also heard folks say that higher end vehicles feel more enjoyable to drive, so they’d still like to experience the drive themselves
Prize-Analyst7897@reddit
Some of the more traditional luxury features like heated/vented seats, 360 camera, heated steering wheel, HUD, and adaptive cruise control are becoming pretty regularly available on mainstream brands. Those are all things that I'm considering essential for any car purchase I make going forward. Some true luxury car features are air suspension, massage seats, soft closing door, laminated windows for better noise isolation. Those make the car feel more premium but none are "essential". I do think the biggest different between luxury and mainstream is noise isolation and ride quality more than a feature.
EntropicDisorder@reddit (OP)
I suppose the ride quality is something that just needs to be experienced. I can’t say I really feel the difference between my current Model Y and my older CR-V despite the doubling of the price tag (although I suppose a good bit of that is inflation too). But riding in my SO’s old Corolla is a bumpy experience
Prize-Analyst7897@reddit
Teslas don't have good ride quality. Mercedes, Audi, and Lexus are the best at this.
bassali2e@reddit
360 cameras. I've got a GR corolla and an F150 Lariat. Neither really luxury vehicles but the truck definitely has some features the corolla doesn't. Of all of them the cameras are the one I notice every time I drive the truck and just how quiet it is.
EntropicDisorder@reddit (OP)
I guess I have jank 360 cam with the top down reconstruction that shows blobby gray stuff 😂. Not sure why there’s no 360 cam when the car already has cameras all around it for self-driving.
NeilJBorja@reddit
It's such a practical feature, the F150 Lightning I have to use for work has it and I'm so glad since it's probably saved me from a ton of dings since I'm used to driving small cars.
arelath@reddit
The Teslas are kind of in a strange place because most of the software is better than most luxury cars. And being electric has some nice advantages as well. So even though they're not priced like luxury cars, there's a decent amount of overlap. So things like parking assist, 360 cameras (or close it it), self driving, entertainment systems are as good as or better than a lot of luxury cars.
What's missing from the Teslas vs luxury brands are things like build quality: everything feels solid and well built. High quality interior design and materials. Usually incredibly comfortable and roomy seats with 7-12 power adjustments to make them fit your exact body with heating and cooling features. Sound proofing that removes almost all road noise (Teslas are pretty good at this though). And lots of almost invisible features like dynamic air adjustable ride height and dampening, headlights that steer with the car, interior/exterior lighting that works well. Intuitive buttons and placement. Just a lot of well thought out and designed features that blend in with the car so well, you don't even think about them.
I'd also add, what qualifies as luxury car features keeps going up every year. And lower end cars keep getting more features that used to be reserved for the luxury brands. A 30 year old luxury car doesn't differ much from a pretty basic car today.
jrileyy229@reddit
Why? You already bought a car, it has just modern luxury features. Why are you wasting brain cycles to understand the couple things it doesn't have when you've already bought it?
Even-Further@reddit
Acoustic glass, lots of road noise isolation, premium quiet tires, power shades, power everything, front & rear heated & cooled seats, premium leather, interior craftsmanship w/ thoughtful design, air suspension, 360 cam.