These Features Still Scream 'Luxury' To Our Readers

It wasn't too long ago that an adjustable suspension was an exclusive luxury feature reserved only for high rollers. These days, you can get a Hyundai Elantra with an adaptive suspension if you check the right box. Yes, I'm talking about the high-performance Elantra N, which you could argue is cheating, but good luck explaining that to 1990s S-Class owner. 

Over the last couple of decades, we've seen all sorts of features go mainstream, to the point that it feels like it's becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate luxury and mainstream vehicles. Heck, you can even get massage seats on a new Nissan Murano. 

At the same time, Genesis just revealed the new GV90 Neolun, an extra luxurious version of its most luxurious SUV that features swiveling seats and coach doors. With that in mind, last Friday we asked you which features still scream "luxury" to you. For some reason, there weren't a whole lot of votes for passenger screens and voice controls, but let's take a look at some of the most popular responses.

Real wood in expanses across the dash. Old Mercedes, Jaguar, Rolls, Bentley, others when they had polished handcrafted burlwood. Lexus also used to, always wood from a single tree per vehicle, usually Canadian, and finished for them by Yamaha Piano. Also a wood steering wheel, (if not too thin), which is so comfortable and non-sweaty on long drives.

Also comfortable seats. That LS430 I have is like a ground-bound Gulfstream. What happened to seating like that? Why does everything have to have stiff bolsters and short lower cushions to physically hurt you on long drives?

Suggested by: Winter Cat

With a $30,000 Civic having similar tech as a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz, tech is no longer the answer. So, the feature that screams luxury to me isn't found in the car. It's what is found around the car on Day 1 and with every service. Luxury now is the dealership experience. I want to be able to interact with a salesperson by e-mail and chat sessions and not dumped in the dealer pressure cooker or having my potential trade-in's keys being held hostage. When I'm in the dealer, I want my time to be treated as important as theirs so let's not waste any of it. I'd like the dealership building to look clean and modern with comfortable furniture, lighting to show off the cars even better, and something more than a K-cup coffee machine and stale packages of peanut butter crackers. I want the service department to be up front and honest, with fair pricing and no games with what's needed. I want the sales staff to know their cars inside and out, the sales manager to be a human being and not a stereotype of every sleazy manager we think of. Luxury is being taken care of each step of the way before, during, and especially after the purchase. Right now, I could go to a H/K/G or Toyota dealer and buy a perfectly acceptable vehicle, but have the dealership experience force me to take a shower when done as their "unclean" reputation is very true. Or I can take the same money to a Lexus dealer and be treated as a customer they want to build a relationship with over the long run.

Suggested by: Xavier96

The umbrella door. Many cars have a space for an umbrella in the door storage area but those are generally very difficult to use and only for small umbrellas but those ones that Rolls Royce has with the full size umbrella are just special.

Suggested by: Cluck

Also:

I only knew rolls to do this, so I googled it. I guess Skoda does it too? Never thought I'd be jealous of skoda owners. Why doesn't vw do this for other cars? Audi?

Suggested by: Atomic

Not necessarily a feature – but hear me out: Luxury is a FEEL. It's the quality of the materials, the tactile feeling beautifully designed switches and buttons have, the smoothness of how everything works together. You know, all the stuff Lexus and Mercedes used to do before they became obsessed with being "sporty" and "tech" with their screens. Screens are not luxury.

Suggested by: Gordon S.

and

True, lasting quality and longevity. Built to a standard, not a price point. The late '60s Mercedes a neighbor had when I was a kid exemplified that. Every interior touch point was real wood, metal, fabric or leather. It was a rolling bank vault. Older Mercedes, Volvo, BMW, VW/Audi and Lexus had this. Cars that were built to last forever with care.

Suggested by: Gilbert Todd

Quiet, and maybe powerful but quiet. Nice luxury should have a smooth ride, and be powerful enough to move out smartly, but not be a "sport model". Loud exhaust should not be a feature of a real luxury car. Luxury or dollars doesn't need to announce itself to the whole neighborhood. And also quiet on the inside, good sound insulation.

Suggested by: Chris Paveglio

Those old-school LaZBoy-style plush seats that used to be in higher-end models back in the day. Something just feels right about them. Just comfort for cruising long miles. Do I still prefer my hugging sports car seats? Yes. But if I'm going no-holds-barred luxury, I want to feel like I'm sitting on a cloud.

Suggested by: JustACarGuy

For me it's the unnecessary but not techy stuff that's there simply for comfort. A lot of these features are partially in a large number of vehicles, but only half-done to make the driver feel luxury. True luxury is attending to all occupants. The features I'm talking about are:

Power and memory seats for all four outboard seats with lumbar support

insulated glass on all side windows (not just the front doors)

Heated AND cooled front and rear seats

keyless entry on all four doors

These aren't specifically exclusive to high-end cars. But they're all really nice things to have and they show me attention to detail, even if it's just a little thing that makes life a little nicer (like not having to grab a front door handle to unlock the rear doors).

Suggested by: Wantsamanuelalpharomero

Tufted red velour. Lots of it.

Suggested by: VABubba

In a fully digitized world, luxury is analog precision. Naturally aspirated V8 engines, gated manuals, analog gauges and clocks on a dashboard wrapped with brushed aluminum and wood. Buttons with a satisfying tactile feel instead of a screen. Emphasizing an emotional driving experience over statistics and tech.

Suggested by: Caz

Back in the olden days when I was in my 20s, my Dad bought a 560SL Mercedes, and the thing that I noticed that was different than my Acura Integra or whatever I was driving at the time was the carpet/floor mats in the foot wells. It was thicker, deeper, and more plush in the Mercedes than in a regular person's car.

I don't know if that Mercedes was unusual or if I just noticed it because it had been a good long while since I'd been in a high-end car (when I graduated high school at 17, my parents sent me off to college and then tore down my room to expand the home gym. So I didn't get back home much).

Suggested by: Dallas Thomas