Buy/Drive/Burn: Untouchable Large Luxury Sedans of 2018

by Corey Lewis

Published: March 29th, 2018

buy drive burn untouchable large luxury sedans of 2018

Our last few entries in the Buy/Drive/Burn series have been stuck in the 1990s, and we’ve had a request recently to talk about something a bit newer, perhaps even… current. While you recover from your immediate shock, I can assure you we aren’t going completely mainstream. No talking about boring everyday things. No, these three will likely all qualify as Rare Rides subjects in the future, assuming I’m 70 years old and there’s still an Internet media (hopefully there isn’t).

Three untouchable large sedans, all of them trading on their luxury intentions. Remember, you only get to burn one, and one has to go home to your garage.

Acura RLX

Acura’s replacement for the long-running RL nameplate has been with us since 2014, undergoing a significant facelift for the 2018 model year. Prices on the RLX start at $54,900. For that chunk of change you get standard leather and navigation, and power is generated by Honda’s 3.5-liter V6 engine, sending 310 horsepower through the 10-speed transmission to the front wheels. (Off limits is the hybrid all-wheel drive version, which costs $7,000 more.)

Infiniti Q70

The oldest model of our trio, the Q70 actually dates back to when it was called the M37; a redesign gave it the metal it wears today. A minor visual update occurred in 2014, when Infiniti branding underwent the change from various letters to “Q.” The value-priced option of our trio, the base 3.7 LUXE trim sends all 330 horsepower to the rear wheels and comes with leather and navigation. It’s yours for $51,000.

Kia K900

Available in 2013 in the North American market, Kia’s largest sedan replaced the unfortunately styled Kia Amanti. While a new K900 has debuted, that one will be a 2019 model. Our contender is the one we’re used to seeing — or rather, not seeing very often. Kia had enough inventory of 2017 models to cover the 2018 model year; the newest K900 you can buy in the current year is the 2017 model. Today’s price bracket nets you a V6 Luxury trim, with a 3.8-liter sending 311 horsepower to the rear wheels. Upgraded Nappa leather is standard on the $54,900 Luxury, as well as the shift-by-wire transmission and a navigation system.

Three loaded-up large sedans, virtually untouchable per every possible sales metric. Which goes home with you, and which one burns away to molten lava?

[Images: Acura, Infiniti, Kia]

#Acura #AcuraRlx #Buy/Drive/Burn #FutureCars #Infiniti #InfinitiQ70 #Japan #Kia #KiaK900 #LuxuryCars #NewCars #Sedans #SouthKorea #NewsBlog.

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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2 of 81 comments

Farhad on Mar 31, 2018

Buy: Acura. Shall be the best resale value. Drive: Infiniti. Nicer than the others, and more fun to drive. Burn: Kia. Ugly and no resale value.

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John Horner on Apr 03, 2018

Don't buy any of them new. Wait three years and buy a CPO off lease version for 50% or more off. Of these three, the Infinity is the most interesting. The Acura RL/RLX has been an also ran forever. I would happily drive one if it showed up in the garage, but wouldn't buy it. The K900 might be ok at 75% off original price :).

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Recent Comments

Varezhka I have still yet to see a Malibu on the road that didn't have a rental sticker. So yeah, GM probably lost money on every one they sold but kept it to boost their CAFE numbers.I'm personally happy that I no longer have to dread being "upgraded" to a Maxima or a Malibu anymore. And thankfully Altima is also on its way out.
Tassos Under incompetent, affirmative action hire Mary Barra, GM has been shooting itself in the foot on a daily basis.Whether the Malibu cancellation has been one of these shootings is NOT obvious at all.GM should be run as a PROFITABLE BUSINESS and NOT as an outfit that satisfies everybody and his mother in law's pet preferences.IF the Malibu was UNPROFITABLE, it SHOULD be canceled.More generally, if its SEGMENT is Unprofitable, and HALF the makers cancel their midsize sedans, not only will it lead to the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ones, but the survivors will obviously be more profitable if the LOSERS were kept being produced and the SMALL PIE of midsize sedans would yield slim pickings for every participant.SO NO, I APPROVE of the demise of the unprofitable Malibu, and hope Nissan does the same to the Altima, Hyundai with the SOnata, Mazda with the Mazda 6, and as many others as it takes to make the REMAINING players, like the Excellent, sporty Accord and the Bulletproof Reliable, cheap to maintain CAMRY, more profitable and affordable.
GregLocock Car companies can only really sell cars that people who are new car buyers will pay a profitable price for. As it turns out fewer and fewer new car buyers want sedans. Large sedans can be nice to drive, certainly, but the number of new car buyers (the only ones that matter in this discussion) are prepared to sacrifice steering and handling for more obvious things like passenger and cargo space, or even some attempt at off roading. We know US new car buyers don't really care about handling because they fell for FWD in large cars.
Slavuta Why is everybody sweating? Like sedans? - go buy one. Better - 2. Let CRV/RAV rust on the dealer lot. I have 3 sedans on the driveway. My neighbor - 2. Neighbors on each of our other side - 8 SUVs.
Theflyersfan With sedans, especially, I wonder how many of those sales are to rental fleets. With the exception of the Civic and Accord, there are still rows of sedans mixed in with the RAV4s at every airport rental lot. I doubt the breakdown in sales is publicly published, so who knows... GM isn't out of the sedan business - Cadillac exists and I can't believe I'm typing this but they are actually decent - and I think they are making a huge mistake, especially if there's an extended oil price hike (cough...Iran...cough) and people want smaller and hybrids. But if one is only tied to the quarterly shareholder reports and not trends and the big picture, bad decisions like this get made.