Buy/Drive/Burn: $60,000 Luxury Sedans in 2020
Say you’re an auto shopper of wealth and taste who has around $60,000 to spend. Now, let’s assume the usual options from Japan and Germany are not for you. Would you turn to America or Sweden to fill your luxury needs?
Lincoln Continental
Lincoln’s Continental enters 2020 in three trims spanning three engine options. Prices start at $46,305 for a front-drive Standard trim with 3.7-liter V6, and top out at $75,470 for an all-wheel drive twin-turbo 3.0-liter in Black Label. Most likely in its final model year for 2020, this may be Continental’s last gasp. Today’s budget nets the 2.7-liter all-wheel-drive model in mid-range Reserve trim. The smaller of the EcoBoost choices offers up 335 horsepower via the six-speed automatic. The Continental asks $61,870.
Volvo S90
The S90, now a couple model years old, is offered in three trims for 2020. The entry-level Momentum starts at $51,195, while the top-tier Inscription enters at $54,495 before premium drive trains and options. Meeting our price ceiling is one short of the ultimate S90: the Momentum T8 eAWD Plug-in Hybrid. It pairs a 2.0-liter gasoline engine that’s both supercharged and turbocharged with an 87-horsepower electric motor. The dual-motor setup produces 400 total horsepower motivating all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic. Volvo asks for $63,650 of your dollars.
Cadillac CT6
CT6 is Cadillac’s dedicated “sports sedan,” because without exception, every Cadillac must be sporty. The second-highest entry price of $58,995 for the Luxury trim escalates to more than $96,000 for the Blackwing V8-powered Platinum. Through model year revisions, CT6 eliminated its previous base offering of 2.0 liters and rear-wheel drive. All examples now have at least six cylinders and all-wheel drive. The Luxury trim employs Cadillac’s 3.6-liter engine, which produces 335 horsepower. A 10-speed automatic doles out the ponies. The rear-drive-biased option is the value leader of the group, asking $59,990.
Three alternative luxury sedans for a new decade. Which one’s worth buying?
[Images: Lincoln, Volvo, Cadillac]
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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Not to be a pill, but all of these choices are truly pathetic. For this sort of money one is in a top-spec Tesla Model 3 Performance, with a drive experience that rivals an exotic hypercar, and while leaving a usable planet for others to enjoy. When you just want to cruise, it has Autopilot, and Full Self Driving is likely a year or two away. Why would anyone buy something else, except out of ignorance or "don't give a damn" social dysfunctional?
Buy the Volvo for your safety. Drive the Lincoln for cushy comfort. Burn the Cadillac. Sorry- new GM is the same crap as old GM with a shiny new wrapper and lip service.