Automotive review - Today you can get top notch quality on a budget

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Published on Thursday, July 23, 2015

By Neils Mack

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Last week, Hyundai pulled the veil off their new Tucson, the entry level crossover SUV, car based, AWD, wagon... vehicle. You know the type, it’s what so many of us drive.

This new Hyundai has a clever, tiny, miserly engine that could drive for hours on a whiff of fuel. It is extremely well appointed, with power leather seats and enough safety and technology to satisfy everyone. It does all this while looking extremely good. It’s like finding a partner with no flaws at all, which we know to be impossible. I’m sure even Jennifer Aniston snores and Ryan Gosling leaves his socks laying around.

It seems the people who make cars these days have figured it out, I’ve touched on this in previous columns – today, even the cheapest of cars are excellent. What caught me with the unveil of the new Tucson was how the perfection of these cheap new cars isn’t too far off the quality of luxury cars. There may be some performance, pedigree and finesse lacking – but I find the vast majority of drivers don’t notice these things. 

Mercedes has just released a replacement for their GLK, an entry level SUV. They have been doing some restructuring of their vehicle names so this new one is called the GLC.  These more expensive luxury crossovers have a wider range of capabilities – their on road performance will be extremely sporty and in the odd chance you find yourself off road in a German crossover, it will probably mildly surprise you rather than be a let down. The same can’t be said for the cheaper counterparts. However, 99.9 per cent of the time, you really won’t need this extreme performance. 

Last year, Porsche began selling a smaller crossover type SUV, the Macan. It starts at $57,000, but if you want any creature comforts at all, the price climbs quickly and drastically.

This new Hyundai Tucson is as good looking as the Porsche Macan but starts at less than half the price of the Porsche, $23,000. Fully loaded, I’m sure it will still be under $40,000.

Any true car enthusiast will scoff at this comparison – but for the large majority of drivers, who really don’t care about performance on the extreme, this means you are getting an exceptional car for a small price.

This never used to be the case, the divide between the entry level and the luxury vehicles was vast and wide. Sticking with the SUV examples, if you remember back to 2003 when Kia was making the first generation Sportage – there is no angle that this car looked good, no road or track where it drove well and it was poorly made. Across the wide divide back with Porsche – 2003 was the first year for the Cayenne. A vehicle that was built so well, slamming it through a tank proving ground for a day wouldn’t wreck it. While inside, the alcantara, wood and leather trimming along with quad zone climate control kept occupants comfortable. It to this day holds respect as being a great vehicle – it has sold by the boat load.

The good news is that today, unless you want to drive like a race car driver or deep off road, you don’t need incredible wherewithal to get a very well appointed, safe and good looking vehicle.