Luxury Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)

While the mini van was the reining family car of the past, today sport utility vehicles (SUVs) have become a far more popular vehicle. Like most types of cars, SUVs range in price, depending on the manufacturer and the added accessories you want in your car.

If you are in the market for a new car and have a flexible budget, consider getting a luxury SUV. Luxury SUVs not only offer an enhanced driving performance, but they also make the driver of the sport utility vehicle feel safer on the road.

Types of Luxury Sports Utility Vehicles

Here is brief list of some of the more popular types of luxury SUVs:
  • Audi Q7
  • BMW X3
  • BMW X5
  • Cadillac Escalade
  • Mercedes Benz GL
  • Mercedes Benz R-Class
  • Porsche Cayenne
  • Volkswagen Touareg
  • Volvo XC90.

Each of these makes and models have reshaped the way consumers think about luxury SUVs because they each have unique features and accessories that add elegance, safety and prestige to the sports utility vehicle.

These SUVs that can be small five-seat vehicles or larger seven-seat vehicles include lavish amenities and the latest in high-end technology, leaving consumers satisfied with the look and feel of their sport utility vehicles’ interior and exterior.

Luxury SUV Equals Luxury Safety

The normal safety features that come standard with most vehicles, as well as luxury SUVs, include:
  • ABS (otherwise known as the anti-lock brake system)
  • side airbags
  • traction control.

More unique safety options that luxury SUVs contain are:

  • back up sensing systems
  • crash resistant door pillars
  • dynamic head restraints
  • electronic stability control.

The higher end luxury SUVs also come equipped with V8 engines. Models with V8 engines include:

  • Audi Q7
  • Cadillac Escalade
  • Mercedes Benz GL450
  • Volvo XC90.

With all of these added features, the price of luxury SUVs tends to start at about $29,500 and can be as high as $76,500. Although luxury SUVs are popular among many drivers, the overall sale of sport utility vehicles has dropped in recent years due to the rise in gas prices.

Because SUVs can’t get as many miles per gallon of gas, they are more expensive to fill with gas, which has made the rising gas prices an even more relevant issue when consumers are considering whether or not to purchase luxury SUVs.

The Luxury SUV Hybrid

Like other car models, luxury SUVs can come in hybrid form. For example, Toyota has become conscious of high gas prices and is trying to stay ahead of the times with the Lexus 400h, a hybrid luxury car. Similarly, the Lexus 400h is an environmentally friendly gasoline-electric hybrid. Modeled after the Lexus RX330, this luxury SUV features:
  • a V6 engine
  • all wheel drive
  • three motors.

The combination of these features effectively reduces smog-forming emissions. The Lexus 400h is one of the smaller luxury SUV cars that seats five passengers and can travel up to 450 miles before it needs to be filled up with gas. For the environmentally conscious, this model of the luxury SUV is the perfect investment.

In 2006, the Lexus 400h entered the market with the best fuel economy for a V6 powered luxury SUV, with a government rating of 30 miles per gallon on the streets and 26 miles per gallon on the freeways. The starting price for this luxury SUV is around $48,000.

Although the Lexus 400h is popular among consumers of luxury SUVs, critics charge that the vehicle could be more fuel-efficient. However, many people rank fuel efficiency as a low priority when purchasing a sport utility vehicle.

Currently, an estimated 9,000 people have preordered Lexus 400h models. At least 24,000 of these vehicles are sold annually.