8 Best Values in Luxury Cars

The words affordable and luxury rarely go hand in hand, but you may not have to pay a lot more for a luxury car than for a mainstream model.

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The words affordable and luxury rarely go hand in hand, but you may not have to pay a lot more for a luxury car than for a mainstream model. The average transaction price for a new car is about $33,000, and as luxury automakers fight for market share they are introducing new models that chase that price point. For the 2015 model year, the trend spreads to crossovers, with the introduction of compact models such as the Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz GLA and Porsche Macan.

Kiplinger's looked for luxury vehicles that won’t break the bank in a range of categories. Using a sticker-price cap of $45,000, we ranked all the luxury offerings for performance, safety and value (including fuel economy and resale value) and then compared the front-runners' Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price with their sticker price to find vehicles with the biggest discounts. The Fair Purchase Price is KBB's best estimate of what you should pay for a new car based actual transaction prices, supply and demand, and regional and seasonal price variations.

Take a look at eight luxurious 2014 vehicles -- compact and midsize sedans, crossovers, a sports car, and a wagon -- that all have a Fair Purchase Price of less than $40,000.

Jessica L. Anderson
Associate Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Anderson has been with Kiplinger since January 2004, when she joined the staff as a reporter. Since then, she's covered the gamut of personal finance issues—from mortgages and credit to spending wisely—and she heads up Kiplinger's annual automotive rankings. She holds a BA in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the 2012 president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and serves on its board of directors. In 2014, she was selected for the North American Car and Truck Of the Year jury. The awards, presented at the Detroit Auto Show, have come to be regarded as the most prestigious of their kind in the U.S. because they involve no commercial tie-ins. The jury is composed of nationally recognized journalists from across the U.S. and Canada, who are selected on the basis of audience reach, experience, expertise, product knowledge, and reputation in the automotive community.