Drove a dealer friend's '18 Corolla up to the auction where he will sell it and so I could pick up and bring home an '07 Lexus LS460 I bought for somebody. 125 miles each way. The Corolla was a lower level model with hubcaps but was still pretty well equipped. Power windows, radar cruise, touch screen with backup camera, even the stay in your lane alert that nudges the wheel if you get too close to the next lane. It had a CVT but felt pretty good. The inside has nice cloth seats and it rode and drove very nice with only 24,000 miles. Wouldn't exactly call it an appliance as some here seem to do.
The Lexus I drove back in has 139,000 miles and is fully loaded as expected. The ride and feel of course is smoother than the Corolla, but not all that much more. An S Mercedes I had of this era feels another another class smoother and more refined than the Lex, although the miles were half and the cylinders were more. Still, it isolates you well from the road such that you can be doing 80-85 without realizing it. The 8 speed transmission felt smooth in a different way compared to a CVT but it made full use of the 380 HP engine. The sticker price was $65K new, but ironically, both cars are about the same value today.
The Lexus I drove back in has 139,000 miles and is fully loaded as expected. The ride and feel of course is smoother than the Corolla, but not all that much more. An S Mercedes I had of this era feels another another class smoother and more refined than the Lex, although the miles were half and the cylinders were more. Still, it isolates you well from the road such that you can be doing 80-85 without realizing it. The 8 speed transmission felt smooth in a different way compared to a CVT but it made full use of the 380 HP engine. The sticker price was $65K new, but ironically, both cars are about the same value today.