Luxury Vehicles for the Comfortable Commute
Or, perhaps your job involves sales or customer service on the spot, which means you hit all six of those cities almost every week.
Add to that the jibes from the work-at-home crowd, and commuting or traveling for business regularly can seem like a very rough road indeed.
But luxury car manufacturers are aware that Americans, on average, are commuting longer distances, and are therefore adding features to vehicles to make long distances easier to take.
And that includes the gas mileage, foremost in commuter’s minds as stories of rising prices at the pump grab headlines. “The Cadillac CTS, for example, has great gas mileage, 18 miles per gallon city, and 27 MPG highway,” says Don Signer of Signer Buick Cadillac of Newark. “That definitely appeals to people who are regularly doing long commutes.”
Signer says that that comes in addition to the standard luxuries, so to speak, on most luxury vehicles. “Most have moving seats, more room, and a lot of other things. They just have more features.”
That comfort can make quite a difference over long distances. No one wants to arrive at the office, or at their client’s office, looking and feeling like the last rodeo clown to come out of a Volkswagen Beetle when the show was delayed for hours.
“If I was going to spend hours in the car,” says Tom Claridge of Claridge’s Ltd., “I would look for something that has high quality seats.” As an example, he cites the Mercedes vehicles, which offer easily adjustable seats. “They’re really beyond power seats,” he explains, “because they allow you to adjust the back, the heat rest, the contour, so you can get the lumbar support you want.”
That support can make a huge difference, particularly if you aren’t the size or shape car manufacturers had in mind when they created the seat in the first place. So, for example, a woman who is five feet four inches tall can adjust the seat so she has the best back support, not the back support intended for someone much taller, as most seats are.
That adjust-ability goes the other direction, too. In fact, that adjust-ability is one of Mercedes’ hallmarks. “That’s why they’re so popular with professional athletes,” Claridge explains. “For instance, when I drive my wife’s Mercedes, I adjust it to my frame. I’m six feet four, and there’s still room to adjust.”
Noise control is another key feature that makes the distance commuter feel right at home in a luxury vehicle. “They want a car that’s quiet, and that handles well,” says Dave Cavanaugh of Cavanaugh Motors. In addition to a reduction in the irritating outside noises, the many standard safety features, such as airbags and anti-lock brakes (and more) make driving additional miles less of a gamble.
