2005 Entry-Level Buyer's Guide
by Martha Hindes
They
peek at us from new car showroom windows. They tempt us from the
next freeway lane. They smile at us from billboards, from magazine
pages and TV ads. And we find ourselves searching the internet
with intent for any details we can find.
These
are the entry-level luxury autos that -- at last -- we know we
have earned. They forego the feeling of driving as necessity,
and confirm its reality as a participant sport, a statement of
authority, a signature of our well-deserved place in the sun.
They
are cars that go beyond average and arrive at special, that show
us a myriad of electronic gadgets to do our bidding, with power
to tromp from mundane to muscle, with style to excite, and panache
to soothe like nothing else can.
In
our quest for uncompromising elegance, we eventually may look
towards a tonier, and costlier sibling than these that come in
under the $40,000 radar. (As if something more would be necessary.)
For we realize -- right now -- with a sense of sweet satisfaction,
this is the time and this is the way to declare, "I've arrived."
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