comfortable ride automobiles

[olddog]

Well this was not the most fun automobile shopping I have ever done, but my requirements were so different from the norm, it was certain to be a chore. First understand that my wife's requirements and my requirements makes seats that fit both of us, difficult. Also cars sit too low and are difficult for my wife to get out of, and me to get into. SUVs can have a high step to get in and my wife at 5", both knees replaced, a bad back, and hips going bad, cannot get into them very well. Here are some of the things I learned.

There are few cars made today. Most are beer cans and even the few luxury cars set too low and have no head room for tall people to get into them. The government regulated a good luxury car out of existence.

So now you are stuck with trucks and SUVs. I didn't want a minivan.

I considered the F150 Platinum. It is really an Expedition with a row of seats replace with a 5.5" bed. Well maybe visa versa, but you get the point. It is easy to get in and out of with the retractable running boards. Great seats, and decent ride. Three things killed the truck for us. One, they are high and therefore a fall is a lot further. Running boards in the winter just increase that risk. Two, I do not want to have to deal with requests to haul something for someone, as I have owned trucks and know this to be true. Third and the biggest reason, if I die first my wife would sell it and buy something smaller. However the trucks hold there value better than anything else, if you did sell.

So now to the luxury SUVs. Even though they put luxury items in them, they are Sport Utility Vehicles. The more luxurious the options added, the larger the wheel OD and the lower the tire profile, thus the harsher the ride on a bump. The car magazines and therefore the marketing people think the huge diameter wheels with very little tire on them look oh so great. The Sport people love the handling the low profile tires give. No one and I do believe no one in control of auto manufacturing and advertising gives a $hit about a smooth ride.

The Lincoln Navigator with the air ride suspension is the only thing out there that rides smooth. Nothing comes close. It still sits up like a truck and requires running boards. By the time you get the luxury options on it, you are talking $100K new and the value plummets like a rock.

So now when you are looking at the rest of the SUVs the mid sized have a decent ride, but are too tall for my wife to step into easily and that problem will get worse with time.

The subcompact luxury models like the Cadillac XT4 are primarily focused on looks and sport. Even in its best ride quality mode setting, the ride is a bit harsh and the short wheel base and light weight bounces you around turning into parking lots where the curb requirements are bumpy (of which the idiots doing the zoning locally require). Rail road tracks are no fun at all. In the end, it rides like a less harsh Ford Edge, with better seats.

I also looked at the Audi Q3 an Q5. The Q3 is a little better than the Cadillac XT4, but still has the short wheel base jostle. The Q5 is better than the Q3, but not as much as you would have expected. The audi Q7 is too tall for my wife to get into, so we didn't drive one. The Audi dealer annoyed me a lot. He wanted me to commit that that was the specific car I wanted to buy before he would let me drive it. I finally said "look I have never driven or road in an Audi in my life, how the phuk do you expect me to be ready to buy something I know nothing about?" Then he was high sales push push to buy it tonight and practically barred the doors so I couldn't leave. Well it wasn't quite that bad but I did have to ask for my car keys back multiple times that the sales manage had upstairs somewhere.

I ended up buying the Lincoln Nautilus. It's the size of a Ford Edge, but it does not have the ridiculous high thresh hold to step up over and down into, as all of Fords SUVs. The ride is better than a Ford Explorer. It was still a compromise. A lot of money that depreciates quickly. I did luck into a 2019 Demo that the sales manager turned in with 6900 miles on it. I got it about 22% off the MSRP. So that helps on the normal 20% loss when you drive it off the lot.

[olddog]

I thought I would mention the options available today. Ford calls it their CoPilot 360. The cruise control will actually control the car in stop and go traffic. You can have the cruise set at 70 mph and if the traffic in front of you slows it will hold its distance from the car in front of you. In a stop and go traffic jam it will actually continue controlling. It hits the brakes for you. Even going down hill if the engine cannot hold you back it will apply the brakes. The plus model will also use the navigation systems speed limit signs. You can set it to run the speed limit or speed limit plus up to another 5 mph. Then there is no worry about missing a speed limit sign and getting a ticket.

That lane assist can be set to only warn you or to nudge the wheel to steer you back into your lane. I did find that when the painted lines are getting faint, the system will do nothing rather that make a mistake. It does require decent paint and visibility to work.