The 10 Best Luxury Cars Under $30k That Don’t Look Cheap

When asked to describe their dream garage, most gearheads include at least one luxury car. Sure, driving a hypercar that goes from 0 to 60 at the speed of light will leave a fat grin across any gearheads face, but sometimes you just want to sit in heated, cooled, and massaging seats and have a relaxing drive in a car that makes you feel like you’re in a first-class seat on a plane.

Fortunately, luxury cars don’t have to be a far-fetched dream for budget-minded gearheads. If you wait for good old depreciation to kick in, you can snag some of the best luxury cars for a small fraction of their original price. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best luxury cars under $30,000 on the market. We sourced our prices from reliable sites such as Kelley Blue Book and Classic.com to ensure maximum accuracy.

2020 Lexus ES 350 F SPORT

KBB Fair Market Range: $27,801 – $31,282

Over the last few decades, Lexus has etched its name on the luxury car hall of fame next to renowned luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The Japanese brand gives the Europeans a run for their money thanks to its combination of exquisite design, premium features, and bulletproof reliability, and a good example of this is the current generation of the ES F Sport.

The ES is already a top tier mid-size luxury sedan in standard form, but the ‘F Sport’ trim takes it to another level by adding sportier styling features, upgraded seats, premium audio, and refined cabin materials. At the heart of the ES 350 F Sport is a 302-hp 3.5-liter V6 that’s enough to make it fast while being affordable to run and maintain, making it a no-brainer for any gearheads looking for budget luxury cars.

2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

KBB Fair Market Range: $25,962 – $29,455

If there’s one thing Alfa Romeo has perfected, its car design, and the Giulia Quadrifoglio shows that perfectly. The Giulia Quadrifoglio has an alluring design featuring Alfa Romeo’s distinctive “Trilobo” grille, front splitter, long hood, taut body lines, muscular fenders, a bumper-integrated rear diffuser, and quad exhaust tips.

On top of that, the Giulia Quadrifoglio has a Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V6 blurting out 505 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque, allowing it to keep up with bona fide sports cars. So why is it so cheap, you may ask? Well, like many Italian cars, the Giulia has a reputation for unreliability which contributes to high depreciation rates. Regardless, we think the sheer beauty and insane performance are worth the risk.

2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS

KBB Fair Market Range: $28,643 – $32,630

The Mercedes-Benz CLS class flies under the radar a lot, with its bigger brother – the venerable S-Class – getting all the praise. However, we feel it deserves more recognition as it offers many of the luxury features you find in an S-Class but in a sleek fastback sedan body.

Inside, the CLS wows occupants with its quiet, well-insulated cabin, adaptive ambient lighting, premium audio, and high-resolution digital displays. We picked an older version of the current CLS generation to stay within our 30k budget, but with a turbocharged six-cylinder engine pumping out 362 ponies, it can keep up with newer options.

2016 Porsche Panamera Turbo 

KBB Fair Market Range: $29,405 – $34,304

While Porsche is mostly known for its sports cars, the German brand has had to diversify its portfolio in recent years to stay alive, leaving us with cars like the Panamera. The Panamera aims to offer Porsche’s design language, advanced engineering, and superb performance to gearheads in a more practical four-door sedan body style, and it does so exceptionally.

We chose the first-generation Panamera Turbo to stay within our budget. While it’s almost a decade old, the Panamera Turbo still offers upscale features such as multiple climate zones, leather upholstery, wood trim, adaptive air suspension, and executive class packages for rear cabin comfort. Powering this beast is a 4.8-liter twin-turbo V8 sending power to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, allowing for brisk 0-60 times. Entry level luxury cars don’t get much better than that.

2021 INFINITI Q50 Red Sport 400 

KBB Fair Market Range: $26,797 – $31,610

For decades, Nissan’s luxury brand Infiniti has been trying to eclipse Lexus to become Japan’s leading luxury car brand. While the marque’s efforts have largely failed, they did come close with the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 trim.

The Q50 Red Sport 400 has an athletic design featuring Infiniti’s signature double-arch grille, a dynamic arch roofline that flows into a “crescent” C-pillar, and a double-arch trunk lid line sitting on top of dual exhaust tips. While the Q50’s interior is not as luxurious as the other cars on this list, it still offers premium touches like leather touches combined with metallic accents. The icing on the cake is a 400-hp twin-turbo V6.

2021 Genesis G80 3.5T

KBB Fair Market Range: $29,983 – $34,230

Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis is only a decade old, but it’s impossible to tell when you look at their current luxury car lineup. Genesis builds luxury cars that rival the European in every aspect apart from price.

Our pick today is the G80 sedan, which, according to Genesis, is based on the ‘Athletic Elegance’ design philosophy. The G80 features a sculpted front fascia with the brand’s signature Crest Grille with ‘G-Matrix’ mesh design and chrome surrounds, a flowing roofline that creates a coupe-like silhouette, smooth curves, and dynamic character lines. Inside, you find a quiet, refined cabin with large infotainment displays, heated/ventilated/massaging seats, and other features that mimic or outpace European rivals. With a new G80 generation set to hit the streets next year, the current G80 is a luxury car worth buying. 

2020 BMW 540i 

KBB Fair Market Range: $24,517 – $27,340

No list featuring luxury cars would be complete without a BMW, and for this one we picked the seventh-generation 5 Series. BMW purists particularly love the seventh-gen 5 series as it’s one of the modern BMW models that have kept the old kidney grille that separated the German brand from the pack for decades.

The 2020 5 Series comes in various trims, but the one we’d recommend is the 540i as it provides a great balance between performance and affordability. Should you want something a bit more powerful in the BMW 5 Series family, we recommend going for the F10 M5, which also costs less than $30,000.

Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

CLASSIC.COM Market Benchmark: $30,558

We are well aware that the DB7 Vantage goes slightly above our 30k budget, but sometimes it’s okay to break a few rules for something that’s truly worth stretching for. The DB7 Vantage is as close as you’ll ever get to looking like James Bond without breaking the bank. It has a timeless design, handbuilt exclusivity, and an unmistakable soundtrack that lets everyone know you drive an Aston Martin from a mile away.

On top of that, the DB7 Vantage is one of the cheapest ways to own a naturally aspirated V12 engine, which is an endangered species. 0

2019 Cadillac Escalade 

KBB Fair Market Range: $25,114 – 29,125

Before the luxury SUV segment exploded about a decade ago, the Cadillac Escalade stood firm as one of the few available options alongside industry stalwarts like the Range Rover. The Escalade is still going strong and is still the luxury SUV of choice for many celebrities, athletes, and other wealthy people.

If you want an Escalade under 30k, you’ll have to settle for the fourth generation variant. It still has the monumental presence gearheads love thanks to its size, bold grille, large wheels, and strong exterior aesthetics. Inside, the Escalade features comfortable seats with plenty of legroom for each occupant, layered leather and wood trim, and multizone climate. A 420-hp V8 ensures that the Escalade can blitz past smaller cars without breaking a sweat.

2016 Maserati Quattroporte GTS

KBB Fair Market Range: $25,088 – $30,301

The Maserati Quattroporte is an Italian luxury sedan with real pedigree, especially if you get the high-performance GTS version. A gorgeous exterior design featuring the famous Maserati Trident badge will immediately capture everyone’s attention, while the Italian leather and other luxury touches inside will make you feel like a king.

One quick rev of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 immediately lets sports car drivers know you mean business, and its 523-hp output allows you to chase down sports cars on your way to a 191-mph top speed.