Status Symbols With Purpose: Top Shelf Cars

by Alyssa Oursler | July 9, 2013 10:35 am

Top Shelf showcases luxury vacations, goods, restaurants and more that you can indulge in after your investing pays off.

[1]Once you meet me, there’s a good chance you’ll soon meet Sally — my lovely, 14-year-old Jetta.

She’s a bit boxier than many of her curvy Volkswagen (VLKAY[2]) cousins, but she’s fashionable and wears her age well — especially considering how hard I am on her.

At this point in time, I hope Sally lasts me forever, because the last thing I want to do is shell out cash each month for a new (or at least new-to-me) car.

But hopefully, after a few decades of hard work, smart saving and savvy investing, Sally (who barely and begrudgingly trudges up hills, whose left-hand side mirror is close to coming off and whose cupholders no longer hold cups) will be a sweet and distant memory.

She will be a long-lost symbol of just starting out and just getting by — and will be replaced by a much-preferred kind of symbol: One of status, like a brand-new Maserati Quattroporte[3].

The four-door Italian sedan is a beauty to say the least — and one that can back its good looks up with eye-popping performance. It competes with luxury models from names like Audi, BMW (BAMXY[4]), Jaguar, Porsche (POAHY[5]) and Daimler‘s (DDAIF[6]) Mercedez-Benz … making it a clear upgrade from my small German family car and its slow four-cylinder engine.

Heck, at this point in time, my dad’s new Ford (F[7]) Taurus is several rungs above my Jetta … so the Quattroporte is practically a whole ladder better.

The Quattroporte GTS has a Twin Turbo V-8 that fuel a 0-to-60 mark of 4.2 seconds. Meanwhile, the S Q4 model has a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that’s good for about 404 horsepower. According to Motor Trend[8], it was the most powerful V-6 available until Cadillac recently trumped it with a 420hp beast going into its 2014 CTS Vsport.

Past the engine, I’m mesmerized by lovely interior intricacies that my current ride would kill for — doors with frameless glass, soft leather seats, an 8.4-inch touch control screen, all-wheel-drive, a traditional oval grille and …

Hold on, I’m drooling.

My favorite part? You can choose to have 15 speakers[9] distributed across the dashboard, doors and rear shelf. Considering I’ve blown out my speakers, replaced them with speakers that I thought I couldn’t blow out, then blew those out too, I’m going to go ahead and check “yes” in that box.

Granted, by the time I can afford this car, there’s a good chance I’ll be listening to my music a bit quieter. Motor Trend puts the coming 2014 model at a price range of $102,500 to $140,500.

Still, when that day comes, I might crank the volume up anyways as I accelerate up hills and whip around turns … just because I can.

As of this writing, Alyssa Oursler did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow her on Twitter: @alyssaoursler[10].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/07/status-symbols-with-purpose-top-shelf-cars/

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