Disengaging rational brain....gut is telling me to choose Touring or Elite. Why? In driving the Sport yesterday, the lack of any moonroof just keeps nagging me. Rational brain all set on the EXL. The removable seat discovery on EXL makes it even more interesting (assuming that disconnecting that wiring harness doesn't throw a dashboard light error that is annoying). But I am getting older and keep my cars a long time and can afford it and so my gut is now saying why not just enjoy the car more each time you drive it. I'm not likely to miss the extra $4.5K or go hungry because of it, but I'm just feeling like every time I'm driving that EXL I may have a pang of remorse or will just keep saying "yeah but you saved a little money".
Without a doubt, the EXL is still really the sweet-spot trim in terms of price value as it includes all the really important features (except a damn moonroof!) so my rationalizing brain is now working on the Touring vs Elite options lists to help convince me that I "NEED" features there
On the Touring, I have convinced myself that the following will give me a more premium feel:
-Moonroof
-Nicer looking wheel design (in my opinion)
-Acoustic glass in front sides in addition to windshield
-LED cabin accent lighting and puddle lights
-Better sound system
-I guess another one is just accepting the "real" removable seat rather than hoping that the wiring harness disconnect will work fine on the EXL....that is a TBD that I'm sure people will figure out and we will have a thread on it for the EXL owners.
Of course then when I am convincing myself that it's fine to spend an extra $4,500, then next question is, should you spend another $3,580 to get the Elite? Interestingly, there are actually more "real" feature differences in the uptier to Elite, in my opinion, than moving from EXL to Touring, and the incremental charge is less money than the step from Touring to Elite.
Elite uptiers that I actually ascribe positive value to....
-Full digital dash
-Folding mirrors
-Rear heated seats
-Ventilated front seats
-Heated wiper zone
-multiview camera
-heated wheel (I guess, don't really care here)
don't care about rain sensing wipers at all.
-WHAT IS "LED DOOR TRIM LIGHTING"?
And one big hangup on Elite for me....I do NOT want the HUD. Yes I know some people swear by it. I drove an Elite and was annoyed by seeing the speedometer number floating in my line of view. So question - I assume I could turn it off completely? And second question....even if turned off, isn't there some potential residual reflection since whatever glass teleprompter thingy the HUD uses is still there?
Interested in others' views of the feature set decision of Touring vs Elite. Rational brain prob lands on Touring because of course it does. Elite is really just whipped cream and a cherry on every feature.....
Without a doubt, the EXL is still really the sweet-spot trim in terms of price value as it includes all the really important features (except a damn moonroof!) so my rationalizing brain is now working on the Touring vs Elite options lists to help convince me that I "NEED" features there
On the Touring, I have convinced myself that the following will give me a more premium feel:
-Moonroof
-Nicer looking wheel design (in my opinion)
-Acoustic glass in front sides in addition to windshield
-LED cabin accent lighting and puddle lights
-Better sound system
-I guess another one is just accepting the "real" removable seat rather than hoping that the wiring harness disconnect will work fine on the EXL....that is a TBD that I'm sure people will figure out and we will have a thread on it for the EXL owners.
Of course then when I am convincing myself that it's fine to spend an extra $4,500, then next question is, should you spend another $3,580 to get the Elite? Interestingly, there are actually more "real" feature differences in the uptier to Elite, in my opinion, than moving from EXL to Touring, and the incremental charge is less money than the step from Touring to Elite.
Elite uptiers that I actually ascribe positive value to....
-Full digital dash
-Folding mirrors
-Rear heated seats
-Ventilated front seats
-Heated wiper zone
-multiview camera
-heated wheel (I guess, don't really care here)
don't care about rain sensing wipers at all.
-WHAT IS "LED DOOR TRIM LIGHTING"?
And one big hangup on Elite for me....I do NOT want the HUD. Yes I know some people swear by it. I drove an Elite and was annoyed by seeing the speedometer number floating in my line of view. So question - I assume I could turn it off completely? And second question....even if turned off, isn't there some potential residual reflection since whatever glass teleprompter thingy the HUD uses is still there?
Interested in others' views of the feature set decision of Touring vs Elite. Rational brain prob lands on Touring because of course it does. Elite is really just whipped cream and a cherry on every feature.....
