why are some interiors of expensive cars called luxurious when something quite similar isn't? the leather is where the leather is, as well as the plastic bits. is it more buttons the better or is it the color of the stiches? the last one seems nicest of all imo.

examples:

 

Well, the leather is indeed in the same places, but they're not made of the same material. The s2000 uses rock hard "pleather," while an Audi and Accord will use much softer/expensive leather. Plus, the S2000 doesn't have heated seats, climate control, DVD audio, etc.

 

I'm not gonna lie. I find the s2k to be VERY simple yet luxurious. The materials in my AP2 are great. And look the sig. I've got that hard-to-maintain tan leather.

 

suede is the ultimate trim in luxury imo, to finish the knob, wheel etc... for some reason, piping and alternate color stitch gets the luxury call also

 

it's true that the s2k leather is not soft, but iv found that VW/audi/porsche leather is also uncomfortably stiff. lexus, yes very soft.

 

Your paying for 95% name, and another 5% worth of "upgrade" over the basic cars in the category.

 

I think the whole concept of luxury started many years ago, It used to make sense at that time, as only very selective brands and models offered such packages. Problem now is that current car technology almost plateaued, and most car makers can implement such luxury options without excessive production costs, you see Honda offering very similar products to Mercedes, if not even better in terms of reliability and materials, even though the 2 manufacturers target totally different buyers, so it really goes back to the badge on the car, not how luxurious it is.

 

I'd take MB Tex or BMW Leatherette over the real thing any day... +1 for good pleather. And Accord leather is soft?? I haven't been in any newer leather Accords, but in the last generation it was awful stuff. The pleather stuff from BMW/Benz ages much better than any leather... The S with only a few thousand miles already look used. Conditioning twice a year helps, but it won't tighten the leather up much.

 

The quality of the plastic is different too. Some of the really hard plastics just feel cheaper then the more foamy/rubbery stuff. At least to me they do.

 

Sit in a euro car and sit in a ford with leather and take a deep breath, thass the difference. The hide on the euro cars tend to age better (dunno about the newer cars though), just compare an old VW or Merc leather to an old acura leather for instance. Euro cars leather gets stiff because the owners dont treat it. Materials used for dashes and stuff are starting to become more uniform, a new accord's interior with leather for instance is probably better than the new C class in terms of fit and finish when i compared them side to side, but the C Class has the badge and a few nifty lil features, so a lot of the time you are just buying, shall we say, sophistication and not exactly luxury or refinment. Compare a swiss army knife to a buck knife, (utility aside) both use great materials and the craftsmanship are both stellar, but one will tend to be regarded as the higher class item.
Seriously though, I just wish Ford used a smooth texture plastic and paint everything pitch black, then peopel really wouldnt be able to tell all that much.