Adventures in Car Buying - Lexus CT200h

The first car I brought home for an overnight test drive was a 2012 Lexus CT200h. A compact hatchback based on the Toyota Prius, the CT200h does a couple things outrageously well, and one thing quite poorly.

But before I get into any of that, I feel compelled to discuss two topics that I myself have spent years trying to digest:

On badge engineering

In short, badge engineering is the ubiquitous practice of borrowing a model from another manufacturer and then slapping your name on the outside, often with little or no additional customization.

Examples of badge engineering

• Acura ILX = Honda Civic
• Lexus ES350 = Toyota Avalon
• Lincoln MKS = Ford Taurus
• ad nauseam

I approve of the concept on principal; if your blue-collar model is refined enough for your white-collar consumer, well done you. Everybody wins. But the smaller the difference between these two models, the more closely must the buyer examine his motivation behind choosing the more premium brand. Especially when a non-trivial cost difference is involved.

There are myriad ways to justify that cost difference without ever addressing egoism, but I think this is disingenuous at heart, so I won't list them here.

Which leads neatly into the next topic:

On premium brands

Premium brands exist entirely along the segment of the diminishing return curve where total return on investment as a proportion of the total investment decreases. Put another way, when you buy premium you're getting less for more, relative to a non-premium counterpart.

In reality the core value proposition of premium brands is that they are out of reach of a given percentage of the population, and so by extension are those who buy them.

So ultimately, would I buy one?
Yesssssssss.

Why?
Because we can afford to right now, and all the ugliness that implies.

On the intersection of premium brands and badge engineering

The CT200h, henceforth referred to as the Lexus Prius, really is a lovely little thing; but it is defined by the contradictions it holds within the whisper quiet cabin.

The Lexus Prius is chic but not sexy. Isolating but not numb. Exclusive but not unattainable. The Lexus Prius is Helen Hunt in As Good as it Gets.

Drive the Lexus Prius and ambient noise fades away, like the moment before a pressure induced yawn on an airplane. Front seats are perfectly sculpted with excellent mid-back lumbar support. You'll have to fight to get fewer than 40 highway MPGs because the car will always default to Eco mode.

This is the perfect car for two people on a cross-country adventure. This is not the perfect car for three people on a cross-county adventure. Back seat room is a bit confined, as per usual in this class.

So why didn't this one work? At the end of the day, this is still a Prius, and that means reigning in fun to boost fuel economy. And Nura wanted something a little bit hotter.