2013 Kia Sorento Lx V6 on 2040-cars

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Here's what else you could buy for the average new-car price of $40,573

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. The average price of a new car in America hit a new record in December 2020: $40,573. Not that we're surprised — the average has been over $35,000 for the past few years — but seeing that baseline figure crest 40 large is still a sticker-shock to the system. So, as we do every once in a while, we put our collective heads together and came up with a list of alternatives that you could choose to buy for that sum, new or old, classic or practical. Now, let's be crystal clear about one thing here. We're not actually recommending you make this type of decision. That said, we wouldn't blame you if you did. Managing Editor Greg Rasa: $40,000 will buy a fully loaded Camry or moderately equipped crossover. Or, for $39,997, to be exact, one could go motoring in a fine British automobile. This 2006 Aston Martin DB9 Volante in Alabama has 21,452 miles on it, and depreciation has worked its cruel magic: It is listed for less than one-quarter of its $168,000 starting MSRP when it was new. A check of other used DB9s nationwide indicates this is a fair price. This Aston's CarFax reveals two owners. (One, really, as the second was a dealership. Looks like it got traded in for a Porsche.) If you're understandably concerned about reliability, its service history indicates no surprises to date. Remember, it has a 450-horsepower 5.9-liter V12. And spring is coming. Of course a used Aston Martin is riskier than a new Camry. But as Louis Prima sang, "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think." What price beauty? Less than $40 grand. Associate Editor Byron Hurd: This price point opens up a ton of options in the "nearly new" luxury space, including a few good enthusiast picks, but my nod here goes to the Cadillac ATS-V. The discontinued, M3/M4-rivaling, 465-horsepower sport sedan and coupe can be had all day long in this price range with low miles. In fact, the real challenge is finding one in the spec you want, since it's one of those old-fashioned cars that actually presented the buyer with choices. Here's a clean, six-speed sedan in an actual color for less than our target price, for example. Coupes are more plentiful than sedans, especially in interesting colors, but there are plenty of them out there.

2020 Kia Cadenza gets a bigger touchscreen and a new dash to fit it

Admit it, you forgot the Kia Cadenza existed. You might've even thought it was something you put in the living room somewhere between the hutch and the chesterfield. But the 2020 Kia Cadenza is a thing, still, and the full-size sedan's even been given a nip, tuck and extra features for this new model year. To the surprise of no one, this revised Cadenza is identical to the Korean-market K7 we showed you last June. We even included some of those images in the above gallery since Kia only provided a pair of pics for the Chicago Auto Show reveal. However, as it seems likely you'll need side-by-side images to tell the difference between the 2019 and 2020 Cadenzas, here you go. There. As you can now tell, the 2020 Cadenza has an enlarged concave grille that nevertheless maintains Kia's signature "tiger nose" shape. The headlights are now all-LED and fit within a sleeker slit-like housing. The bumper portion has also been redone with the old quad pod of LED lights in each corner giving way to an architectural metallic trim piece that spans its width. The rear bumper and taillights have also been given a re-think. The interior gets more noteworthy changes, however. The dash has been redone to accommodate the standard 12-inch panoramic touchscreen that migrates from the Telluride and other higher-end vehicles in the Hyundai empire. The air vents are now below the screen rather than on either side of it, and the screen itself fits just forward of the concave dash surrounding it. The design achieves the purpose of reducing visual bulk without resorting to the iPad-glued-to-the-dash look. The climate and secondary infotainment controls were also lowered and rearranged into a waterfall panel that now meets up with the center console. 2020 left, 2019 right Interior feature content is largely the same apart from three extra USB ports (one more up front, two in the rear) and an enhanced 10-watt wireless charging pad. It's the safety tech roster that really gets bolstered, however, as Kia's Drive Wise suite of driver assistance features now comes standard. This includes the extensive blind-spot monitoring system that won Autoblog's Technology of the Year award, as well as forward collision warning with pedestrian/cyclist detection and automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with steering assist and navigation-system input, and the Safe Exit Assist feature that warns passengers when traffic is detected from the rear.

The Kia Sedona is the most neglected car model currently on sale

Today is a rainy day. What does a car nut do on a rainy day? After my spouse said I could have some free time, I started to wonder things. Bizarre things. Like, what happened to minivans? In addition to Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, other manufacturers jumped into the minivan pool. Remember the Mercury, Nissan, and Mazda's minivans? They stormed on the scene en masse in the 1980's and 1990's and then seemed to peter out as the crossover craze began taking full effect at the turn of the millennium. Now there are fewer minivan offerings and one in particular seems neglected. Well, it's still raining. So, I thought I would write down some of my thoughts in that vein. Today, Honda and Toyota are often seen as the minivan rivals, picking at each other in commercials and one-upping the other with little things, like an internal vacuum cleaner. But, don't forget Chrysler who has always been around in the category (they invented it if you believe their advertisements). So, they are always respected in the field, even though the Grand Caravan and Pacifica arguably aren't up to the Honda and Toyota standards. That's not to say they aren't worthy of serious consideration if you're looking for a minivan, because they are. All the products in this category have become relatively good and are far better in quality than anything from 30 years ago. There's another manufacturer out there however, making a minivan that is hardly ever heard from in automotive advertising circles. That is Kia. Their Sedona model is one of the most neglected models currently on sale. The Kia Sedona is a good product, a worthy competitor in the minivan category. It even has lots of conveniences at a price point that should appeal to minivan buyers (thousands less than Honda or Toyota). But, the parent company's limited advertising has not brought the attention to the model that it deserves. Toyota at least makes an effort to put some swagger into it's marketing campaign for their Sienna. The Swagger Wagon videos are still popular. Toyota has even made an off-road version of the Sienna to keep the Sienna top of mind, even if it is a ridiculous concept that will never go into production. So, what?! It's a fun exercise to keep their product somewhat viral. Kia, well... does anybody remember anything cool about the Sedona? Hold on... Yes! There was that Photo Safari Sedona back in 2015.