Affordable Cars With Surprisingly Higher-End Interiors: Top 10

Car owners spend more time inside their car than looking at it from the outside. So, a car’s interior should be a nice place to be.

Of course, luxury vehicles excel at making sure their drivers have a comfortable and pleasing place to spend time, but luckily for the rest of us, there are plenty of affordable cars with surprisingly higher-end interiors. Crossing the spectrum from sedans, to crossover, SUVs, and electric vehicles, anything can be a nice place to spend some time.

Here are some vehicles with inviting premium-looking interiors despite their modest pricing.

Starting our list of affordable cars with surprisingly higher-end interiors is the Honda Civic. Honda has given the Civic a seriously upscale makeover for the 11th generation of its compact car. The latest Civic’s interior looks like it belongs in a car a class up. There’s a level of restraint that screams premium, with a smart mesh strip that hides the vents. Twist the climate control dials and there’s a sweet, satisfying click. The top Touring trim uses a larger 9.0-inch infotainment screen, plus a fully digital instrument panel.

With the market’s continued crossover love affair, mid-size sedans have become more luxurious than ever before. Take the latest Hyundai Sonata. Lots of space, a well-designed, clean dashboard, and everything within reach is soft to the touch. Did we mention the heated and ventilated front seats, plus heating for the rear? If it’s all a little too much, the sporty N Line pulls back on all the interior amenities, and gives you the ability to smoke the tires in third gear. Life; it’s all about balance. Not bad for a family sedan.

Toyota used to make interiors that were about as exciting as reading your dishwasher’s instruction manual. But now we find an entry on the affordable cars with surprisingly higher-end interiors list. Despite prices remaining at the affordable end of the spectrum, this Camry’s interior has the kind of quality usually found in higher priced vehicles. An intricately curvy dashboard, quality-looking metal trim pieces, and nicely textured leather seats create a confident-looking package. An even further highlight: Red leather seats!

We can’t get enough of the Mazda CX-30 here at AutoGuide, and a lot of that comes down to its interior. Simply put, you won’t find a better space for under $40,000. The Mazda’s cabin is all soft-touch materials and smooth, almost organic lines. We’ve found less impressive leather in cars costing almost twice as much. If the CX-30 is any indication, Mazda’s goal of graduating from the mainstream to luxury isn’t just a pipe dream, but an inevitability. All this, in a vehicle that starts under $25,000.

It wasn’t long ago that Nissan’s interiors were … well, not good. But the company has a renewed focus on quality cabin time, and nowhere is that more apparent than in its best-selling Rogue crossover. This family hauler is plenty spacious, as before, but it now comes complete with touches more often associated with the next class up. A fully digital instrument panel and large, clear head-up display keeps the driver informed, while the rest of the crew will enjoy Nissan’s comfortable Zero Gravity seats, decked out in quilted leather.