Whenever I see G37 / convertible, I think young douchebag wannabe. I don't know why. INFINITI isn't a real luxury brand anyways. Get a used Porsche Boxster or Miata hardtop. INFINITI is for losers.

A used Boxster would need to be an '09+. Earlier cars with the M96 and M97 are basically rolling grenades, and you never know when that pin might fall out. If you want to be smart though, I'd look at a CPO '13, which go for around $45K. If that's within budget, go for it. If not, the Boxster probably isn't for you.

The new Miata seems to be a great car, but there's obviously nothing luxurious about it at all, pretty different car from a G convertible.

I don't put much stock into what is and isn't a luxury brand. All that really matters to me is whether the product is good or not. Acura isn't really a luxury brand, and its products aren't very good. Volvo isn't really either, but the new XC90 seems to be every bit as good as the latest X5 and M-B GLE, if not better. Should it be discounted just because the Volvo badge doesn't carry the cachet of the Roundel or the 3-pointed star? I don't think so. If Volvo can nail their execution, which they seem to have done, then good for them. If Acura could deliver a product on that same level, I'd say the same thing.

In a lot of ways the Infiniti G is a far more honest car than the Acura TL. The TL has always been sold as a sort of phony "performance" car, particularly in SH-AWD guise, when in actuality it has a FE-FWD layout with some 60%+ of its weight on its nose, and its platform is largely derived from the Accord. Nevermind the ILX which is a Civic wearing a white collar shirt.

The G at least has its engine facing the right way and largely behind the front axle, with a RWD layout and reasonably decent weight balance. It's not as good as the 3 series, but I don't think it's any worse than the historically awful until 5 minutes ago Mercedes C-class. Infiniti cut corners on materials, but mechanically at least, the G is very well made. Worn or peeling trim can also be replaced basically whenever you feel like it, whereas if your old 3 series or C-class has a dash lit up like a Christmas tree, that sort of thing tends to be harder to ignore.

The G sedan and G coupe I think are fine for what they are, and other than the durability of the interior trim, they are pretty smart used buys. The problem I have is with the convertible specifically. It's obvious that Infiniti wanted a piece of the 3 series and A5 cabs, but didn't really design their car with that in mind, so they just went at the G coupe with a hacksaw, and the results are what you would expect.

What about Volvo's C-coupés? They are still on the road and look quite elegant for Volvo's. Additionally the engine options are nice.

What about Volvo's C-coupés? They are still on the road and look quite elegant for Volvo's. Additionally the engine options are nice.

The C70 was dated when it was new nearly 10 years ago, and by 2015 standards it seems older than dirt. It was never that nice either. The VW EOS was a better car, and that's faint praise.

The knob, turny wheel control thing, and screen was 280% lame though. I can press things on my touchscreen display in my BRZ. The MB screen wasn't a touch screen, and it felt like playing a level of Atari breakout to change bass and treble settings on the radio. If Germans ever made user interfaces for combat planes, pilots would have died.

I was very surprised when I saw that the latest BMW 7 series that was just unveiled has a touch screen setup combined with iDrive. It has gesture controls as well (which apparently don't work very well yet), but I didn't see that coming since all three of the German luxury trio have screamed "nein!" to the idea of touch screens for well over a decade. Oddly VW has never had a problem using them, which isn't to say that VW's interfaces are any good.

I also wouldn't have guessed that Volvo would come up with one of the best touch based UIs on the market for the new XC90. Volvo systems in the past were absolutely horrendous, but they clearly did their homework. Acura's double stuff on the other hand is a total disaster, as is Infiniti's similar double stuff in the Q50. Lexus Remote Touch sucks as well.

You bought a BMW without manual door locks that traps people inside and suffocates them?

BMW already thought of that. Pull out headrest and try to smash window. Not with the cushion part, but with tip of metal bar. Might take a while though.