Dan Neil likes the Volvo S80 (around $50K+):
You may have seen the S80 commercial in which the driver and his wife are out for a late-night run to Pink’s hot dog stand. He’s not looking where he’s going and runs up on a slower vehicle. The system flashes. She laughs and looks at him lovingly. Not in real life she doesn’t.
Attuned to the fact that women think of safety not just in terms of crash protection but personal security, Volvo offers the optional Personal Car Communicator (PCC), a high-tech keyless entry device that tells you if the car’s alarm has been activated while you’re away; the car even has a heartbeat sensor to tell you if anyone is hiding in the car. Cool.
. . .So now I have to reorder my favorite cars in this class. The Volvo — which has the added advantage of being neither German nor Japanese, a nonaligned nation in a segment where nationality matters to a lot of buyers — nudges the Acura RL from the top spot. Coolly Euro, quietly indifferent to its competitors, understated and overachieving, this V8 powered son of Gothenburg is most definitely a good idea.