10 Best Sedans Under $40k

If your budget lets you shop for sedans under $40,000, you’re actually ahead of the game. The average transaction price for a new vehicle in 2018 is closer to $35,000. That means our $40K ceiling will cover some impressive rides.

With $40,000, you can afford relatively loaded mainstream cars, fun-to-drive sport sedans, and smaller models from the luxury brands. These choices then let you mix and match many different levels of technology, comfort, performance, and fuel economy. Also, here’s a special tip to help you get the most bang for your buck: Sometimes a car with a lower MSRP and a lot of options can be more satisfying than a high-end entry model that starts right at our pricing limit.

It might come as a surprise, but if you’re shopping for the best sedans under $40,000, your local Kia dealership is a great place to start. That’s where you can find the 2018 Kia Stinger GT, which is priced from $38,350.

The GT is the mid-range model in the Stinger lineup, but it packs a high-performance 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 engine that delivers 365 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque. And just to be clear, the Stinger GT fits in with other true sport sedans, thanks to its standard rear-wheel drive, Brembo brakes, and a Nurburgring-tuned suspension. Nor is there any shortage of premium features, since the Stinger GT comes standard with leather upholstery, heated front seats, LED headlights, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, and more.

If you’re looking for a full-size choice, the best sedans under $40,000 include the 2018 Chevrolet Impala. The Impala offers a roomy trunk with almost 19 cubic feet of capacity, and second-row passengers can stretch out with nearly 40 inches of legroom.

You also get a long list of luxuries for your money: The Premier trim opens at $37,595, which leaves enough left over for both the Confidence and the Convenience packages. Adding those bundles will bring you leather seating surfaces, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated and leather-wrapped steering wheel, mobile Wi-Fi, wireless smartphone charging, navigation, and popular safety technologies like automatic emergency braking. Under the hood, a robust 3.6-liter V6 produces 305 horsepower and 264 pound-feet of torque.

The 2018 BMW 3 Series' entry-level 320i rear-wheel drive model has an MSRP of $34,900, and adding BMW’s advanced xDrive all-wheel drive technology takes you to $36,900. For that kind of outlay, you can get behind the wheel of an iconic sport sedan with a turbocharged engine, an eight-speed automatic transmission, and a multi-mode drive system with a dedicated “Sport” setting.

You can also go shopping through BMW’s vast options catalog. In fact, with the change from your $40,000, you can outfit your car with heated power-adjustable front seats, mobile Wi-Fi, and cutting-edge safety technology. This includes automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, a forward-collision warning, pedestrian detection, and a blind-spot monitor.

For cutting-edge technology, one of the best sedans under $40,000 is the 2018 Audi A3. Now, the A3 has a small footprint that’s only slightly longer than a mainstream subcompact like the 2018 Ford Fiesta sedan. The A3, however, has more rear-seat legroom than the larger 2018 Ford Focus.

Of course, neither Ford has the sort of premium goodies you get from Audi. Our advice: Order the A3 Premium Plus trim with Audi’s Sport and Technology packages. This raises the car’s MSRP to north of $39,000, but you’ll enjoy upgrades such as a 12.3-inch “virtual cockpit” infotainment screen that replaces the conventional instrument panel. Also in the mix are heated power-adjustable front sport seats, a flat-bottomed racing-style steering wheel, mobile Wi-Fi, and a Bang & Olufsen audio system.

The 2018 Infiniti Q50 is among the best sedans under $40,000 from the mid-size luxury segment. The Q50 3.0t Luxe, which is priced from $39,150, also stands out with a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and a seven-speed automatic transmission. That engine sends 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque to the car’s rear wheels, for traditional sport-sedan-style performance.

For a traditional touch of luxury, this Q50 trim level shows off genuine maple-wood accents in the cabin, along with LED signature headlights, a power-operated moonroof, leather-appointed sport seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, and an innovative InTouch infotainment system. Unlike typical setups, the Q50 includes not one but two touchscreens: an 8-inch upper screen stacked above a 7-inch lower unit.

Sedans under $40,000 aren’t always known for having the biggest engines. But if you’re one of those folks who believe there’s no replacement for displacement, we suggest checking out the 2018 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack. In this configuration, Dodge’s four-door muscle car has an MSRP of $39,995.

More importantly, it boasts a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 that can unleash 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. Complementing that brute force are further performance enhancers, which range from Brembo brakes to a racing-style steering wheel to a sport-tuned suspension. At the same time, the car offers a number of upscale technologies, such as the Charger Scat Pack’s standard infotainment system, which bundles an 8.4-inch touchscreen, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and Bluetooth.

For a British sedan under $40,000, we present the 2018 Jaguar XE. It’s the compact sport sedan from the Big Cat brand. The recipe for success here includes a 247-horsepower turbocharged engine, a multimode drive system, 10-way power-adjustable front seats, a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel, and an infotainment screen anchored by an 8-inch touchscreen. All that comes in a sleek package that’s priced at $35,725.

You can also mix in Jaguar’s performance-friendly all-wheel drive system for $2,500, and then top everything off with a Cold Climate package for an additional $1,020. With these upgrades, you benefit from heated seats, a heated steering wheel, hotter handling, and 0-60 times of 5.8 seconds.

Like its Dodge Charger corporate cousin, the 2018 Chrysler 300S is available with a Hemi V8. True, the engine adds $3,000 to the Chrysler’s bottom line. Yet you still sneak in under our price ceiling at $39,295. Plus, you can rely on that 5.7-liter unit for 363 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque.

The 300S offers much more than pure performance, too. As one of the higher trims in the 300 lineup, it also includes uplevel content such as heated front sport seats with Nappa leather trim; a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel with paddle shifters; and an infotainment system with an 8.4-inch touchscreen, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay.

The Lexus brand offers two of the best sedans under $40,000: the luxury-focused 2018 Lexus ES and the sportier Lexus IS. Although you can’t go wrong with either one, we recommend the ES today. The specific model we have in mind is the ES 350. Listed at $38,950, the ES 350 is a premium mid-size sedan that provides standard equipment such as 10-way power-adjustable front seats, an infotainment system with app-based navigation, LED headlamps, and the Lexus Safety System+ — which includes adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking.

You can also add more key content and remain under $40K. For example, you can bolster those driver-assistance technologies with a blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert, for $500, and pay $450 for a heated leather-wrapped steering wheel with real-wood trim.

The 2019 Volvo S60 is newly redesigned and already on sale, and it offers just about everything you could want from a sedan under $40,000. The Momentum trim, with an MSRP of $35,800, is equipped with LED headlights, Volvo's dramatic “Thor’s Hammer” daytime running lights, a panoramic moonroof, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, a 250-horsepower turbo engine, and the expected array of Volvo-style safety technologies.

What you may not expect are the extra features you can get while still spending less than $40,000. By combining the Multimedia Package ($2,500), Heated Front Seats & Heated Steering Wheel Package ($750), and Linear Lime Deco Inlays ($600), you raise the luxury bar with a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, Harman Kardon audio, a navigation system, and matte lime-wood cabin decor.