With wide price ranges and numerous body configurations, this diverse segment has two clear Best Buy choices--the refined Lexus LS 430 and the unique Audi A6. The LS 430 can't be beat for comfort and features at around $55,000, while the A6 earns Best Buy status for its blend of space, performance, design sophistication, powertrain choices, and workmanship at prices below those of most rivals.

We Recommend the Acura RL--a steal at around $45,000 fully equipped. Though it is a front-drive V6 in a field of V8 rear-drive models, it has a great ride, plenty of power, and is quite luxurious. If you are looking for something a bit more sporting, we Recommend BMW 5-Series. If your taste ranges more toward the luxury end, then take a look at the roomy Cadillac DeVille.

Buyers and manufacturers alike are really preoccupied with light trucks. How much? Well, consider late word that Volvo's next top-line sedan is being redrawn with the XC90 SUV platform as the starting point. The result, sources say, will be a larger S80 with a 2-inch longer wheelbase and all-wheel drive as standard or optional. The redesigned S80, due in fall 2004 as an '05 model, is also said to exchange a transverse inline-6 for a V6, likely a larger, improved version of parent Ford's "Duratec" engine, perhaps turbocharged or supercharged on uplevel models. Using an SUV platform also suggests a possible first-time big-Volvo wagon, which would almost surely be tagged V90. Interestingly enough, Volvo considered an "S80 wagon," but decided there was no market for it. Of course, these and other ideas could be shot down in Ford's current cost-saving recovery program, but for now it seems the next S80 will have at least some SUV DNA.

Meantime, the S80 line lost more sales ground in calendar 2002, sliding nearly 24 percent from 2001 after a 13-percent dip in 2000. But Volvo dealers probably aren't crying much, now that they have the profitable XC90 to sell.