QUIET Family Sedan??

[Claudius-07]

Good day all.
All I want for Christmas... seriously, is a quiet, very quiet 4 door family sedan. I have owned a few cars in my day, I have access to my parent's car, my wife's car, her parent's car, my friend's car and other than her parent's 2014 Camry 2.5 LE, I pretty much HATE every car out there for how loud and buzzy and shaky they are or have small creaks and and annoying rattles and squeaks or vibrations... grr.

I owned a 2003 Audi A6 and it was glorious, with the right tires. Moved to the city, commute to work went from 35-45 minutes to 7 minutes all city and so I sold it and now have a 2013 Honda Fit. I mean I love the car for what it is, a cheap, reliable city car, but my god it's buzzy. In fact every "newish" car has glass and body so thin and so light that you can hear everything outside. My A6 was a tank, shielded from the outside... I miss it.

Now of course, 2 years later, guess what, my commute will be back up to 40+ min mainly HWY.... snow.. cold in the winter, long, hot and loud in the summer.

I know I am asking a lot and I am going to get mainly "subjective" experiences or remarks on cars, but out of a new Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, Mazda 6 (pretty much a Fusion i think still), Malibu, Sonata, Kia Optima... and of course the Camry or anything else I might have missed (and I dont want to go spend again that much for an Audi or BMW etc)... what do folks think? What is the quietest darn family sedan out there? I ask for nothing else, just quiet bliss while driving. I actually do loads of work thinking as I drive, setting my day up, breaking things down and getting everything ready the second I walk into work. Other times I love to listen to audio books or talk radio and I don't want to blast my stereo. Or I want to have a comfortable conversation with my dad or my wife without having to raise my voice. I know a lot has to do with the tires and heck the horrible roads we have here... but there has to be something better.

My neighbor last week just told me to man up and by a Lexus... I figured they were just overpriced Toyota's, but he swears by it. Guess will have to add that to the list. Asked if I could try his, he said no. Bahh.

 

[MustISO]

I think you're going to need to look at the mid-range luxury to get something truly quiet. I've been in the optima and sonata and they seemed decently quiet but I wasn't really paying attention. Take a look at the Lexus (parents have one and it's very quiet), Hyundai Genesis and 2015 Acura TLX.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Look into Acura TLX, Lexus ES, Buick Verano-Regal-Lacrosse, and Chrysler 200.

If you want something cheaper, look into Honda Accord or Chevy Malibu. Both are FWD but with good winter tires, these cars will do well in winter storms. I have a 2013 Honda Accord and I still did all around car insulation - deadening, mass loaded vinyl, closed cell foam, and polyester based stuffing. What I did to my car makes it a 24k USD car that is luxury quiet.

 

[ss284]

ThatsABigOne's suggestions are good. 2015 TLX is very quiet and has active noise cancellation, ES 350 is pretty similar.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I love my 2012 Camry Hybrid XLE but compared to my wife's 2014 Lexus ES350 it is quite a big step up in smoothness, quietness and comfort.

 

[rommelrommel]

What about an Avalon? Close to Lexus build quality, very quiet.

 

[nedfunnell]

How about a Leaf? Very quiet owing to not having thousands of explosions going on every minute. You'd have to have the right commute, and another car for long trips. Plenty of other electric cars out there to choose from too, like a Ford Focus Electric.

Or, just buy a roll of NVH material and spend a Saturday quieting your Fit.

 

[Pocatello]

I rented a Chevy Malibu last week. It was very quiet.

 

[kitatech]

The Camry 6 would get lower MPG than the 4-banger but on the highway the difference is less than it would be in town...and the V6 is smoother and quieter.

 

[996GT2]

If quiet is a priority, you should be looking at the Toyota Avalon or Lexus ES. The ES in particular is VERY quiet.

 

[NutBucket]

Mercedes Benz 300/420/560 SE/SEL. Not even kidding. Those a truly bulletproof cars.

An alternative would be an older LS400/430. Both are rolling isolation chambers.

 

[Vetterin]

Quite = Tesla!

 

[NutBucket]

But definitely not within implied budget.

 

[ballmode]

I recommend an Avalon

 

[DeviousTrap]

Look at American full-size cars. They'll be cheaper than the Lexus equivalents, but similarly quiet.

Buick LaCrosse & Chevy Impala.

 

[senseamp]

7 minute commute and you are getting cranky? I would just suck it up.

 

[Midwayman]

Look at an off lease MB c300 4matic. Sounds about perfect for you. The lexus ES series I'd look at as well.

 

[jlee]

Other than the noise, how do you like your Fit? It may be worth taking the time/money to sound insulate the whole car.

 

[Scarpozzi]

For the money, go for a used Buick. They depreciate a little faster than the imports, have great power, and are quiet.

My 2003 has insulation in the body panels to dampen road noise. When I test drove cars 10 years ago, it was BY FAR the quietest ride for the money. It beat Nissan, Toyota, and Honda in road noise...and that's one of my biggest tests. I find the roughest road I can in the area and drive over broken pavement to see how much noise there is...

I agree about body panels being much thinner than they used to be. They dent far easier too... It's all in the name of reducing manufacturing cost/weight and increasing MPG.

 

[nk215]

My vote would be for the Lexus 430LS or the BMW 745i. I don't have experience with the newer models of those 2.

My wife porsche cayenne v8 (2006) is built like a tank however it has more wind noise than I expected. Just an example of something heavy/built like a tank but is still not very quiet.

 

[herm0016]

the GM sedans are generally regarded as very quite and easy to drive. Buick is probably your best bet.

a leaf? I highly doubt that will make it on a 40min commute.

 

[NutBucket]

An electric car only solves one problem, engine noise. Road noise is much tougher to eliminate without adding weight (which obviously an electric car is trying to minimize).

 

[Mermaidman]

I know I am asking a lot and I am going to get mainly "subjective" experiences or remarks on cars, but out of a new Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, Mazda 6 (pretty much a Fusion i think still), Malibu, Sonata, Kia Optima... what do folks think?

If noise is a concern, then you should avoid the Korean twins. The 4-cylinder in the new Sonata sounds coarse and unpleasant. I presume that the Optima has the same problem.

 

[Knavish]

Have you thought about getting a "normal" family sedan and then installing sound insulation (or having a good car audio shop install it)?

 

[nedfunnell]

An electric car only solves one problem, engine noise. Road noise is much tougher to eliminate without adding weight (which obviously an electric car is trying to minimize).

If it were a conversion or the manufacturer didn't try at all to work with the silence advantage, then yes, that would be true.

However, the Leaf's quietness on the road was impressive enough for Jeremy Clarkson to comment on when he reviewed it. Lots of special care was taken to make it quiet.