Long gone are the days of autonomous driving systems being only reserved for the highest echelon of cars because modern advancements in in-car technologies enable features such as these to find their way into cars from all price brackets.
This means that you can find adaptive cruise control with lane keep assist in both entry-level cars and high-end luxury cars. Of course, the levels of sophistication between these systems vary greatly, but not as much as one may think.
As such, you can get the 2019 used Kia Soul equipped with adaptive cruise control for a fairly attainable price. The 2018 Mazda 3 can also be had with adaptive cruise control and considering the mass appeal the Mazda 3 carries it seems rather easy to recommend the Mazda 3 to many customers.
The 2018 Hyundai Sonata is also a fairly well-rounded car both for families and individuals and it can also be had with adaptive cruise control on the 2nd hand market. Be sure to check out the 2018 Toyota RAV4 if you want a great all-around SUV. If you want an executive sedan that also offers adaptive cruise, the 2012 Audi A6 is the one to get.
2019 Kia Soul – Cheap way to get adaptive cruise control in a fairly new automobile
Affordability does not necessarily mean you’ll have to opt for inferior quality and the 2019 Kia Soul is the prime example of such philosophy. You can get a low-mileage 2019 Kia Soul for well under $20k which makes it a great choice for those who want to enjoy the very latest assistance systems without having to spend big money.
You will have to find one equipped with the “Primo Package” which retailed for about $4500 but it does include everything you need for a state-of-the-art driving experience such as adaptive cruise with automatic braking system, following distance systems, forward collision warning, and a lot more.
2018 Mazda 3 – A great all-around hatchback available with adaptive cruise control
The current generation of the Mazda 3 is highly regarded as one of the best hatchbacks that ever came out of the Japanese economy car segment, so much so that a lot of people deem it more similar to something like an Audi A3 than to a “barebone” affordable Japanese hatchback.
This is mostly true because the Mazda 3 offers quite a bit of stuff for the money, especially when you consider the sporty driving experience and a nicely executed exterior and interior design. Furthermore, you will need to find one with the “Premium equipment package” which retailed for a fairly reasonable $1600 but it gives you everything you need and more.
2018 Hyundai Sonata – An attainable family sedan available with adaptive cruise control
The Hyundai Sonata is not exactly an expensive car to begin with so you’d expect Hyundai to charge you quite a bit of money if you wanted all the bells and whistles that were available with the Sonata from new. However, the “technology package” only cost $1000 from new and it comes with distance sensing adaptive cruise control and speed maintenance system.
Besides being a great deal, the Sonata is a fairly reliable automobile that also boasts impressive MPG results. Either way you look at it, the Sonata is a great entry point into the world of ADAS.
2018 Toyota RAV4 – A competitive compact SUV available with adaptive cruise control
Toyota is a brand highly regarded as the best automotive brand out there as far as reliability and efficiency are concerned. However, Toyota was never too fond of inventing newer technology because they always rather focused on perfecting current technology solutions.
This plays a huge part in the overall reliability result which makes the RAV4 as good as it is. Either way, you can get one with adaptive cruise control with all the safety bells and whistles for under $17k.
A 9-year-old German expensive luxury sedan does not exactly seem like a sound financial decision considering that these cars are often a subject of mockery because they are so expensive to maintain. That is true, however, not in the case of the 2012 Audi A6 3.0T.
This means that you can get a well-equipped example of this executive sedan for around $25k with not all that many miles on the clock. Even though this Audi model is not known to cause problems when compared to some of its competitors, you will still need to pay for both the maintenance and registration prices which are higher than with all the other cars on this list.
FAQ Section
Is adaptive cruise control worth it?
Adaptive cruise control is indeed worth it if you spend a lot of your driving time simply coasting on the highway or in slow-moving traffic because systems such as these do take the strain out of prolonged journeys. However, if you don’t spend a lot of time behind the wheel on a daily basis, then it might not be all that necessary.
Either way, you also need to decide how necessary systems such as these are depending on your willingness to use them.
Is adaptive cruise control safe?
For the most part, adaptive cruise control systems are safe if the system in question is performing without interruptions. This means that if the system is damaged or acting up for whatever reason you should not use it until you resolve such issues.
However, systems such as these are not there to replace your own awareness of the situation but rather to only assist you in a safe and controlled manner. This means that you always need to keep a sentient eye on whatever is happening around you which means keeping your hands on the steering wheel and always being ready to apply the brakes or make steering corrections.
Is adaptive cruise control available with all newer cars?
Not exactly because systems such as these are rarely found on entry-level trim models of almost all cars out there. This means that you will not find adaptive cruise control on many high-end cars from new if you don’t opt to buy it specifically.
Furthermore, manual cars usually don’t come with systems such as these because they are not able to accelerate or slow down if they can’t control the gear shifting process.
