A girl at work bought this a few weeks ago, I've never seen it or even heard of it.

Front grill

Side view. Chrome side moulding looks nice

Wheels and tires

She said it was around 52/53K. No ML but from what I'm hearing, not a big deal.

I had not heard of Vogue either, but a google search turned up this. http://www.voguetyre.com/buy.htm
Apparently a tire company that also sells accessories (wheels, grilles, trim) for many different vehicles.

Yeah I googled it after she bought it and found the same thing. I tried looking at tire companies here to see what the tires sell for but came up empty even though they said they sell that brand.

Discount Tires Direct lists the Vogue 215/55R-17 tire for $114. The low price would concern me unless I had some first hand user experience with them.

Vogue tires used to be (60's - 70's) a pretty expensive dealer installed add-on for Cadillacs etc. I think they had kind of crows foot like design on the real wide white sidewall. I didn't know they were even still around.

Dave Mac

Back in the day you'd see a lot of Caddies all decked out with whitewalls, chrome rims, gold emblems and fabric convertible-like roofs. I think most of them were an expensive Vogue package that was a real money maker for the dealerships that offered them.

I never cared for them at all. And I'm old!!

I'm not that old, but in this case I agree. It seems wrong on this kind of car. The ES isn't designed to be flashy per se and this kind of gimping up would seem more likely on a different kind of car. But I guess that's what makes the world go round.

Dealer added accessories = Another way for the dealer to rip you off.

I like the chrome door trim and door handles. The car should have come with them from the factory IMHO

I'm with the others. It looks to me like a great way to pay a few thousand dollars more for a car and, then, a good way to reduce resale value on a vehicle when it comes time to sell or trade it in. In general, used car buyers want a car that looks the way it was designed by the manufacturer, and mods, no matter how much they may appeal to a small segment of used car buyers, are going to make the majority of used car buyers walk the other way, which results in less demand for those cars and, consequently, lower resale value. And this is especially true for a car like the ES, which is designed more conservatively and targeted toward a more conservative segment of buyers.


More chrome is definitely one of those things that increases appeal to some buyers, but it decreases appeal to others. Often, when auto manufacturers do their mid-cycle refreshes, they either switch from body-colored trim to chrome or from chrome to body-colored trim. I'm definitely in the camp that has preferred the look of vehicle versions with more body-colored trim and with minimal chrome trim. Perhaps, the reason is that I'm old enough to remember the 1960's, when vehicles were designed with a maximum of chrome and other elements that made the vehicles look, to me, quite gaudy and unappealing. Thus, for the last several decades, I've always preferred vehicles that were designed with what, to me, is understated elegance in mind.

I agree. It's kind of like adding chromed mirrors and pimping it up. Not my taste, IMHO.