Easy Pickings

No time to shop for business vehicles? Confused by endless lists of options? Three new four-door passenger sedans--the Buick Lucerne, the Lincoln Zephyr and the Mercury Milan--take most of the guesswork out of leasing or buying company cars because just about every feature you could want is standard on them.

Buick's most elegant and newest model, the full-size Lucerne, has 17 cubic feet of trunk space and starts at $25,990. It comes in four versions. The five-seater is powered by a V-6 with four-speed automatic transmission. As a flagship sedan, the Lucerne is already loaded with air conditioning, traction and cruise control, OnStar, 10-minute delay shut-off, tire pressure monitor and anti-lock brakes. The few options on the base model include keyless entry, sunroof and rear parking alert.

The $29,995 Zephyr simplifies a laundry list of add-ons with a single standard package and just six options. The reasonably priced five-seater, geared to appeal to younger entrepreneurs, is rich with premium equipment. It includes anti-lock brakes and traction control, a universal garage door opener, tilt/telescope steering wheel, power lumbar/recline front seats, dual climate control, leather seats, speed control, alarm, a V-6 engine with six-speed transmission and 15.8 cubic feet of trunk space.

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Mercury's midsize sedan is the Milan. With two models--the $18,995 version with an I-4 engine and manual transmission, and the $21,995 version with a V-6 and a six-speed automatic--the Milan is filled with features that cut your options homework down to five choices: moonroof, leather interior, heated front seats, wood trim and CD/MP3 player. Everything else is standard, including air conditioning, cruise control, tire pressure monitor, and tilt/telescope steering wheel. There's 15.8 cubic feet of trunk space.

 Jill Amadio is an award-winning automotive journalist and author.