Coupes

There's some debate on the subject, but generally speaking a coupe is a car with two doors and seating for up to four. Importantly, a coupe has a sloped roofline and a fixed roof. A convertible might have many similarities to a coupe, but its retractable roof puts it in its own category.

Vehicles like the Ford Mustang can be bought as both a coupe and a convertible. In recent years, some manufacturers have begun referring to sleekly-styled sedans as coupes, such as the Porsche Panamera, but for CarMax's purposes, a coupe has two doors.

The French word coupé (pronounced koo-pay) has a deep historical context. It originally referred to a horse-drawn carriage with only two front-facing seats and no rear-facing seats. It comes from the French word couper, which means, "to cut." So, you can think of a coupe as a sedan that had its backside cut off.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines a coupe as a passenger car with 33 cubic feet of space or fewer behind the front seats; however, the common definition is more straightforward: If it has two doors, it's a coupe, and if it has four doors, it's a sedan. We prefer the everyday definition.

An SUV coupe features a stylish, sloping roofline that mimics the look of a traditional coupe. Common examples include the BMW X6, Audi Q5 Sportback, and Mercedes-Benz GLC43 AMG Coupe; however, all of these so-called “coupes” have four doors, plus a hatch.