Some vehicles simply feel higher in quality than others–even before you drive them. This was brought home to me today, though not for the first time, while going back and forth between a Mazda CX-9 and a Saturn Outlook. While I prefer the Saturn overall, the Mazda has more of a quality feel.

Such impressions begin when you open the door. Does the outside door handle fit the hand well and feel solid? Does it silently glide back into position when you release it, or snap back with a “clang”? Nothing especially noteworthy, good or bad, with either vehicle here.

Now get in and grab the pull to draw the door closed. Again, does it fit the hand well and feel solid? The Saturn doesn’t fare well here. You grab hard plastic that doesn’t feel solidly attached to the door. The vertical pulls on the three passenger doors are even worse. They’re composed of two pieces of hard plastic that shift about when grabbed, and don’t fit the hand comfortably. The hand much prefers a round cross-section to a square one; no edges, please. The horizontal pulls in the Mazda is similarly hard plastic, but are larger and feel more robust. Better yet would be soft material on the hidden, inner side of the pull–a pleasant little surprise you’ll find in the best luxury vehicles.

Next, close the door. While the experience of closing the Saturn’s door evokes no rattles or quivers–as long as the window is fully up–the Mazda’s closes with the same “phoomph” as the doors of upscale German sedans. Detroit has been studying the door closing sound thing for a couple of decades now, yet perfection remains elusive.

Rest your elbows for a moment, they must be weary from all the handle pulling. Are the armrests nicely padded where they touch down? Actually, yes, in both vehicles, though the door armrests and adjoining panels in the Mazda are more elegantly stitched and more thickly padded. Even the Saturn’s are much better than the unpadded hard vinyl armrests still found in far too many vehicles. Nissan manages to install nicely padded armrests in its cheapest model, so clearly cost control is not a sufficient reason for not including them.

Finally, move the shifter from P to D. Does it feel substantial, and move with slick precision? The Mazda’s does for the most part. The Saturn’s, on the other hand, sounds and feels like a clunky, imprecise assemblage of cheap plastic bits.

Of course, all of the knobs, buttons, and compartment lids used when driving a vehicle can influence one’s perception of its quality. But the major touch points mentioned above rank highest: door handles, door pulls, armrests, and shifter. They provide the first impression, and they’re used every time a vehicle is driven.

Come to think of it, all of these parts are so basic to a vehicle’s operation that they were first developed decades ago. So why has making them all feel like quality not long ago been reduced to a science by every auto maker? Just another of life’s mysteries.