Well.. that's depend on how you define 'looks cheap' .
Locals EJs actually not intended to be a real expensive car here in Malaysia when they were introduced last time. It was a normal family saloon that is supposed to be an economical car. But the marketing stratregy (compulsory optionals) last time + the unnecessary tid-bits included with the car price pushed the price to, well, RM85k - RM95k new (if i'm not mistaken) last time (1996), was not what we can call cheap.
For me, to 'look' expensive, the essentials are:
1. Leather seats & door panel (especially in beige/tan or 2-tones)
2. Chrome door pull (does EK got this?)
3. Leather steering & gear knob
4. A foot-deep carpeting job
5. Wood panelling
6. Speciallist sound system
But most owner (especially young-at-heart ones) normally go for sporty looks for their EKs... i guess. Personally i will go for EK4 SiR black leather interior.:regular_smile: