Any of you who consider hating on Consumer Reports a personal hobby, get ready to indulge yourself. The consumer advocate mag has just released its list of American Top Picks for 2008, and it ain't pretty. The criteria to be named a Top Pick in general by CR is steep, and the American auto industry failed to produce a single candidate for five out of ten categories, including Small sedan, Small SUV, Minivan, Fun to drive and Green car. To be named a Top Pick, a vehicle has to score well in tests performed by CR, be trouble-free to own and relatively safe. That's not all. A vehicle must also have Electronic Stability Control available, decent crash test results and have been around long enough that there's reliability data to back up its durability. That last one's the knock-out blow for many viable new vehicles. The Chevy Malibu, for instance, is too new to have an archive of reliability data. Not eligible. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan don't offer ESC, so they're not eligible. The Cadillac CTS is too new and the Lincoln MKZ lacks ESC, both not eligible. The list of ineligibility goes on, and what remains is five empty categories and a few strange Top Picks. The Buick Lucerne CXS as Top Pick for an Upscale sedan? It is when the Cadillac CTS and Lincoln MKZ aren't considered. The slow-selling Ford Taurus takes the Family sedan category? Yup, when the Chevy Malibu's not around to fight.
While the idea of an American Top Picks list may sound helpful for super patriots who insist on buying American, the domestic automakers are smack dab in the middle of replacing their disappointing products from yesteryear with new ones that should be on this list. We'll just have to wait a few years for proof that they're reliable before this list becomes useful.
Check out the full list of American Top Picks after the jump, and click the source to read more about the reasoning behind each choice.
[Source: Consumer Reports, Photo by David McNew/Getty]
| Category | Top-scoring American car | American Top Pick |
| Small sedan | None recommended | None |
| Family sedan | Chevrolet Malibu LTZ V6 | Ford Taurus |
| Upscale sedan | Cadillac CTS | Buick Lucerne CXS |
| Luxury sedan | Cadillac STS | Cadillac STS |
| Small SUV | Saturn Vue XR | None |
| Midsized SUV | Saturn Outlook XR GMC Acadia SLT2 Ford Taurus X |
Saturn Outlook XR GMC Acadia SLT2 Ford Taurus X |
| Minivan | Chrysler Town and Country | None |
| Pickup truck | Chevrolet Avalanche | Chevrolet Silverado |
| Fun to drive | Chevrolet Corvette Z06 | None |
| Green car | None tested | None |
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
zamafir @ Mar 5th 2008 12:42PM
... the z06? really? well duh... but there's nothing else out there that's fun to drive and obtainable to more americans? HHR SS or other? No... only the halo car according the CR? O_o
ledhed @ Mar 5th 2008 12:46PM
I consider the Solstice fun... Almost more fun for most people because you don't have to use a manual gearbox.
vintage @ Mar 5th 2008 7:09PM
I quit listening to this stupid magazine back in 1996 or 1997, when they tested a dodge neon. Road and Track, Motor Trend, and other mags all achieved a 0-60 time of around 7.5 seconds. Consumer (biased) Reports? Oh, they claimed the neon did 0-60 in 11.5 seconds. Same car, same transmission. Neon enthusiasts were pissed off, and wanted to know why they listed such a horrible time. CR actually responded to them, saying they "didn't push the gas pedal down all the way, because they were simulating real world usage"
What the hell kind of testing is that? CR is at the bottom of the barrel for any type of crediblity, I hate that magazine. I wish you could buy NEGATIVE subscriptions that would hurt that company, they're so freaking biased against anything American it's just not even worth reading. I would, however, consider using it for toilet paper.
mike @ Mar 5th 2008 12:53PM
Chevy Malibu is not around to Fight??????????????????????? But what do you want? Do you want CR to just give the award to Malibu...without any track record? That car may turnout to be horrible.
Also we are all tired of domestic fanboys saying that ohhh the future cars will be way better than anything Japanese can make. It seems to me future never comes.
Everyone was saying that Fusion was supposed to be the CamCord killer.....didn't work out. Even Asstek was supposed to be the best crossover avaliable.....did not happen.
But i am sure all Domestic fanboys will comeout and say that Acadia is a Honda Pilot Killer, Volt is a Prius killer, Malibu is a Accord Killer.............
The future never become NOW in Detroit.
P.S. Anyone who says Volt is all that........how has Prius been selling for? And Volt?
Jason @ Mar 5th 2008 1:09PM
Don't confuse popularity with quality. And import fanboys are as bad, if not worse, than the domestic ones.
psarhjinian @ Mar 5th 2008 1:43PM
CR will not recommend anything in it's first year on the market unless it's past years have been above average (and yes, several Toyota models have lost this privelege given their recent track record). They also won't double-recommend a car unless it's crash avoidance and safety records are good.
For a mainstream magazine, these are good, conservative choices to make.
Ben @ Mar 5th 2008 8:06PM
um....but the Acadia IS a Honda Pilot Killer. It has a better finished interior, more striking exterior, way more room, better gas mileage, a more powerful engine, a better tranny, and a better warranty to back it up.
Need I continue?
Torrent @ Mar 5th 2008 1:03PM
Hating CR is my job. Not my hobby. I buy a copy so i can yell at the book.
Seoultrain @ Mar 5th 2008 3:13PM
if you really hated them, you wouldn't buy it, you'd steal it.
Matt @ Mar 5th 2008 6:37PM
Consumer Reports is the only magazine I've ever heard of who can take an EPA-rated 16/22 minivan and try and say they acheived an average of 11 city, 29 highway in the damned thing, and THEN suggest they averaged 35 city 50 (FIFTY) highway in a Prius.
Of course, I think I recall them having admitted to going by the mileage meter in cars, which is a retarded thing to do, considering how largely inaccurate those can be.
Also, they love to remind you how they have the largest sample base of any study around... and then fail to mention that probably at least half of their 1.3 million subscribers are biased jackasses who subscribe to that pile of crap magazine SOLELY to vote "OMG I NEED MY TOYOTA/HONDA."
RMc @ Mar 5th 2008 1:08PM
It doesn't matter anyways. They should just title this selection "The Best of the Worse"
They release this list just because they feel bad that imports, the Japanese in particular, have been beating up the lousy American attempts for the last two decades. People bitch that they give bias to the imports (as evidence seen on autoblog) so this is just saying "if you insist on buying crap, this is what you should buy."
Yes, I am a patriot. But, I also like quality cars.
mike @ Mar 5th 2008 1:10PM
No domestic fan boy will ever admit to what you said. Which is 100% correct.
MachinaDC5 @ Mar 5th 2008 1:44PM
I can see where you're coming from RMc.
Julius @ Mar 5th 2008 4:26PM
I'm not sure what the point of this list is anymore, as evidenced by what RMc said. It does seem like a "here's a second-best list" to me.
That being said, I do think GM is working within its limitations to get it done. It's not like it can arbitrarily "abolish the UAW" like one person said - since GM has nothing to do with the creation/management of the UAW in the first place.
And in a cash-constrained environment (remember the $38b loss they just took?) GM is working in, the fact that they can get ANY models recommended by CR (apparently, seven models qualify here) is a plus.
digitalzombie @ Mar 5th 2008 1:10PM
Only car in here I care about is the vette. >,>
mike @ Mar 5th 2008 1:14PM
Jason, no Import fan boys are not as bad as Domestic groupies. Import fanboys welcomed the Malibu with open arm....because at the end it will force imports to make even better family sedans.
Domestic groupies have done nothing but bash Tundra.....which serves the very same purpose as Malibu.
icu812ru469 @ Mar 5th 2008 1:15PM
Here's the thing... all domestic lovers see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there is one bad assumption and that's that the imports are not going to move forward and advance beyond that light. The domestics took this long to get to where Japanese and German's were about 5-10 years ago. If you think the imports are just going to sit around and twiddle their fingers, that's a very bad assumption.
TriShield @ Mar 5th 2008 1:29PM
If you are objective you will recognize that American manufacturers are putting out a l ot of nicely executed, high quality cars right now. Especially GM.
You'll also recognize that some of the most sackridden cars out there like the current Toyota Camry, frankly aren't very good cars right now.
If you care about buying a quality product then you should actually shop them instead of keyboarding about them on the internet.
Step into an American car showroom and drive some of their stuff, you'll come out surprised.
tanooki2003 @ Mar 5th 2008 2:22PM
You know I have tested just about every economy and midsized car between the domestic vs imports and as much to my dismay the domestic companies still fall short on a lot of areas.
First off the economy cars. Domestic companies still consider economy cars a way to punish the consumer for not having enough money to buy a midsized. What i am talking about is the quality of the materials put into the doors, dash, seats, upholstery, interior volume, fit and finish. A Cobolt that I have been inside feels horribly cramped, even when i push the front seat all the way back. When i do it makes the room in the rear uncomfortable for the rear passengers. Also I take little things seriously such as the angle of the seating. Most American car seats can be adjusted to the max angle of ~ 120 degrees, which gives a leaning back in a lazyboy feel. The imports that I have own have always allowed me to adjust the seating to ~90 degrees, which is comfortable to me, especially when i am driving on highways. I want to always sit upright. Another import thing to me is the headrests. Most domestic cars have poorly placed headrests that when leaning your head back you are practically facing the headliner. The car my wife has (07 Hyundai Elantra Limited) and most that I have own have always kept my head facing the windshield when I lay my head back. I know all headrests in all cars can be raised or lowered but what is unique, like in my wife's car can also adjust forwards and backwards, even further allowing me to relax my neck and head without staring at the headliner or sitting funny.
The seats are also much more comfortable in most imports that I have owned. My wife and I do a lot of 6-9 hr driving and I like seats that don't make my a$$ sore after a long drive. The most i can say about the interior in most domestic cars is that they at least have a good sounding stereo layout in them.
Now driving a domestic economy car vs an import is another issue for me. Believe it or not the loaded Chevy Colbalt, Dodge Caliber, and Ford Focus has quite anemic acceleration (when not turbo charged) 5 speed or automatic when compared to my wife's Elantra, Mazda 3, base Mitsubishi Lancer, base Subaru Impreza, and the base Honda Civic. The kick just is not there in low cost domestics, not to mention the suspension on the 3 domestics are quite punishing, making driving feel like a chore than fun.
I could go on and on but i don't want to bore you. Granted the domestics have gotten better it is still not enough to really beat the imports, especially with companies like Hyundai seriously becoming even a pain for Toyota and Honda in just 10 years of learning from mistakes.
If the domestics want to get better than they should abolish the UAW totally in order to actually stop the bleeding of wasteful money, use the money for better R&D, hire younger and new talent, fire anyone who are still dead set on boxy car designs of the 80's, 70's and 60's, invest in new training facilities to retran those who understand that the world is changing around them, GM fire Bob Putz Nutz, quit taking shortcuts in manufacturing, kill any platform that is 7+ years old and reinnovate, stop with the politics and actually start listening to the consumers instead of telling people what they should drive.
zamafir @ Mar 5th 2008 2:25PM
Aside from the Malibu what other non caddy GM cars are high quality and nicely executed? I've driven the colbalt and hhr (rentals ftw) and I'd accuse neither car of being high quality or nicely executed.