Autoblog

Consumer Reports releases annual list of American Top Picks, Ford the big winner

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:32:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Hybrid, Sedan, SUV, Truck, Crossover, Hatchback, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, GM

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid - Click above for high-res image gallery

Each year that Consumer Reports offers up its annual list of Top American Picks, it seems less and less a consolation bracket and more like a reasonable set of choices. To wit, if you wanted the very best family-sized SUV (Chevrolet Traverse) or fullsize pickup truck (Chevrolet Silverado), Consumer Reports will tell you that you're best off choosing American, regardless of which list its from.

Further, CR has found the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan twins have proven to be more reliable than a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. Blasphemy, you say? To borrow a marketing phrase from the Blue Oval itself, Drive One and find out for yourself. We have, and we found out that it's a great car. Apparently, it's also reliable. Not surprisingly, the Fusion managed to earn two more awards in its hybrid guise, including CR's Best Overall Car.

All told, seven of the 10 awards handed out by CR went to Ford - an impressive performance. Two Top Picks were filled by vehicles from General Motors while Chrysler didn't have a single model on the list, which isn't particularly surprising since the Dodge Ram is the only model from the Pentastar that CR even recommends. Click here to check out the rest of the winners from CR.

Gallery: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Consumer Reports releases annual list of American Top Picks, Ford the big winner originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite recalls, Consumer Reports names Honda Fit, Toyota Prius Best Values

Frank Filipponio — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Hybrid, Etc., Recalls, Hatchback, Honda, Toyota

Honda Fit and Toyota Prius named Consumer Reports Best Values for 2010

Consumer Reports is set to ship its annual automotive issue out to subscribers, but before the dyed and bound dead trees make their way to subscribers, CR shot off a few press releases to let us know what to expect. While we already covered the six new members of their Top Picks charts this morning, we found their New-Car Best and Worst Values List equally newsworthy.

CR chose the Honda Fit and Toyota Prius as its top picks for best overall value in the marketplace, despite Honda recalling more than 650,000 Fits and the issue plaguing the Toyota Prius, among the myriad of things that have kept ToMoCo busy lately. So before the complaints come in, perhaps a look at CR's methodology is in order. According to the presser after the jump:

"To determine which cars are the best values, Consumer Reports looked at a combination of performance, utility, and reliability for the money, considering total owner costs over the first five-years. The better a car performs in Consumer Reports' road tests and reliability Ratings and the less it costs to own, the greater its value."

Consumer Reports says the Honda Fit and the Toyota Prius bested 280 other cars in eight different categories to grab their top spots. Each recorded a score of 2.08 on their tally sheets, representing values that are more than twice as good as the overall average for the group. It could be argued that the recalls affecting the vehicles might have come too late in the game and/or may have not impacted their rankings significantly enough to erase the inherent value of each vehicle. And lest we forget, CR isn't alone in recognizing the Prius, with MotorWeek and Intellichoice both naming the Japanese hybrid to their awards this year.

The full report on best and worst new-car values will show up March 2, but you can see the lists in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Continue reading Despite recalls, Consumer Reports names Honda Fit, Toyota Prius Best Values

Despite recalls, Consumer Reports names Honda Fit, Toyota Prius Best Values originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consumer Reports adds six cars to Top Picks list, touts diversity

Steven J. Ewing — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:58:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Hybrid, Minivan/Van, Sedan, SUV, Truck, Hatchback, Chevrolet, GM, Hyundai, Infiniti, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Luxury, Off-Road

2010 Consumer Reports Top Pick Cars - Click above for high-res image gallery

Each year, the automotive editors of Consumer Reports select their Top Pick Cars, representing vehicles that are the best in their individual segments. These cars are deemed to have "average or better" predicted reliability and have scored high marks in government safety testing. In past years, automakers like Honda and Toyota have dominated this list, but since more and more manufacturers are ramping up their quality within each competitive segment, the 2010 list proves to be the most diverse CR Top Picks group in over a decade.

So, which cars garner the most praise from CR? The Nissan Altima has officially dethroned the Honda Accord from the top family sedan spot, the Volkswagen GTI takes honors as the best sporty car, the trusty Subaru Forester takes the cake in the small SUV category, the quirky Mazda5 wins for best family hauler, and both the Chevrolet Traverse and Silverado stand tall as the best family SUV and pickup truck. These six newcomers join the Hyundai Elantra SE, Infiniti G37, Toyota Prius and Lexus LS460L to round out the entire list of Top Pick Cars.

Unlike most automotive media outlets (Autoblog included), Consumer Reports actually buys its own test cars before putting them through rigirous evaluations of handling, braking, comfort, safety and more, and each test car is roughly 6,000 miles older by the time all of the tests have been completed. Follow the jump to read the official press release from CR, and scroll through our attached gallery to see high-res shots of all the 2010 Top Pick Cars.

Gallery: 2010 Consumer Reports Top Picks

[Source: Consumer Reports - sub. req.]

Continue reading Consumer Reports adds six cars to Top Picks list, touts diversity

Consumer Reports adds six cars to Top Picks list, touts diversity originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Consolation Bracket: Consumer Reports releases American Top Picks for 2009

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying

For the second straight year, Consumer Reports has seen fit to release a second set of Top Picks comprised solely of American automobiles, and we're betting there will be plenty of discussion regarding the merits of such a distinction from both the pro-import and pro-domestic crowds, just as there was a year ago. We'll leave that up to you in the comments, but please remember to be civil.

Getting to the actual rankings, there were enough surprising omissions from the list that CR decided to list its Top Performers, which don't necessarily earn a Recommended rating, alongside the actual Top Picks. Taking top honors in the Small Car category for '09 is the Ford Focus. Back in 2008, no American automaker had a small car that CR felt comfortable recommending. Ford also took the win in the hotly-contested Midsize SUV category with its Taurus X, though that model is currently scheduled to be cancelled after MY2009.

CR's Top Pick for an American Family Sedan is the Chevy Malibu, which narrowly beat out the previous generation of the highly reliable Ford Fusion. Expect those wars to heat up when the revised 2010 Fusion makes it through CR's barrage of testing procedures. If there's one category that U.S. automaker have on lock down, it's pickup trucks. This year, the Chevy Avalanche grabbed the win away from last year's winner and its corporate sibling, the Chevy Silverado. See the full rundown after the jump.

[Source: Consumer Reports, Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty]

Continue reading The Consolation Bracket: Consumer Reports releases American Top Picks for 2009

The Consolation Bracket: Consumer Reports releases American Top Picks for 2009 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consumer Reports names Top Picks for 2008

John Neff — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying

Koreans come on strong, a domestic makes it and Toyota nabs four

Consumer Reports will soon release its highly anticipated Annual Auto Issue and we've got the scoop on which cars will be honored as Top Picks within its pages. This year there were some surprises among the 10 categories, including Hyundai, which broke out with two Top Picks: the Elantra SE for Small Sedan and Sante Fe for Midsized SUV. Even a domestic vehicle managed to make it on the list (the first time in two years), with the Chevy Silverado 1500 Crew Cab earning a Top Pick in the Pickup Truck category. The rest of the honored vehicles all hail from Japan, including four Toyota models, one Mazda, one Infiniti and one Honda.

The fact that Hyundai earned two Top Picks and a domestic received one at all is a testament to our long held suspicion that Japanese automakers aren't the only ones who know how to build a good vehicle. Other automakers, particularly our own domestic ones, just forgot for a while. But they're remembering, and quickly. Many new Ford and GM models are performing extremely well in CR's battery of tests, as well as ranking higher and higher in its readership surveys. CR is still withholding a Recommended rating for some of them based on past models that weren't fit for road use, but that won't last forever.

Check out the full list of Top Picks after the jump within the Consumer Reports official press release.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Continue reading Consumer Reports names Top Picks for 2008

Consumer Reports names Top Picks for 2008 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consumer Reports announces its 10 Top Picks of the year

Alex Nunez — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 20:34:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

Yesterday, Dan Roth and I spent the day at Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center in East Haddam, CT. The occasion was the publication's annual Press Day, during which members of the media are given a tour of their expansive (and very impressive) facilities, demonstrations of some of the tests they perform, and finally, the formal announcement of their annual top 10 car picks.

It was fun and informative, and we walked away with a real appreciation of Consumer Reports' testing methodology. Speaking as someone who was admittedly not a big believer in CR's ratings versus say, those of an enthusiast mag, I can report happily that the men and women involved with Consumer Reports' auto testing and reporting are very serious enthusiasts themselves. This is not the toaster brigade running the tests, these are real car people through and through. We'll put together a proper feature for you on our day at CR -- complete with photos and video -- in the near future.

Without further ado, however, it's time for the news of the day.

Consumer Reports Top Picks for 2007

Fun To Drive: Mazda MX-5 Miata
Small SUV: Toyota RAV4
Small Sedan: Honda Civic
Family Sedan: Honda Accord
Minivan: Toyota Sienna
Luxury Sedan: Infiniti M45
Midsized SUV: Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Green Car: Toyota Prius
Upscale sedan: Infiniti G35
Budget Car: Honda Fit

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Continue reading Consumer Reports announces its 10 Top Picks of the year

Consumer Reports announces its 10 Top Picks of the year originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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