Consumer Reports Best and Worst Vehicles

Consumer Reports has released their selections for the best 2014 vehicles you can buy in each segment.

Their choice for overall best new car was the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

By Consumer Reports calculations the Camry Hybrid scored the highest achieving a value of twice that of an average car. This means the purchaser will get more for their money in terms of value. The Camry Hybrid had a per mile operating cost of $0.52. The cost of the test vehicle was $29,000.00.

“While the Camry Hybrid may not be the most exciting car to drive, it is smooth and capable with stone-cold reliability at an affordable price,” said Mark Rechtin, Consumer Reports automotive editor. “On the other hand, the worst values were a mix of underperformers, expensive, unreliable German luxury sedans, and big SUVs with voracious fuel appetites.”

Consumer Reports concluded the best value for your dollar was found among the mid-size, wagon, and compact car segments. In these mainstream markets the top 5 are: the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Honda Accord (4-cyl.), Toyota Camry (4-cyl.), Subaru Legacy 2.5i and the Subaru Forester 2.5i.

According to the research done at Consumer Reports, the worst value for your money in the new car market is the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.

Complaints were its harsh ride, it is uncomfortable and it was found to be unreliable.

The Jeep scored only 0.07 and will cost you $0.77 per mile to operate.

The rest of the poor performers are the Fiat 500L, Mercedes-Benz S500, BMW 750L, and Toyota Tacoma (V6).

The testing process is very thorough. The yearly list is based on 200 different vehicles.

Taken into consideration are its road tests, predicted reliability, and five-year owner-cost data.

All of these variables are weighed and then an overall score is given to each vehicle.

They also include such considerations as the Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto Survey of about 1.1 million cars, and the five year cost of ownership based on depreciation, fuel, insurance premiums, interest on financing, maintenance and repairs, and sales tax.

So here is the list of the best and worst valued vehicle in each segment. If you want to see the complete list check out: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/carvalues2014

•Subcompact: Hyundai Accent Sport (hatchback, MT)/ Fiat 500C Pop (MT)

•Compact: Toyota Prius Four/Fiat 500L Easy

•Luxury Compact Cars: Buick Regal Premium I/Mercedes-Benz CLA250

•Luxury Midsized/Large Cars: Lexus ES 300h/Mercedes-Benz S550 (AWD)

•Large Cars: Chevrolet Impala 2LTZ (3.6)/Ford Taurus Limited (3.5, V6)

•Sports Cars/Convertibles: Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring/Infiniti Q60 convertible (base)

•Midsized Cars: Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE/Nissan Altima 3.5 SL (V6)

•Wagons (AWD): Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium/Honda Crosstour EX-L (V6)

•Small SUVs: Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium/Jeep Cherokee Latitude (4-cyl.)

•Midsized SUVs: Toyota Highlander XLE (V6)/Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

•Large SUVs: Chevrolet Traverse LT/GMC Yukon SLT

•Luxury Compact SUVs: BMW X3 xDrive28i (2.0T)/Cadillac SRX Luxury