BEST CARS FOR THE MONEY

 

The numbers don’t look good. November car sales were down 30 percent from last year. While shoppers are used to gloomy sales numbers coming out of Detroit, the declines are now industry wide. 

 

What these numbers mean for car shoppers isn’t immediately clear. The credit crisis has continued for months with little advice for consumers.

 

That’s where this year’s U.S. News Best Car for the Money awards come in. The key to surviving the current marketplace is to stretch your dollars as far as they’ll go---but that doesn’t mean flocking to the biggest incentives. It means focusing on cars that are proven winners and offer a great value over the entire life of the car.

 

The Best Car for the Money awards use data from U.S. News’ online automotive rankings to find cars that are among the best in their class. The rankings are based on the collective opinion of the automotive press, which helps to eliminate subjectivity and elevate expert opinion about each car. The awards also take initial price into account, but more importantly, they incorporate the five-year total cost of owning the car. Using data from IntelliChoice, an industry leader in determining new car values and ownership costs, the awards include how much buyers can expect to spend on maintenance and fuel, as well as how much of a hit they’ll take from the car’s depreciation. As a result, the awards tell you which cars are the best for your money over the long haul. 

 

Across 14 new car classes, the clear winner is Toyota.  Five Toyotas won Best Car for the Money in their classes, with Lexus pulling in another three. The Lexus RX350 won for Best Luxury Crossover for the Money, the Lexus GS won for Best Luxury Car for the Money and the Lexus ES won for Best Upscale Car for the Money.

 

The winners have a lot in common. They share a high level of build quality that makes for worry-free and low-cost ownership.