Consumer Reports names the worst and the best used cars

Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2007

 E-mail this page    Printer-friendly page

CR identifies Good Bets and Bad Bets to help guide used car buying decisions

Yonkers, NY – Used cars often offer consumers the best values in the automotive market since new vehicles undergo a rapid depreciation in the first few years. Consumer Reports 2007 April Auto Issue features the lists of the best and worst used vehicles for 10 model years, 1997 through 2006.

Reliable vehicles and Vehicles to avoid include all models that showed above- or below-average overall reliability in CR’s 2006 Annual Car Reliability Survey, which drew responses on about 1.3 million vehicles. CR has found that improved reliability has made used cars more appealing and insurance rates tend to be less expensive.

The Reliable vehicles list is categorized by price and features vehicles that are available from under $4,000 to $30,000 and up. For consumers on a budget, CR found 10 cars that they could purchase for under $4,000 including the 1998 Chevrolet Prizm and the 1997 Toyota Tercel.

CR Good Bets, which is derived from the Reliable vehicles list, features vehicles that have performed well in CR’s road tests and have had several years of better-than-average reliability according to survey respondents. CR Good Bets includes vehicles from Acura, Buick, Chevrolet, Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Nissan, Pontiac, Scion, Subaru, and Toyota. Below is the full list of models.

These models have performed well in Consumer Reports road tests and have had several years of better-than-average reliability according to our survey respondents.

Acura Integra
Honda Element
Lexus GX
Nissan Pathfinder
Toyota Celica
Acura MDX
Honda Odyssey
Lexus IS
Pontiac Vibe
Toyota Corolla
Acura RL
Honda Pilot
Lexus LS
Scion xB
Toyota Echo
Acura RSX (except '06)
Honda Prelude
Lexus RX
Subaru Forester
Toyota Highlander
Acura TL
Honda S2000
Lexus SC
Subaru Impreza
Toyota Land Cruiser
Acura TSX
Infiniti FX
Lincoln Town Car
Subaru Impreza WRX
Toyota Matrix
Buick Regal
Infiniti G20
Mazda Millenia
Subaru Legacy
Toyota Prius
Chevrolet Prizm
Infiniti G35
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Subaru Outback
Toyota RAV4
Honda Accord
Infiniti I30, I35
Mazda Protegé
Toyota 4 Runner
Toyota Sequoia
Honda Civic
Infiniti QX4
Mazda 3
Toyota Avalon
Toyota Sienna
Honda Civic Hybrid
Lexus ES
Nissan Altima
Toyota Camry
Toyota Tundra
Honda CR-V
Lexus GS
Nissan Maxima
Toyota Camry Solara

Vehicles that earned below-average Used Car Verdicts, meaning they proved worse or much worse than average earned a spot on the Vehicles to avoid list. Those which showed multiple Used Car Verdicts that were much worse than average were placed on the CR Bad Bets list. The models below from BMW, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, GMC, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Volkswagen, and Volvo consistently had more problems than other models overall. Below is the full list of models.

These vehicles showed multiple Used Car Verdicts that were much worse than average, according to our survey respondents. They consistently had more problems than other models overall.

BMW 7 Series
Infiniti QX56
Nissan Titan
BMW X5 (V8)
Jaquar S-Type
Oldsmobile Bravada
Chevrolet Astro
Jaguar X-Type
Oldsmobile Cutlass
Chevrolet Blazer
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Oldsmobile Silhouette
Chevrolet Express
Kia Sedona (except '06)
Pontiac Aztek
Chevrolet S-10 (4WD)
Land Rover Discovery, LR3
Pontiac Trans Sport, Montana, Montana SV6
Chevrolet Venture, Uplander
Lincoln Aviator
Volkswagen Cabrio
Chrysler Town & Country (AWD)
Lincoln Navigator
Volkswagen Jetta (turbo, gas)
Dodge Grand Caravan (AWD)
Mercedes-Benz CLK
Volkswagen Jetta (V6)
GMC Jimmy
Mercedes-Benz M-Class (V8)
Volkswagen New Beetle (4-cyl.)
GMC Sonoma (4WD)
Mercedes-Benz S-Class (V8)
Volkswagen Touareg
GMC Safari
Mercedes-Benz SL
Volvo XC90 (6-cyl.)
GMC Savana
Nissan Armada

For a full list of Reliable vehicles and Vehicles to avoid, check out the full report in Consumer Reports’ Annual April Auto Issue on sale from March 6 through June 6. The Auto Issue is available wherever magazines are sold. Free highlights from the April Auto Issue, including the lists of CR Good Bets and CR Bad Bets, will be available at http://Cars.ConsumerReports.org.

Consumer Reports is one of the most trusted sources for information and advice on consumer products and services. It conducts the most comprehensive auto-test program of any U.S. publication or Web site; the magazine’s auto experts have decades of experience in driving, testing, and reporting on cars.