Best New-Car Values

Small cars and family sedans yield top returns on your investment

Last updated: December 2012

The Toyota Prius is the best value for your automotive dollar, unseating the Honda Fit, which has held the title for the past four years, our new analysis shows.

There are plenty of less expensive cars. But they can’t match the Prius for its comfortable ride, competent handling, roomy interior, excellent reliability, and, of course, its great fuel economy.

How do we measure value? The same way you may measure value in any other investment: by weighing the cost, benefit, and risk. The cars that are the best values are those that combine a low cost to operate, good reliability, and good performance in our tests.

Like penny stocks, a low purchase price doesn’t make a car a good value. The Nissan Versa sedan, for example, is one of the least expensive cars on the market. Yet it had a mediocre score in our tests and is not reliable. So despite its low price, it’s not worth the money, especially when you could buy a Hyundai Accent for just $500 more. That would get you a much nicer and more reliable car.

The same principle applies to bigger cars. The midsized Dodge Journey SUV sells for about $1,500 less than a V6 Toyota Highlander, yet its lower test scores and reliability make it much less of a value.

This year we analyzed more than 200 vehicles that our auto experts have recently tested, focusing on the cars’ relative benefits, as represented by our road-test scores; their relative risk of having problems, as reported in our Annual Auto Survey by subscribers who own them; and estimates of each vehicle’s five-year ownership costs (see “How we determine value” below). In short, the models that perform better overall in those categories are considered to be deals among their peers.