Car Buying Advice

Begin by asking yourself some basic questions. Your objective is to find models that excel in the areas that matter to you.

At this point, you may find it helpful to use Consumer Reports’ Used Car Buying Kit. As you focus on the types of vehicles that best meet your needs, see our New vehicle Ratings comparison, (available to subscribers) to see the models within each category.

How many people will you carry? Most vehicles will accommodate five people, although the center-rear position can be too uncomfortable in some cars to be considered a reasonable seating position. If you need to carry more people, you should look for a vehicle with a third-row seat. This includes all minivans, a growing number of SUVs, and a few wagons. Depending on the design, these vehicles can carry seven or eight people. Keep in mind that the third-row seats in some SUVs and wagons are small and cramped, appropriate only for children. A few vehicles achieve a six-passenger capacity by using a three-person front-bench seat. But the lap belt found in these seats doesn’t provide adequate protection in a frontal crash. A vehicle with a third-row seat is a better choice.

Many two-door coupes provide seating for four or five people, but the rear seat is often very tight and uncomfortable, and folding the front seat forward so you can load groceries or secure a child safety seat in the back seat gets old fast.

How much cargo do you carry? Most cars include a trunk that can accommodate luggage. For carrying more cargo or longer items, many vehicles have a rear seat that folds down, enlarging the trunk area. Some sedans have a front passenger seat that can fold flat to make it easier to carry extra-long items.

If you carry large items regularly, such as building or nursery supplies, or camping or sports equipment, you may find that a minivan, SUV, or wagon is better suited to your needs. These have a sizable cargo area that can be enlarged by folding down or removing the rear seats. Keep in mind that carrying passengers in a third-row seat significantly reduces the available cargo space.

A pickup is useful if you often carry loads that would dirty the interior or are taller than other types of vehicles can accommodate. A crew-cab model, with two full doors and two regular rows of seats, is an increasingly popular choice because it can seat up to five people.

If you prefer a smaller car but with maximized cargo-carrying ability, a hatchback is a good option. They often have more interior space than a similar-sized car with a trunk, and the rear hatch makes it easier to get large items in and out.

What type of driving experience do you prefer? Quick acceleration, crisp handling, and responsive steering are important in any vehicle. If you’re an automotive enthusiast who enjoys driving and wants to feel the road and sense every aspect of the driving experience, those parts will probably be high on your priority list, so you’ll want a vehicle that excels in them. Most sports cars and many coupes, of course, fit the bill, but some make you sacrifice space for carrying passengers and cargo.

Many buyers were torn when considering this question, because they wanted a sporty, fun-to-drive car but needed the practicality of a four-door sedan or wagon. Today, there are a number of sedans and wagons that provide a good balance between the two. A common trade-off for sportier cars, however, is a firm, sometimes uncomfortable ride.

Many drivers place more importance on a comfortable driving experience. They like a softer ride, luxurious seats, plenty of convenience features, and isolation from the outside world. With the proliferation of luxury vehicles in recent years, you can now find a wide range of models that fit this mold, from family sedans to SUVs.

Perhaps you only need basic transportation--a reliable, economical, fuel-efficient car for commuting or to get you from point A to point B as comfortably as possible. While on paper there are a number of models that could fill this need, it’s still important to do your research. Within a given price range there are big differences in reliability, fuel economy, comfort, and overall value. The best way to size up a vehicle’s driving experience is to read the reviews in the profiles, then do a thorough test drive.

Is performance or fuel economy more important? Many automakers offer several engine choices for each model, but which is best for you depends on your priorities. Do you want a higher performance vehicle, or one that is more economical? Perhaps you’re looking for a quiet, smooth-running engine that provides good response without much fuss.

Smaller vehicles and many midsized models provide four-cylinder engines, which typically provide the best fuel economy but may lack the power or smoothness of a V6. Some automakers are getting better at squeezing more power out of smaller engines, so family sedans like the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Volkswagen Passat have four-cylinder engines that are more than adequate. Turbocharged cars deliver more power than you might expect from a small package. Turbocharging allows an engine to produce extra power with only a modest drop in fuel economy.

Six-cylinder engines usually provide the best balance between performance and fuel economy, and they are usually quieter and smoother than four-cylinders. They’re available in most midsized and some larger models.

V8 engines deliver the most power but, as you might expect, the lowest gas mileage. These are available in some midsized vehicles and sporty cars, and in most luxury and larger cars, SUVs, and pickups. A few models offer a V10 or V12 engine that can provide even more power. A V8 engine is a good choice if you tow heavier loads.

In general, we recommend that you first decide which type of vehicle is right for you and then look for one that gets good fuel economy for its class. Some of the best fuel-economy figures we've achieved have been with gasoline/electric hybrid and diesel models. They tend to provide better fuel economy than a similar-sized conventional vehicle. Hybrid models that have achieved the most miles per gallon in our tests include the Honda Civic Hybrid (37 mpg) and the Toyota Prius (44 mpg). The Ford Escape Hybrid (26 mpg) provides the best fuel economy of any SUV we've tested. But hybrids can cost thousands of dollars more to buy than similar conventional vehicles, so they don't necessarily save you money overall in the first few years.

Diesel cars usually get about 30 percent better fuel economy than similar gasoline-powered vehicles. Volkswagen has provided diesel versions of many of its models for years. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI we tested got 34 mpg overall, compared with the 24 mpg we got in the 5-cylinder gasoline version. But diesel engines produce more nitrous oxide and particulate (soot) emissions than gasoline engines.

Which transmission do you want? Most models are available with only an automatic transmission, the overwhelming choice of American car buyers. Many automatics now provide a manual-shift mode that works much like a manual transmission but without a clutch. This can make a car more fun to drive, and it is handy when driving in hilly or mountainous areas because it provides more control when shifting down on long descents. A few automatics have a winter mode, where the transmission starts in second gear to improve traction on slippery surfaces. Another type of automatic is a continuously-variable transmission, or CVT. It does not have a set number of gear ratios, but can constantly vary between the highest and lowest gears for optimal fuel economy and performance.

Manual transmissions, often available in inexpensive or sporty models, provide better performance and fuel economy. But working the clutch in stop-and-go traffic can become a chore. A recent design being used by some automakers is a sequential transmission. This is a computer-shifted manual transmission that works like an automatic but provides the sporty shift feel of a manual.

2WD, AWD, OR 4WD: How much traction do you need? Most vehicles use two-wheel drive (2WD), where engine power is sent to the front or rear wheels. Front-wheel drive is used in most cars, wagons, minivans, and the two-wheel-drive versions of car-based SUVs because it’s space-efficient. It allows the car to have a smaller engine compartment, leaving more room inside for passengers and cargo. It’s also better than rear-wheel drive in slippery conditions because there’s more weight on the front wheels and they pull rather than push the car along the road. This helps prevent the rear end from sliding sideways in slippery conditions.

Rear-wheel drive places less demand on the front wheels, allowing them to be used primarily for steering. It’s commonly used on pickups and traditional truck-based SUVs that are designed to handle heavy-duty chores like towing. But rear-wheel drive is also popular on sports cars and high-performance sedans because of its contribution to good handling.

Traction control, available on late-model vehicles, helps maximize traction at the drive wheels by preventing wheel spin. It’s particularly useful when accelerating on a wet, snowy, or icy surface. If no drive wheel has grip, however, traction control won’t help. In wintry conditions, we’ve found that a two-wheel-drive vehicle with traction control can have more difficulty getting up a slippery slope than one with all- or four-wheel drive.

All-wheel drive (AWD) feeds power to all four wheels. It provides maximum forward traction and is especially helpful in slippery conditions and when driving over moderate off-road terrain. AWD is also helpful in rapidly changing conditions or when driving on a road with intermittent snow and ice. Its lightness and compactness makes it the system of choice for wagons, some minivans and pickups, and most car-based SUVs.

Although four-wheel drive (4WD) and AWD are designations that are often used interchangeably in advertising and brochures, the major difference is that 4WD incorporates low-range gearing, which helps in more challenging off-road conditions, such as traversing rocks or deep water, or tackling steep off-pavement hills. The majority of 4WD-vehicle owners, however, never come close to needing this capability.

Modern 4WD systems are either full-time, which means they can stay engaged all the time, or automatic, where the vehicle switches between two- and four-wheel drive depending on the driving conditions. But many pickups and some truck-based SUVs use part-time 4WD systems, which require the driver to manually shift between two- and four-wheel drive, limiting the vehicle’s ability to provide optimum traction when conditions becomes slippery. In addition, these vehicles can’t be driven on dry pavement when in 4WD mode without running the risk of severe drivetrain damage. Keep in mind that AWD and 4WD systems add considerable weight to a vehicle, compromising fuel economy.