With regular maintenance and repairs, most vehicle will last 200,000 miles or more. Even so, there’s a big difference between those that exemplify peak evolution and ones that are merely adequate. Thanks to attractive prices and heavy marketing budgets, some so-so cars outsell competitors that have superior performance, reliability, and even safety. In fact, a few middling cars and SUVs are more than twice as popular as their superior peers.
To help you navigate this changing market, the auto experts at Consumer Reports have identified popular models in 11 key categories that may look appealing but fall short in our rigorous evaluations. We provide compelling alternatives that have a higher Overall Score. (Learn how Consumer Reports tests cars.) Our analysis combines results from our 50 objective and subjective tests at our 327-acre Auto Test Center with real-world data from our latest annual survey. This survey includes detailed feedback on about 380,000 vehicles, allowing us to see which models stay reliable over time and which ones leave owners frustrated.
All of these models come standard with automatic emergency braking (AEB), AEB that operates at highway speeds, blind spot warning (BSW), and rear cross traffic warning (RCTW), unless otherwise noted.
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