List does not include any American cars or pickups
Consumer Reports 17th Annual Top Picks for cars includes no American cars and no pickups. KTRH’s car pro Jerry Reynolds says he would have included at least one domestic model in the compact cars category. He has no problem with the winner, the Hyundai Elantra. “I would have put the Ford Focus in there as well,” Reynolds says, “primarily because it’s several thousand dollars cheaper.”
He questions ratings based on what the web site calls “predicted reliability,” saying you can predict three years down the road whether a model will have more dependability issues than another. Reynolds says he wasn’t surprised by the shut out of American models in the annual Consumer Reports rating.
“That’s normal for them,” he says, pointing to what he perceives as a bias. He also mentioned several omissions, including pickups.
“It’s a huge omission for us here in Texas,” Reynolds says. Consumer reports said it didn’t rate any pickups because it didn’t have the chance to test several models.
Top-rated models:
Midsized – Honda Accord
Sports – Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ
Budget – Hyudai Elantra
Green – Toyota Prius
Compact – Subaru Impreza
Luxury – Audi A6
Small SUV – Honda CR-V
Mid-sized SUV – Toyota Highlander
Sport Sedan – BMW 328i
Minivan – Honda Odyssey
