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Clark Howard's Tips

Consumer Reports' annual auto ratings

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Consumer Reports recently published its well-known annual auto issue. The issue is considered one of the most reliable and thorough sources when reporting on which cars to buy and not to buy.

Surprisingly, the least reliable of all cars this year is Mercedes. It has been moving slowly down the list, and this year the German automaker — with its 36 brands — is dead last. In fact, the report stated that a 10-year old Lexus is more reliable than a new Mercedes.

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Next to last was Land Rover, preceded by Hummer, Jaguar and Cadillac was fifth from the bottom.

The top five most reliable brands are either Toyotas or Hondas: The No. 1 most reliable brand is Toyota, No. 2 is Honda, No. 3 is Scion, No. 4 is Acura and No. 5 is the Lexus. The cars that retain the most value over time are Toyotas and Hondas, so the cost is actually less than what it appears to be.

You still want to have any used car checked out by a certified mechanic. That's because once you buy it, it's yours. So, you want to know about any problems ahead of time.

How about new cars? In the 'Budget' category, the Honda Fit won. In the 'Small Sedan', it was the Honda Civic. In the 'Family Sedan,' it was the Honda Accord. The Infiniti G35 won in the 'Upscale Sedan.' The Infiniti M35 won the 'Luxury' category. The car deemed the most fun to drive while being reliable is the Mazda Miata. The best 'Green' car was the Toyota Prius.

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