Car and Driver 2008 10 Best cars

Ed

I live in an affluent area or perhaps better to say a decent neighborhood and in my area I'm surprised to see how few new Honda Accords there are vs. new Camry's on the roads when I drive around. I haven't taken any scientific poll but I'd say the new Camry vs. new Accord is like 30 to 1. Surprisingly, aside from the Camrys, new pick up trucks seem to be the next most popular (I think Chevy but not sure).

In my opinion, the current Accord is THE most butt-ugly iteration of that model ever conceived. That might have something to do with it.

I wouldn't believe Car and Driver any more than I'd believe Motor Trend. They're both shills for their advertisers, and if you don't advertise (heavily) in their rags, you'll never get a good grade in their "ten bests".

So what does Consumer Reports say? ;-)

Looking at this link, C&D had the 10 best cars back from 2003 to 2008 and not one Toyota was in it. The Camry would be running while many of the "best cars" will end up in the junk yards, or on the second or third engine or transmission. Many of the elected cars are getting less than 20 mpg, considering the energy crises, how "best" would that be?

The 10Best were always chosen by the criteria that C&D thought relevant. Different people have different criteria as to what makes a 10Best car. Obviously, your criteria differ. I have a 10Best car from the previous decade. It is still going strong, but it only has about 155,000 mi on it.

Jeff

The funny thing is how much clout CR has over car buyers. Don't think they recommended the V6 Camry since the new gen in 2007. At least they got that one right.

Look at it this way: the automotive 'zines tend to jump on bandwagons, and support hometown favorites. Remember when every year the "Car of The Year" would be some American POS like the Volare, X-car, AMC/Renault Alliance, etc? CR may be too harsh on some really nice cars, but they are usually really nice cars with high rates of component failures or significant safety issues. The ones they like may be boring but they are usually reliable and competent. So you pick whichever source best matches your own mindset.

Super! I'm guessing, Hummer is slightly behind the Volkswagen gti