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The Best Overall Vehicle in Each Category

March 1, 2012

Consumer Reports has selected their Top Picks of the best all-around models in ten different categories for 2012. These models were selected based on their overall reliability, road test scores, and safety.

Consumer Reports tested more than 275 vehicles and compiled vehicle reliability reports of 1.3 million subscribers from their most recent survey.

Toyota earned half of the top 10 spots. The last time one manufacturer took so many top spots was when Honda achieved the feat back in 2003. Ironically, Honda didn't even have one winner this year, which goes to show how far they've fallen.

Here are the top picks for 2012:

Family sedan: Toyota Camry Hybrid
Sporty car: Ford Mustang
Small SUV: Toyota RAV4
Affordable family sedan: Hyundai Sonata
Family hauler: Toyota Sienna V6
Sports sedan: Infiniti G
Green car: Toyota Prius
Small car: Subaru Impreza
Pickup truck: Chevrolet Avalanche
Family SUV: Toyota Highlander

3 Steps Every Car Buyer Needs to Take to Save Maximum Money

The key to getting the best deal is to gather price or lease bids from as many local dealers as possible. Then shop that best price around until no one can beat it. Here are the steps:

Step 1 Get Prices From My Trusted Network

Select the vehicle you're interested in to see if there are local dealers in my network who will provide you with their best upfront price. You will get direct access to an internet sales manager who you can further negotiate with online (no need to visit dealership).

Select Vehicle to Get Local Pricing

Step 2 Get Prices From TrueCar / CarsDirect

TrueCar, and CarsDirect are my top 2 online price quote recommendations. These services show you pre-negotiated prices from dealers closest to you - and the deals are usually pretty decent. But remember, you can still negotiate further.

Step 3 Complete my Checklist

Follow this up with my checklist to make sure you squeeze out every last bit of savings.
- Gregg Fidan

Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...

Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
Which Cars You Should Avoid

About The Author

Gregg Fidan is the founder of RealCarTips. After being ripped off on his first car purchase, he devoted several years to figuring out the best ways to avoid scams and negotiate the best car deals. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of car buying and taught thousands of car shoppers how to get the best deals.

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I welcome your car buying questions. Email Me and I'll be glad to answer them!