The Car Connection To Name Best Car to Buy 2013

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

Editorial Director BIO

Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

LATEST ARTICLE
30 Days Of 2013 Ram 1500: Gas Mileage, So Far
As we roll through our 30-day road test of the 2013 Ram 1500, we're ready to file our first report... Read More

• #5LEADERBOARD RANK
• 5170ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 111COMMENTS POSTED

3,097 views Nov 13, 2012

Follow Marty

Add to circle

The Car Connection Best Car To Buy 2013

Enlarge Photo

Now it's time to choose the best among them, as we name The Car Connection's Best Car To Buy 2013.

Each year, TCC's editors road-test and rate all mainstream vehicles, more than 260 of them, giving every one of them individual scores for safety, performance, utility and comfort, features, and styling. We also give each one a green rating that factors in gas mileage.

With these ratings, and with our new-car listings and our used-car search tool, we think The Car Connection has become one of the easiest, most user-friendly destinations for anyone in the market for a new or used vehicle.

Our Best Car to Buy award puts our ratings to their best and highest use. It points out the single new vehicle we think every car shopper should consider before they purchase their next car.

In the course of the year, we road-test and review every new vehicle possible, both the brand-new models and those that have been updated significantly for the new model year.

To narrow down the field for our award, we set a base-price limit of $50,000, to place the focus on mainstream vehicles and to put an emphasis on value. It does eliminate some worthy, more expensive contenders, but in our view, at more than $50,000, excellence should be guaranteed.

We also require that vehicles be made available to editors for a road test before December 1, 2012, and be available for purchase by April 30, 2013.

The vehicles that remain are ranked by their overall numeric score, as assigned by our editors. The highest-rated vehicle is our Best Car To Buy, with ties being resolved by editors who consider other factors including--but not limited to--availability and significance.

More than 30 vehicles were eligible for this year's competition. A few were eliminated by our pricing limit. More fell short of the initial cut--they had an overall score of less than 8.0 out of 10. The Buick Encore and Lincoln MKZ also were eliminated, since they were not available for review within our time limits.

The remaining cars, trucks, and crossovers include some of the best vehicles we've tested in our careers at High Gear Media, with some true historical milestones among them. All have been driven and rated by our editors.

The winner will be named on Monday, December 10, 2012. On the same day, our luxury and performance destination, MotorAuthority, and our green-car destination, GreenCarReports, will name their own winners, from their own sets of nominated vehicles.

The nominees for The Car Connection's Best Car to Buy 2013 are:

2013 Audi Allroad

2013 Cadillac ATS

2013 Cadillac XTS

2013 Dodge Dart

2013 Ford Escape

2013 Ford Fusion

2013 Honda Accord

2013 Hyundai Santa Fe

2013 Lexus ES

2013 Lexus GS

2013 Nissan Altima

2013 Nissan Pathfinder

2013 Ram 1500

2013 Scion FR-S

2013 Subaru BRZ

2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek

2013 Toyota Avalon