If you were in the market for a sedan

[Podunkadunk]

Rat,
Here are how the 3 Bob Skurka mentioned, faired in Consumer Reports. I'm really shocked that the Passat scored so highly with their reliability being so low.

Good luck shopping.

VW Passat:











Honda Accord













Toyota Camry

 

[Podunkadunk]

Consumer Reports, Most Reliable List:

 

[gsganzer]

Toyota 4runner. It's an SUV, but the mileage is really decent, the interior room is nice and they're respectably priced (at least in the Dallas area) for about 25K for a V6 SR5 2wd. They also have some incentives going right now. My wife uses hers as our "kid hauler". Another great pick is a Toyota Highlander, but I think they might be a little pricier.

 

[ToadHill]

I said I'd never own one but to keep the "little woman" happy I got her a Caddy CTS. The ride is great and it is very economical with city driving as 24mpg and highway at over 30 mpg. I picked up a 2 year model for under 20K.

 

[jdbower]

Are we sure we're comparing the 2005/2006 models when the question was initially posed?

 

[Tractors4u]

Volvo S60! A friend of mine has one. We went on a trip that I as dreading, 11 hours one way. I am 6'1" and I was dreading riding that far in what I considered a small car. That car was so comfortable, it handles well, has good power, gets good mileage and is super safe. Not to mention they are good looking cars.

 

[dbdartman]

Sorry, but I lost absolutely ALL respect for Consumer Reports about 10 years ago when they did a report on mini-vans. In this report, they PRAISED one of the Toyota or Nissan vans, then trashed the Mercury version of the EXACT SAME VAN, BUILT WITH THE SAME PARTS/PIECES (except the badges & grill), ON THE SAME ASSEMBLY LINE, BY THE SAME WORKERS! Nope, no respect for them from me! Besides, these days the difference, quality wise, between car manufacturers is mighty small. IMHO, small enough that one should shop for their next car/truck from every manufacturer available & choose the one that best fits your needs, regardless of who makes it.

 

[RobertN]

Are we sure we're comparing the 2005/2006 models when the question was initially posed?

That's what I was thinking too


If I had to look at cars right now, there are three I would look at, even though they are not particularily comparable.

A Prius sounds interesting. I only have a 30 mile round trip commute, but 40-60mpg sounds bette than 16mpg on my Ram CTD.

Otherwise, I would start with a look at a Charger or Magnum.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Sorry, but I lost absolutely ALL respect for Consumer Reports about 10 years ago when they did a report on mini-vans. In this report, they PRAISED one of the Toyota or Nissan vans, then trashed the Mercury version of the EXACT SAME VAN, BUILT WITH THE SAME PARTS/PIECES (except the badges & grill), ON THE SAME ASSEMBLY LINE, BY THE SAME WORKERS! Nope, no respect for them from me! Besides, these days the difference, quality wise, between car manufacturers is mighty small. IMHO, small enough that one should shop for their next car/truck from every manufacturer available & choose the one that best fits your needs, regardless of who makes it.

Hmmm, so you mean to tell me that Mercury and Toyota and Nissan are merged in some way? It would have to be some sort of merger for them to be sharing the same parts, same van (except badging) and them being built on the same assembly line by the same workers.

I know of Isuzu building the Honda Passport years ago and I've heard of Mazda/Ford's relationship. I never heard of Toyota/Nissan/Mercury having the same relationship...

Got any links to where I can read about it? Googling it got me nowhere I find this very interesting.

Podunk

 

[jdbower]

It was the Nissan Quest and Mercury Villager:
Mercury Villager - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course, I'd expect at least some disparity in the reviews since Nissan is a base brand while Mercury is a Ford premium brand but most objective things should be nearly identical.