Review the car before you buy it

The best place to go before buying a car is the Consumer Guide. Written by experts on automobiles for more than 30, this guide helps smart consumers to make buying decisions with confidence.

Before writing their review the experts put the cars through series of tests in order to make their final evaluation. This is to help the consumer feel more confident in their decision to purchase a certain vehicle. A part of these tests includes, driving each new vehicle just as a typical owner would – shopping, commuting, around town and on long trips. Race track performance is not considered here rather they assess the car's ability to meet everyday needs. Cars can achieve a Best Buy or Recommended rating.

A Best Buy rating given by Consumer Guide are considered by a team of experts to be the highest quality available at a reasonable price.

Recommended ratings are given for good products that, for one reason or another have not quite measured up to the Best Buy standard for excellence. Some of the reasons a vehicle may get this rating are: They may have a high price or limited appeal; Or they may be so new on the market that they haven't yet been able to test their performance and durability sufficiently.

A vehicle may not receive a rating at all. This is because the automotive editors at Consumer Guide drive over 200 new vehicles each year. At the beginning of each model year they select Best Buys and Recommended models. Obviously they choose only a few of these in each vehicle class. Often, when vehicles receive no rating they are excellent choices but fall short of the class leaders in one or two areas. To determine if the vehicles you are considering fall under this type, use the Consumer Guide, "Value for the Money" assessments.

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