The best overall new vehicle to buy in the U.S. is Honda Civic, according to editors at Kelley Blue Book, who also selected the 11 other models as part of its 2017 Best Buy Awards.
“After carefully analyzing a wealth of data and conducting extensive vehicle testing and evaluation from the hundreds of models available for the 2017 model-year, we chose this elite group of 12 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award winners because they proved to be the top in their class this year,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com.
It’s the second consecutive year the Civic has captured the honor.
“Kelley Blue Book editors went to the unprecedented choice of honoring the Honda Civic as the Overall Best Buy for the second year in a row because of the Civic’s unsurpassed all-around value,” Nerad noted.
(Chevy Bolt one of nine NACTOY finalists. Click Here for the story.)
“It turns in very high marks in objective measures like resale value and cost to own, yet it also is a supremely satisfying car to drive and live with every day. We believe the 2017 Civic is an exceptional value and remains the Overall Best Buy for the second year running.”
Each year, the group sifts through 300 new vehicles in 12 different categories to select segment winners and then from there choose the overall winner. This year’s winners and their categories include:
- Best Small Car: Honda Civic
- Best Midsize Car: Honda Accord
- Best Full-Size Car: Chevrolet Impala
- Best Small SUV: Kia Sportage
- Best Midsize SUV: Honda Pilot
- Best Large SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe
- Best Minivan: Chrysler Pacifica
- Best Pickup Truck: Ford F-150
The new Chrysler Pacifica grabbed top honors at the best minivan. - Best Electric Hybrid Car: Toyota Prius
- Best Performance Car: Porsche 718 Boxster
- Best Luxury Car: Audi A4
- Best Luxury SUV: Mercedes-Benz GLC
Honda with four and Chevy with two were the only brands to nab top honors in more than one category, although it should be noted that German makers swept the “high end” categories: performance, luxury and luxury SUV.
(Click Here for details about Chevy Bolt taking Motor Trend’s COTY award.)
Honda and Porsche were also just named winenrs by U.S. News & World Report in its 2017 Best Brands competition.
The Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards are designed to provide a significant service to new-car buyers by identifying the cream of the crop of all available 2017 model-year vehicles, the website notes. The awards are the culmination of a year-long regimen of expert vehicle evaluation and testing of nearly every new vehicle available in America.
(To see what makers took top honors on U.S. News & World Report’s best brands list, Click Here.)
In addition, the process includes analysis of a broad swath of vehicle-related data, including vehicle pricing/transaction prices, 5-Year Cost to Own data (which includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees and taxes for new cars), consumer reviews and ratings, and vehicle sales/retail sales information.
