GS69

Forbes
Best Cars For The Bucks 2006
Dan Lienert, 05.15.06, 12:30 AM ET
Car buyers crave the best deals on their purchases, but the best cars for the bucks are not necessarily the ones that come with the biggest discounts. After all, you can brag to your friends that you got a Saturn Ion with thousands of dollars on the hood, but you'll still be driving a Saturn Ion.

In the slide show that follows this piece, we describe this year's crop of the top cars in terms of value. We focus on vehicles that give you a lot of car considering their sticker prices--not on vehicles that have deep discounts because of inventory and/or sales problems.

Detroit should focus on packing value into its cars from the beginning. Instead, starting with the initial business cases they make for new cars, American automakers count on offering incentives. The average offer from General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) is $2,433; from Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ), $2,612; and from DaimlerChrysler's (nyse: DCX - news - people ) subsidiary, Chrysler, $1,969--all significantly higher than the offers made by foreign competitors.
See the best cars for the bucks.

Honda Motor (nyse: HMC - news - people ) is getting full sticker prices for its overhauled Civic line, and it can do that because the Civic is chock full of value. As you will see in our list, it is an affordable, entry-level car, but one that meets the highest standards for safety, reliability, build quality, accident-avoidance technology and fuel economy.

Honda avoids cash incentives, and fellow Japanese automaker Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) is cutting incentive spending. In the first quarter, Toyota's average incentive offer dropped 38% to $816. Yet sales for both Honda and Toyota are up this year, and their profits never seem to stop growing, while GM edges closer to bankruptcy.

However, American-car inventories have declined this year, meaning that GM and Ford might be able to avoid the kind of blowouts they offered last summer, when they made employee pricing available to the general public.

The command that Wall Street likes to use when advising General Motors is, "Shrink to a defensible position." This means cut production, cut salaries and cut the workforce, and focus not on being the world's largest automaker but on improving per-car and per-dealer profits.

Just look at Porsche, which is one of the world's smallest automakers but one that is nearly untouchable in terms of profitability. Making fewer cars but making them better is the key to rehabilitating customers and getting them used to lower discounts.

In keeping with the idea that cheap doesn't equal good value, when compiling our list of the best cars you can get for your buck, we looked for vehicles that offer power, comfort, safety technology, reliability, high levels of build quality, sophisticated accident-avoidance technology and more--all for less than you would spend on competing vehicles. The cars on our list range from the $15,000 Civic up to the what we think is the best bargain supercar around, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, priced a little under $66,000.

And they're from all over the map, which just goes to show that any automaker can offer an attractive car for an attractive price, and not just lure people into showrooms with cash on the hoods of its cars.

Coming on May 22 to Vehicles: Least Fuel-Efficient Luxury Cars 2006



Best Car For The Bucks Overall: Honda Civic
Base Price: $15,110
A decently equipped Civic will run you closer to $18,000, meaning the car is not among the cheapest vehicles on the market. But what other entry-level vehicle has top-level crash-test scores, reliability ratings, accident-avoidance technology and fuel economy? Pricier Audis and BMWs don't get those kinds of high ratings across the board.
The Civic is the smartest car you can buy for your teenager. And unless you need the cargo utility of a pickup or an SUV, or you have to drive a more upscale car to impress clients or your boss, you should find the Civic is all you need in an automobile.

Best Pickup For The Bucks: Ford F-150
Base Price: $19,640
Pickups are America's best-selling vehicles, and the three perennial best sellers are Ford's F-Series, GM's twin pickups (Chevrolet's Silverado and GMC's Sierra) and Dodge's Ram. While all of these trucks are comparably priced, the F-150 is by far the newest, the most upscale (its interior compares well with those of luxury cars) and the one with the most up-to-date roster of features and amenities. It's the most truck for the money.
The aging GM trucks and the Dodge Ram will soon be replaced, but the F-150 is fairly fresh, having gone through a $1.8 billion overhaul for model-year 2004.

Best SUV For The Bucks: Toyota RAV4
Base Price: $20,300
Toyota gives buyers a ton of value with its affordable, entry-level RAV4. Fresh from an overhaul, the RAV4 is more modern than competitors such as Honda's CR-V and Ford's Escape. While the Escape and CR-V only seat five, the RAV4 can be a five- or seven-passenger vehicle. The RAV4's entry-level, four-cylinder engine is more powerful than the CR-V's and Escape's, and its optional V-6 has 269 hp, compared with 193 hp on the Escape's optional V-6.
Best of all, the RAV4 is the most reliable car on the market. Excluding cars headed for discontinuation or replacement, it is the only vehicle with Consumer Reports' highest-possible "predicted reliability" rating and five out of five stars in J.D. Power's "overall quality" and "overall dependability" assessments.

Best Convertible For The Bucks: Mazda MX-5 Miata
Base Price: $20,995
If you're looking for an automotive toy--a car on which to spend your bonus or a sports car to alleviate your midlife crisis--you don't have to spend $40,000-plus on a Corvette. The Mazda MX-5 Miata is an entry-level convertible with performance that rivals that of more expensive sports cars. Recently overhauled and looking better than ever, the Miata remains one of the market's most fun cars to drive.
Pontiac's new Solstice roadster has a similar price to that of the Miata, but Mazda has had nearly 20 years to work out the kinks in the Miata line.

Best Luxurious Car For A Nonluxury Price (I): Hyundai Azera
Base Price: $24,335
With a 263-hp, V-6 engine and sharp styling, Hyundai's Azera is priced like a Mercury but feels more like a Mercedes. In fact, the Azera's interior volume compares favorably with the most expensive sedans from Mercedes and BMW.
The Azera's interior, pictured above, looks remarkably like that of a Lexus and features standard upscale amenities, such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and dual-zone climate control.

Best Luxurious Car For A Nonluxury Price (II): Toyota Avalon
Base Price: $26,775
The Avalon is a luxury car in disguise. Its somewhat innocuous exterior styling masks a car with tons of interior room and a peppy V-6 engine. The Avalon has reclining rear seats--a premium feature even by luxury-car standards--and 268 hp, which is way more than an entry-level BMW 3 Series offers.
The biggest problem with the Avalon--from the perspective of Toyota shareholders--is that it undercuts Toyota's upscale Lexus models. It has 64 more hp than Lexus' entry-level IS 250 sedan, a car with a base price $4,000 higher than the Avalon's. And Lexus' overhauled 2007 ES 350 sedan has only four more hp than the Avalon, with a base price that is $7,000 higher.

Best Luxurious Car For A Nonluxury Price (III): Buick Lucerne CXL V-8
Base Price: $29,990
The next car in the slide show is the similarly priced BMW 3 Series, which we call a luxury car. Why call another $30,000 price tag a nonluxury price? It's because the Buick Lucerne CXL V-8 sedan has a premium engine, while the entry-level 3 Series sedan has a V-6 with less than 80% of the Buick's horsepower and less than 65% of its torque. We can't think of any other V-8 luxury sedan that comes this cheap.
Where the Lucerne CXL V-8 really looks like a deal is in comparison with Cadillac's flagship DTS sedan. The two cars feel like twins, with similar interior designs and comparable interior space. Their entry-level engines are both 275-hp V-8s. But the Lucerne CXL V-8's starting price is $12,000 lower than that of the Cadillac.

Best Deal On A Luxury Car: BMW 3 Series
Base Price: $30,900
We have given this honor to the 3 Series because we are still stunned that you can buy a BMW for $30,000. To our taste, having that set of keys that says "BMW" on it makes you feel privileged and discerning. This is one of the most sexy, luxurious and sporty vehicle lines on the market, and think of what other cars cost $30,000. Read on...
The ho-hum Pontiac GTO, which has a sports-car engine but a rental-car exterior and interior design, starts at $32,000. The Lincoln Zephyr sedan, which has one of the stiffest interior designs on the market (it feels like only right angles were allowed on the drawing board), starts at $30,000. And the overpriced and not very useful Honda Ridgeline pickup starts at $28,000. Considering BMW ownership is available for $30,000, none of these vehicles seems worthwhile.

Best Premium Vehicle For The Bucks: Acura RL
Base Price: $49,300
Acura's RL is handsome, sporty and packed with cool technology and interior features. And it's a steal compared with other premium sedans. It is $23,000 less than BMW's 7 Series, $37,000 less than Mercedes' S-Class and $54,000 less than Maserati's Quattroporte.
The downside is that the RL has a six-cylinder engine, which might make you feel inferior to 7 Series or S-Class drivers and their V-8s. And the RL feels a bit smaller inside than those cars. But if you can live with a tighter cockpit and two fewer cylinders, save yourself tens of thousands and get this vehicle.

Best Bargain Supercar: Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Base Price: $65,690
All we need to do to demonstrate the 505-hp Z06's astonishing power-per-dollar ratio is demonstrate what 500 hp usually costs. Lamborghini's 500-hp Gallardo coupe starts at $175,000. Aston Martin's 520-hp Vanquish S coupe starts around $255,000. And Maybach's 543-hp 62 sedan starts at $385,000.
Also consider the following cars, which have less power than the Z06: the $174,000 Aston Martin DB9 convertible (450 hp), the $199,000 Ferrari F430 convertible (490 hp) and the $333,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom sedan (453 hp).

mmarshall

I agree with most of these picks, except for the Buick Lucerne and the BMW 3-series. The Lucerne, IMO, has cheap materials and does not have sufficient build quality to win an award in its class, and the BMW 3-series, IMO, is not a " luxury " car....it is clearly a sport sedan.

I'm also not sure the RAV-4 is a better choice than the Subaru Outback. The Outback combines sedan driving and handling capabilities with SUV flexibility and utility even better than the RAV4 does, though the RAV4 has a more reliable engine.

The other picks, however, are right on. It is indeed hard to beat the Civic as an overall value if you don't need AWD, although the front end, IMO, is ugly and the two-tier dash with the digital speedometer is quirky. The Miata, for the money, is clearly the best convertible, the Avalon and Azera are both good values, the F-150 is not as reliable as the Tundra Tundra but is more flexible and its interior is unbeatable among pickups. The Honda Ridgeline, however, gets an honorable mention for its many clever features. The Acura RL and the Corvette are also excellent values, especially considering the deep discounts the RL sells for.

Faraaz23

I agree with mmarshall. The 3 series has a lot of merit, but luxury (when compared to others in the segment) is not one of them. Seems like he put more emphasis on the prestige than anything else. He barely, if at all, mentioned its great handling and driving dynamics. If the category was renamed "Best deal on a sport sedan", i'd swallow that.... best luxury car... hell no.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

How come they have three different: "Best Luxurious Car For A Nonluxury Price"?

bruce van

The 3 series is a good sports sedan, but I would not consider it a luxury sedan by any means.
The interior and comfort are two qualities that make a car luxurious. The 3 series interior is
just plain and boring to me and the ride is more focused on sport.

I recently saw the interior of a Rolls Royce Phantom in person and that was the true definition
of luxury. Wool carpets! DAY-MN!

mmarshall

They apparantly compared what you got for the price and felt that those three cars were more or less equal in value. I have driven and reviewed all three of these cars and I disagree with the choice of the Lucerne as tied with the other two...Avalon and Azera. The Lucerne, IMO, has noticeably cheaper-quality parts and poorer-quality fit-and finish than the other two. The Azera and Avalon, indeed, are just about even, although the Avalon beats the Azera a little in suppression of road noise and a quieter ride. However, it costs a little more too.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I agree and disagree at the same time. Base car, the 3 series is not a luxury car. But add all the many available options and you can't deny it is a luxury car. Non luxury cars don't offer the kind of options you can get with a 3 series. Plus, no one would want the model that costs 30,900...at least I wouldn't. It has those cheap looking plastic seats, stick shift, just plain. I went to a web site with price options. I chose only the ones I would want. Here's the breakdown:
Automatic 31,595
Nav 2000
HID's 800
Leather 1450
Cruise 220
Upgraded stereo 1200

Total 39,245

Many of you would choose things I don't necessarily care for. Bottom line is a 40K car is a luxury car in my book.

TwiBlueG35

I agree with the Civic, MX-5, 3-series, and Corvette. RL seems to have too many features that not everyone needs and would use. If RL could have a more basic model costing $5,000 less that would be great.

videcormeum

I don't know where they're shopping, but around here (and I suspect this holds for the rest of the country) you can't pick up ANY new 3-series for $30k. Dealers never order 325s @ base configuration. Besides, even if you do order a base 325 - you're missing a lot of equipment that you'd expect from an entry-level luxury sedan like:
1.) real leather seats (leather seating adds $1,450 to the price pushing you way above 30k)
- or the premium package (add $2,900)
2.) automatic transmission (add $1,275)
3.) xenon headlights (add $800)

I agree w/ mmarshall on the other cars.

M.