Toyota Prius Named Best New-Car Value by Consumer Reports

In a not-so-shocking turn of events, the Toyota Prius hatchback has been named Consumer Reports “Best New-Car Value” for the second year in a row.

Every year, Consumer Reports does a full rundown of the entire automotive industry in an effort to offer consumers a comprehensive list of the best- and worst-value cars on the market. As it did in 2012, the 2013 Toyota Prius took the overall prize for Best New-Car Value.

While you’re probably well-aware of what makes the Toyota Prius such a timeless trophy, let’s quickly review:

First, the obvious one: fuel economy. The  2013 Toyota Prius hybrid offers an astounding 44 miles per gallon overall, and the 2014 Prius gets even better with 51 mpg city and 48 mpg highway.

The second reason the Prius tops the list is less obvious: very low depreciation. In other words, a Prius maintains its value much longer than just about any other car on the market. Rik Paul, CR’s auto editor stated, “Though it’s not particularly cheap to buy, the Prius’ depreciation is so low that it costs less to own over the first five years than its initial MSRP.” New York Daily News cited that the Prius’ estimated cost of ownership falls below 47 cents per mile during the first five years; insanely cheap!

If you’re wondering about the other cars listed in Consumer Reports Best New-Car Value list (as well as their Worst New-Car Value counterparts), just take a look below:

–  Compact /Subcompact Cars: Best, Toyota Prius Four; Worst, Volkswagen Beetle 2.5L

–  Midsized Cars: Best, Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium; Worst, Nissan Altima 3.5 SL

–  Large Cars: Best, Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited; Worst, Ford Taurus Limited

–  Luxury Cars: Best, Lexus ES 300h; Worst, BMW 750Li

–  Sports Cars/Convertibles: Best: Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring; Worst, Chevrolet Camaro convertible 2SS (V8)

–  Wagons/Minivans: Best, Mazda5 Grand Touring; Worst, Chrysler Town & Country Touring-L

–  Small SUVs: Best, Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium; Worst, Ford Escape SE (1.6T)

–  Midsized SUVs: Best, Nissan Murano SL; Worst, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

–  Luxury/Large SUVs: Best, BMW X1 xDrive28i; Worst, Nissan Armada Platinum

–  Pickups: Best, Honda Ridgeline RTS; Worst, Ford F-250 Lariat (6.7L V8)

As you can see, Toyota, Subaru and Mazda all got multiple cars awarded with the best new-car value in their respective classes. Surprisingly, Nissan had two cars make it onto Consumer Reports’ Worst New-Car Value List, with the Nissan Armada Platinum take the Worst Car prize with its terrible 13 mpg.

Of course, we probably won’t see Carlos Ghosn shedding any tears over a couple of his SUVs making it onto Consumer Reports unfavorable list. None the less, consumers everywhere now know that Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and Honda truly take the cake when it comes to reliable value.

And it is highly significant that the best value vehicles in all but one of the categories are Japanese car brands. The dominance is really quite staggering.