2015 Dodge Challenger Matte Black Wrap on 2040-cars

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Edmunds ranks the best used cars for 2013

When people ask us what car we would recommend for them, it's usually not easy to answer. To make a useful recommendation we must consider which of the numerous vehicle segments fits their needs best, and then choose one of the many vehicles offered in each segment. For some people, new cars don't meet their expectations of value, because they lose so much of it the moment they are purchased and driven off the dealer lot. For them, there's always the used-car market, where great deals can be found, but cars' histories of reliability and maintenance records - and perhaps that Certified Pre-Owned warranty - become ever-important factors playing into purchase choice.
To help out, Edmunds has done us the favor of assembling a list of the best used vehicles money can buy, covering model years 2006-2011, according to what it considers the most important criteria when shopping for used autos: reliability, safety, value and availability. That means unreliable, unsafe, super-expensive or limited-edition models don't appear on the list, but instead cars from each segment that are more likely to satisfy the general population.
There are some real goodies on the list, including but not limited to vehicles such as the capable Honda Fit, the cultish Honda Accord coupe (which can be had with a 240-horsepower V6 and a six-speed manual transmission some years), and the powerful Chevrolet Corvette. While Edmunds' choice of the Volvo C70 for best used convertible baffled us at first (not that it's a bad car), it redeemed itself by stating that the Mazda MX-5 still is an unofficial top choice if you don't require more than two seats.

Toyota Corolla Cross, Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron and which beers are like which cars | Autoblog Podcast #635

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They're thirsty this week, but first, they talk about the Subaru Forester and Lexus NX they've been driving. They dig into the news about the Toyota Corolla Cross, Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron and J.D. Power's surprising Initial Quality Study results. A longtime Autoblog Podcast listener suggested our editors try to relate some of their favorite beers to their favorite cars, and they happily oblige. Finally, they help a listener choose a new car in the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #635 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving Long-term 2019 Subaru Forester 2020 Lexus NX 300h News Toyota Corolla Cross is headed our way Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron concept revealed Dodge and Kia lead J.D. Power 2020 Initial Quality Study Cars and their beer counterparts Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Show full video transcript text - Hey, everybody. This is Autoblog Podcast producer Eric here. I'm just hopping in quickly at the beginning of the episode to let you know that this episode of the Autoblog Podcast is brought to you by these SoFi Daily Podcast. Reaching financial independence starts with having the right information. So every weekday morning, SoFi keeps you up to date with important business news and stock market happenings and how they affect your financial life. So get your money right and search for SoFi-- that's S-O-F-I-- wherever you get your podcasts. On with the show. [THEME MUSIC] [ENGINE REVVING] [CAR DRIVES AWAY] GREG MIGLIORE: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Autoblog Podcast. I am Greg Migliore. We have a great show for you today on this hot, sizzling Thursday afternoon in July. Joining me today is senior editor for all things green, John Snyder. What's up, man? JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Hey. Just trying to beat the heat with some iced coffee today. GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good, sounds good. My coffee is just cold because I haven't microwaved it in a while. And chuckling at that remark-- charitably, I guess-- is consumer editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. How you doing? JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm doing good. I-- I mean, unlike you guys, I stopped drinking coffee about an hour ago.

How Dodge dealers are earning the right to sell Hellcats

We all hate the idea of the dreaded dealer markup when it comes to buying a highly anticipated new car. Take the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, for example. You might spend hours reading about its supercharged V8 and speccing the model just right in the configurator, but when it finally comes down to laying down the cash, the dealer adds thousands of dollars as a "market adjustment" on the muscle machine of your dreams. As it turns out, when the Hellcat starts hitting showrooms in the third quarter, Dodge is trying to make sure that's not the case.
Dealer orders for the much-hyped Hellcat recently started, but Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis has put some special caveats in place to ensure that the Hellcat makes it to the road quickly. The initial allocation is based on the number of Dodge products that a showroom has sold in the last 180 days, and a second allotment in December is based on the last 90 days of sales and 30-day turnover. "You sell a lot of Darts for me, Journeys for me, Durangos for me, I'm going to give you the rights to this one, too, because this is a halo of the brand," said Kuniskis to Automotive News.
Furthermore, how quickly the Hellcat sells is also going to decide whether showrooms get more of them. "If you want to market-adjust the car, that's your right. But if your days-on-lot goes above what the other guys that are selling them at MSRP is, they will end up earning the allocation because their days-on-lot will be lower," he said to Automotive News. Obviously, this doesn't prevent dealers from marking up the Challenger SRT, but the strategy certainly discourages it.