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Toyota, Ford and Honda again top Consumer Reports Car-Brand Perception Survey

Consumer Reports has released its annual Car-Brand Perception Survey, and the list looks awfully familiar. The top six brands are identical to last year's results, with Toyota, Ford and Honda continuing to occupy the podium. All told, Toyota walked away with 133 points, putting it 15 ahead of second-place Ford. Honda jumped 26 points this year, narrowing Ford's lead to just four points in total.
Consumer Reports polls buyers from across the country on how they see multiple brands in seven categories, including quality, safety, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation and environmentally friendly/green. Researchers then combine the findings to come up with the total brand score.
While value and performance remain important to buyers, CR found quality and safety are still on top when it comes to significance. Scion and Mitsubishi found themselves at the bottom of the pack with the worst score of all, tied at just six points. Ram, Fiat and Mini filled out the lowest five with scores of seven, eight and 10 points, respectively. You can read the full press release below for more information, or head over to the Consumer Reports site.

Ford recalling nearly 700k Escape CUVs, C-Max hybrids over two separate safety issues

Poor Escape. Ever since its launch in 2012, Ford's small CUV has been the subject of many, many, many recalls. And today, The Detroit News is reporting that Ford is adding two more recalls to the 2013-14 model year Escape's permanent record, one of them also involves the C-Max hybrid hatchback.
The first recall, covering 692,500 Escape and C-Max vehicles, is due to a software glitch that could cause the airbags - specifically, the safety canopy - to not deploy in a timely fashion during rollover crashes. According to the News, Ford says no crashes or injuries have been reported in relation to this problem.
The second recall, covering 692,700 Escapes, is related to the door handles. The News reports that the exterior door handles could open while the vehicle is in motion, and could also fail to latch properly. Once again, no crashes or injuries have occurred because of this. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration has not issued an official notice on either recall as of this writing.

8 new cars that are selling below MSRP

Car shopping has been a frustrating activity for many people in recent years, as strained new car inventories have led to markups and elevated prices across the board. It’s been difficult to find vehicles at anywhere near a reasonable price, and some in-demand models are still listed at a premium today. iSeeCarsÂ’ most recent study looked at several aspects of the new and used vehicle markets and found a handful of models that are selling at a discount – a rarity in todayÂ’s world. Most of the vehicles selling below MSRP in October were electric, though the Nissan Armada and Infiniti QX80 made the top eight. To be clear, weÂ’re not talking about huge discounts here – the Kia EV6 was selling with the largest discount of 3.1%. The other models on the list include: Kia EV6: -3.1 percent off MSRP Ford F-150 hybrid: -2.8% Hyundai Ioniq 6: -2.7% Nissan Armada: -1.8% Hyundai Ioniq 5: -0.9% VW ID.4: -0.6% Kia Niro EV: -0.3% Infiniti QX80: -0.2% Electric and hybrid vehicles like the Kia and Ford have been selling at a premium for a long time, as they experienced stronger than expected demand and had challenging early production runs. That theyÂ’re now selling at a discount could indicate wavering buyer demand, but itÂ’s too early to start sounding any serious alarm bells. Though some models are getting cheaper, the industry average is still heading in the wrong direction. The average MSRP of new cars sold last month was $42,510, while the average sales price was $46,077. That 8.4% overage is surprising to see so many months after the worst of the pandemic has passed. iSeeCarsÂ’ executive analyst Karl Brauer had a few words of encouragement, however, saying, “There are still very few ‘dealsÂ’ in the new car market. Shoppers looking to pay below MSRP for a new car will have to do their research, but a small number of models can be bought below sticker price.” Green Ford Hyundai Infiniti Kia Nissan Volkswagen Car Buying cheap cars