Best Bet Selection Methodology

In all cars.com Best Bets, practical considerations carry the most weight, with an emphasis on the actual use of a vehicle type by the majority of owners as opposed to recreational uses exploited by few. For example, how well a sport utility vehicle performs off-road and how much weight it can tow get little consideration in determining a best overall SUV. We concentrate on the attributes that call for interpretation or that might benefit from my experience with many vehicles. In short, anything you can determine easily on your own through the use of this site — such as towing capacities — is left to you.

This is why exterior styling gets little consideration. Beauty is in the beholder's eye. Interior design/quality gets more attention, not in the sense of design but in terms of ergonomics and what the automotive industry terms "perceived quality": materials and the feel of controls and handles and the like, which is not as easy for shoppers to compare from one model to the next.

Safety is highly weighted in most categories, especially minivans and SUVs, which have become the minivan alternative. Cars.com cannot designate a vehicle as safe or unsafe, but we interpret crash-test ratings and audit safety features. We take crash-test scores assigned by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety much more seriously than those of our federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for reasons explained in our Guide to Crash Tests and Rollover Ratings.

Due to the rollover risk in SUVs, the most important features considered are rollover mitigation systems, electronic stability systems and side curtain-type airbags. In small vehicles, side-impact airbags and curtains are highly weighted, as they often prove to be the difference between a Poor and a Good IIHS rating for a particular model. Sports cars are the category for which safety carries the least weight, in keeping with consumer priorities. However, no vehicle with weak crash-test ratings is eligible for any Best Bet. A new, untested model may be cited with a caveat.

Ownership cost/reliability is another important consideration because low ownership cost can easily compensate for a higher sale price. Aside from being a drag, repairs are a significant component. For reliability data, we rely on J.D. Power and Associates' Mechanical Reliability Ratings and Consumer Reports' Reliability Histories. Other factors in cost of ownership include fuel economy, required fuel grade (octane) and insurance costs.

New and redesigned models have no reliability data. These entrants will remain innocent unless proven guilty and may earn a Best Bet citation along with a caveat.

It's best not to assume a car-based SUV like Toyota's RAV4 will handle like a car.

Ride and handling differ widely, especially among SUV models — and one can no longer presume that truck-based SUVs will ride like trucks or that car-based ones will ride well. Handling performance is critical in sporty cars, but also in SUVs as it regards controllability and top-heaviness. More modest cars are expected to be safe, but exceptional handling is more of a bonus than a requirement.

Roominess and comfort are important because exterior size tends to mislead. The main criterion here is how accommodating the seats are — and, in vans and SUVs, how many you get for your money. Actual seat comfort gets less attention, mainly because tastes differ.

Acceleration gets the most weight among sporty cars, but all vehicles can be classified in one of three categories: not quick enough, quick enough and more than quick enough, with consideration given to the issue of load whenever possible. Most vehicles on the road are, at minimum, quick enough if you're not a leadfoot. Transmission performance is also an issue, and automatics that are unrefined or slow to react are graded harshly.

Choices are important in the battle for an overall Best Bet because we at cars.com know that the right car for you isn't automatically the right one for someone else. A model that comes with multiple engine and transmission choices, for example, has definite advantages. An automaker might give you one large engine for the price of a competitor's vehicle with a smaller standard engine. To some, this is an advantage, but if you want to pay less at the pump, the lack of engine choices is a disadvantage to you.