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Cars.com Picks its Family, Work, Play and Eco-Friendly Cars of the Year

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We know that shoppers often aren’t looking in only one segment when they’re shopping for a new car, and we know that they’re often not only looking at the newest cars out there. For these reasons and more, we choose our Lifestyle Award winners from the pool of cars that weren’t introduced or redesigned for 2013, and that’s both a big and impressive pool of nominees.

We start with cars, trucks and SUVs chosen as Best Bets in many categories, and our experts go from there, based on their experiences behind the wheel. We’re always considering value when we make our selections, and we make sure we’re recommending the most reliable, most efficient cars we can. And, of course, we like the fun cars, as well.

Take a look at our Lifestyle Buying Guides if you’re in the hunt for a new car, and check out our winners to see which ones we found to be the cream of the crop.

Patrick Olsen

Former editor-in-chief Patrick Olsen was born and raised in California. He loves pickup trucks and drivers who pay attention.

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