Toyota’s Domination On This List of Best Cars Is Almost Embarrassing

Consumer Reports (CR) has just released its listing of “Ten Top Picks - Best Cars of the Year” for 2018. Toyota takes four of the ten categories. Subaru, which Toyota owns a major stake in, took another category. Among the other categories, Chevrolet earned two spots, Audi one, Ford one, and BMW one.

CR says of its Best Cars of the Year list, “We’ve racked up more than 800,000 miles this year evaluating new Cars, SUVs, minivans, and trucks. The bar is set high to make this list: Vehicles need to ace our track tests, plus be safe and reliable and score high in owner satisfaction. These are the 10 that Excel.”

Toyota’s Highlander earned the top spot in the Midsize SUV category. The Highlander is a top seller in this segment and offers standard active safety plus the option of an eighth seat, something many of its peers don’t offer. The Highlander is also offered as a green hybrid vehicle.

Toyota’s Sienna earned the top spot in the Minivan segment. Toyota’s Sienna is a top seller in the segment and offers all-wheel drive, something none of its competitors offer. Active safety is standard in the Sienna.

Toyota’s 2018 Camry earned the top spot in the country’s largest car segment, the midsize sedan grouping. The all-new Camry has been out-selling the rival Accord by as much as two to one in recent months. The Camry is a Top Safety Pick Plus-rated vehicle by IIHS, something the Accord cannot earn.

Finally, Toyota earns the top spot in the second-largest car segment, the compact sedan grouping. The 2018 Corolla is a top-seller. The Corolla comes standard with Superior-rated active safety systems and Corolla has scored Good on every crash test.

Toyota’s RAV4 did not take home the win in the largest non-truck segment, the compact crossover class. That win was earned by Subaru’s Forester. Toyota didn’t help Subaru with the current Forester but owning a substantial part of the company makes it a little easier to lose that one for Toyota.

In addition to the safety and other features Toyota is well-known for, the brand almost always earns top reliability scores. If you think Consumer Reports picks the Toyota’s without scrutiny based on reputation, think again. The group listed the Tacoma pickup as a “Worst Pick” in recent years.