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Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

We're spending six months with a Jaguar XE diesel

It's hard to discuss the Jaguar XE sedan without at least mentioning the BMW 3 Series. So here we are doing it. The XE was built to compete with the 3 and the likes of the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. It's the smallest Jag sedan in a long time, and it's poised to be one of the brand's best-selling vehicles. We're putting one in our fleet for half a year to see how it is to live with. What we got For the detail-oriented, this is a 2017 Jaguar XE 20d AWD Prestige painted Ammonite Grey with a Jet and Latte interior. Translation: a midlevel trim with a diesel engine, all-wheel drive, dark gray paint, and a cabin with light tan leather seats and a black dashboard. It's a handsome combo. Base price for the model is $46,395. This one has plenty of options, which raise the price to $55,485. For $2,400, the Vision Package includes things to help you see and some more that help the car see for you: xenon headlights with washers, auto high beams, front and rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitor, and cross-traffic detection. The $2,100 Comfort and Convenience Package adds heated and cooled front seats, heat for the rears, a power trunk lid, and an electric rear sunshade. A 10.2-inch wide-format touchscreen, navigation, WiFi, and an 825-watt sound system are included in the $2,700 Technology Package. And then there's the little stuff: metallic paint for $550, a head-up display for $990, and $350 to get the SiriusXM working. Other details include an eight-speed automatic transmission, engine stop-start, and some nice 18-inch wheels. What we skipped This XE most notably lacks a place to put gasoline – we didn't get the base 2.0-liter four-cylinder or any of the tunes of supercharged V6 in the pricier models. We also skipped the upper trim levels, which for 2017 included R-Sport and Portfolio (an S model is new for 2018). The only other big item you can put on a Prestige is the $360 Black Design Package; it swaps out the shiny grille, vent trim, and window surrounds for – you guessed it – black parts. Why we got it It's a completely new model in a popular segment. Sport sedans are fun. And Jaguars are pretty. There are likely to be some mini comparisons between the Jag and our succession of long-term A4s. What's next On the other end of the new-Jaguar spectrum is the F-Pace, a crossover that has a lot in common with the XE. So we're going to spend some time with one once the XE leaves.

Jaguar Land Rover mulling factory in Georgia?

London's Sunday Times reported last October that Jaguar-Land Rover was sniffing around The South looking for a potential manufacturing site, and was "talking to several southern states." We imagine Georgia was one of them; The Peach State has Kia Motors Manufacturing in West Point, it claims Porsche HQ as a resident, and soon the Mercedes-Benz regional office, too. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has said that Governor Nathan Deal recently took the initiative to fly to the UK to "make prospect calls" with JLR executives about a deal. We don't have any details about the calls, but we'll guess that they involved Deal making a financial case for GA over other states while sipping a cup of tea. It's said that the English luxury maker wants to build a factory here with a 200,000-unit capacity, to take advantage of the same financial efficiencies that have planted other automakers in the US and Mexico; it opened a facility in China last year to build the Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport, and the Jaguar XE, and is casting eyes over Brazilian and Saudi Arabian soil for other facilities. No timetable has been given for a decision. Related Video: News Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: AP Photo/Tony Ding Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing Jaguar Land Rover Luxury