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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.

World Car Awards finalists snub American-branded vehicles — except for Bronco

The list of World Car Awards has been whittled down to 10 finalists, but only one American brand — Ford — appears among the remaining nine carmakers for this yearÂ’s top award. The Bronco is there, and it also is balloted as a finalist in the design category. The other categories are performance car, urban car, electric vehicle and luxury model. Each category has five finalists except World Car, which has 10. One brand conspicuous by its absence in any category: Tesla. The winner in each is scheduled to be crowned March 27 at the New York International Auto Show in Manhattan. This year marks the 20th year of the World Car Awards and the partnership with the New York show. The selection process involves 100-plus automotive journalists from 29 countries who vote, as they review and test-drive the eligible vehicles for the 2024 awards. Their journey is captured virtually on World Car TV. If youÂ’re counting, the brands that appear most on the six finals lists are Mercedes-Benz (four times), BMW (also four), Hyundai (three), and Volvo (three). HereÂ’s the full listing. A video clip showing all of them is here: World Car -BYD Seal / Atto 4 -Ford Bronco -Hyundai Kona / Kona Electric -Hyundai Santa Fe -Kia EV9 -Mazda CX-90 -Subaru Crosstrek -Toyota Prius -Volkswagen ID.7 -Volvo EX30 World Car Design of the Year Ford Bronco Ferrari Purosangue Toyota Prius Volvo EX30 Zeekr X 2024 World Electric Vehicle BMW i5 Kia EV9 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV Volkswagen ID.7 Volvo EX30 2024 World Luxury Car - BMW 5 Series / i5 - Lexus LM - Mercedes-Benz CLE - Mercedes-Benz E-Class - Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 2024 World Urban Car  - Abarth 500e - BYD Dolphin - Lexus LBX - Suzuki Fronx - Volvo EX30 2024 World Performance Car - BMW M2 - BMW XM - Ferrari Purosangue - Hyundai Ioniq 5 N - Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid

2018 Kia Stinger GT Long-Term Review Update | What living with the Stinger is like

You're going to like looking at it, and everyone else will too Man, this car is slick. It's long and low with curves in all the right places. Kia toed the line between in-your-face sportiness and luxury with every design decision on this car. I don't often feel the urge to look back at a car as I walk away, but the Stinger has a way of drawing my eye back to it wherever I go. The bright red paint might be partially responsible for this, but I've found I'm not alone. Everywhere I drive, this car turns heads and brings about inquisitive stares from onlookers — the Kia badge just causes brows to furrow deeper. Never in history have random passersby been this interested in a Kia. It makes sense, though. We don't often see completely new, from-the-ground-up sports sedans these days. The Stinger's fastback shape just makes it even more enticing and refreshingly different. Noticing the sidewalk interest in a car like the Stinger gives me a glimmer of hope for other great sedans to make it through the crossover-apocalypse. Big car, but a small back seat The usable space in the rear seat runs counter to how long and large the car looks. First off, the way the door is shaped makes for a narrow space to slide your body through. It's wide on top but narrows closer to the ground. That's no problem for a young and limber person such as myself, but less flexible folk may find it annoying. With the seat positioned for my 5-foot-10-inch frame, rear legroom is a bit scarcer than I would have thought. Throwing kids back there would be fine, but it still came off as one of the larger disappointments in my book. You'll enjoy the cargo space, though. Hatches are almost always more utilitarian than sedans with trunks, and this trend continues for the Stinger. Loading and unloading is an easy task, and you can shove a ton of stuff back there. Somewhat limited visibility through the short rear window from the driver seat is the only downside of the rear hatch design. It has a dual personality This car firmly plants itself onto the list of ideal daily drivers. Leave it in Comfort mode, turn the Harman Kardon stereo up, and relax on your way to the office. Twist the dial over to Sport, and you'll blow everybody else away getting on the highway as you head home. Like we said in our last long-term update, the Stinger is the perfect GT car, and we stand by that. You can use it as a backroad scalpel on weekends. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say it handles like a sports car.