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Edmunds ranks the best used cars for 2013

When people ask us what car we would recommend for them, it's usually not easy to answer. To make a useful recommendation we must consider which of the numerous vehicle segments fits their needs best, and then choose one of the many vehicles offered in each segment. For some people, new cars don't meet their expectations of value, because they lose so much of it the moment they are purchased and driven off the dealer lot. For them, there's always the used-car market, where great deals can be found, but cars' histories of reliability and maintenance records - and perhaps that Certified Pre-Owned warranty - become ever-important factors playing into purchase choice.
To help out, Edmunds has done us the favor of assembling a list of the best used vehicles money can buy, covering model years 2006-2011, according to what it considers the most important criteria when shopping for used autos: reliability, safety, value and availability. That means unreliable, unsafe, super-expensive or limited-edition models don't appear on the list, but instead cars from each segment that are more likely to satisfy the general population.
There are some real goodies on the list, including but not limited to vehicles such as the capable Honda Fit, the cultish Honda Accord coupe (which can be had with a 240-horsepower V6 and a six-speed manual transmission some years), and the powerful Chevrolet Corvette. While Edmunds' choice of the Volvo C70 for best used convertible baffled us at first (not that it's a bad car), it redeemed itself by stating that the Mazda MX-5 still is an unofficial top choice if you don't require more than two seats.

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Launch Edition now available for pre-order

Want to be one of the first to buy the fantastic new 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata? Now's your chance. The pre-order books open at 12:00 PM Eastern for the very special Launch Edition, which is limited to just 1,000 units. All of the MX-5 Miata Launch Edition cars come painted in Soul Red with a Sport Tan leather interior, an exclusive combination for this special run. Buyers only need to choose between the six-speed manual transmission (the obvious choice), or a six-speed automatic. Pricing is set at $30,495 if you want the stick-shift, and $31,570 if you prefer the auto. So, want one? Of course you do. Head over to Mazda's pre-order site and place a $500 deposit toward the purchase of your car. Better act fast, though. When Mazda offered its 25th Anniversary MX-5 Miata via pre-order, all 100 of those cars sold out in just ten minutes.

Mazda's Tokyo concept foretells of rotary revival

Mazda has long been rumored to be planning a revival of its rotary-powered sports car. Some of those rumors may have come down to wishful thinking as much as concrete information. But now, on the eve of the Tokyo Motor Show, new details have come to light. The Japanese automaker is slated to unveil a two-door sports car concept, previewed in the teaser image above. Little in the way of firm information has been made available prior to the show car's debut, but sources are now citing senior company officials as confirming it has a rotary engine. "It is a two-door, two-seater, Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai told Autocar. "It is a pure sports car design. We have MX-5 and another icon is a rotary sports car. We haven't talked about market reach but this would be in that segment." R&D chief Kiyoshi Fujiwara added: "People think rotary can not meet modern eco demands. The SkyActiv engineers worked on rotary and gave it cutting-edge tech. It is an essential part of our DNA and it [will] just be passed onto future engineers. It is synonymous with the brand. Some time in the future it will return and be called SkyActiv-R." The last time Mazda produced a rotary-powered model, of course, was with the RX-8, which ended production in 2012. That was preceded by three generations of RX-7, the first of which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2018. If it manages to get the Wankel technology up to modern standards, that could provide just the right opportunity for Mazda to launch a new model. Reached for comment, Mazda spokesman Jacob Brown told Autoblog: "While we can confirm that Mazda continues to develop rotary engines, we cannot confirm production of a rotary at this point. Rotaries are one of the signature engineering technologies that define Mazda, and we will continue exploring them to see where they may fit for production applications." Related Video: