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Mazda and Lexus crowned with KBB 5-Year Cost To Own awards

We report on a lot of awards, some of which are given out based on more solid criteria than others. This one, the Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost to Own awards, seems like one that new car shoppers should pay attention to.
The cost of a car goes far beyond what you pay for the actual metal, leather and rubber at the point of purchase. Fuel, insurance, maintenance and repair costs, and the cost of fees from the state and financing will all weigh on your wallet while you own the car. That's not even taking into account the biggest cost: depreciation, or the amount of money you lose based on what your car is worth years from now versus the day you bought it.
KBB tracks these sorts of things, and they've compiled a list of winners for 2013 models. On the brand level, Mazda and Lexus earn the 5-Year Cost to Own award for having the lowest overall projected five-year totals (though, curiously, we note that Mazda and Lexus each had only one segment winner). There are lots of winners for all the various segments, so we'll just pick out a few surprising ones to share and you can view the rest here.

Mazda3 sales off to rocky start despite massive critical acclaim

Like just about every other auto publication we've seen, we loved the way the Mazda3 drove when we reviewed it a few months ago, but those glowing reviews apparently aren't helping its sales. The new compact may be falling victim to a sales war between the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, with the newcomer getting squeezed out by those with more established names and bigger marketing budgets.
According to Automotive News, Mazda3 sales have fallen every month since last August, and its sales are down 27 percent in the first two months of 2014. It certainly isn't helping that the entire compact segment is down five percent this year as well.
The biggest problem for the new model seems to be its price compared to rivals. Mazda is not offering the incentives that are on the hood of competitors. With the previous generation, the company offered more than $2,700 on the hood to move them out, but the current model only carries about $1,233 in markdowns, according to AN.

These are the cars most likely to be damaged in an accident

Data from Insurify shows which models have the most accident-prone drivers behind the wheel. It also shows the proportion of the drivers of said vehicles with an at-fault accident on record in the past seven years, based on Insurify’s analysis of over 4 million car insurance applications. For reference, the national average is 10.78%, and each of these vehiclesÂ’ drivers represent a statistically significant increase over that. Now, it would be easy to infer that these cars are dangerous, but such is not necessarily the case. Remember, drivers cause accidents, not cars. These just happen to be the cars that accident-prone drivers drive. YouÂ’ll notice that many are mainstream, affordable cars, often with decent crash ratings. Also keep in mind that vehicle accidents are up since the beginning of the pandemic, so no matter what you drive, please drive safely. 10. Hyundai Ioniq This affordable, electrified vehicle platform sneaks into this list with 14.45% of drivers with a recent at-fault accident on record. 9. Lexus CT Another hybrid, this Prius-powered Lexus beats the national average at 14.57%. 8. Toyota Prius V Yet another hybrid, the larger but discontinued member of the Prius family sees 14.72% of its drivers with recent accidents. 7. Mazda CX-3 The Mazda CX-3, which is discontinued for the 2022 model year, sees the accident-prone making up 14.9% of its drivers. 6. Infiniti Q60 The second and final luxury car on this list has more accident-prone drivers than average, at 14.93%. 5. Subaru Impreza The first of two Subarus on this list has 15.1% of drivers with recent accidents on record. 4. Hyundai Genesis Coupe The Genesis Coupe was only on the market for a brief span before it was discontinued and Genesis spun off into its own luxury brand. That said, it too beats the national average for accidents, at 15.29%. 3. Subaru WRX Despite its standard all-wheel drive, the boy-racer WRX has 15.44% of drivers with a prior accident in the last seven years. 2. Kia Stinger We love the Kia Stinger, and had great luck with our long-termer that graced the Autoblog garage for a year. That said, 15.75% of its drivers represent have a recent accident on record. 1. Scion FR-S This fun two-seater attracts the most accident prone drivers, with 15.87% with recent at-fault crashes. Related video: