2008 Subaru Tribeca Awd, One Owner, No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Ford, Toyota clean up in Best Car For The Money Awards

The U.S. News Best Cars for the Money Awards picks winners by looking at the average transaction price, five-year total cost of ownership, the regard a car has from the automotive press, reliability figures from J.D. Power and Associates and safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The result, according to the magazine, is "the best combination of critical acclaim and long-term value."
Ford nabbed six of the 21 categories that received awards this year, the Focus, Fusion, Fusion Hybrid, Taurus, Escape and Edge getting trophies. Toyota and its Lexus and Scion sub-brands took another five, the Tacoma and Tundra owning the two categories given to pickup trucks. The other ten awards were split between Honda with three, Buick with two, and one each for Subaru, BMW, Hyundai, Chevrolet and Mazda.
Follow the link to see all the winners and read about why they were chosen.

Next Subaru WRX and STI to go sedan only; reveal headed for LA

After a serious bit of teasing at the 2013 New York Auto Show, Subaru might be finally preparing to pull the sheets off of the production versions of the new WRX and STI. The venue, according to Automotive News, will be the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Besides that tasty bit of info, AN has a number of other interesting ideas about the 2015 WRX.
If you've been a fan of the five-door bodystyle, don't read this - the next WRX and STI will reportedly go four-door only. We've already seen the latter's whopping great wing, a tradition we're happy to see soldering on for next-gen car. According to the AN report, power figures to be around 265 horsepower from a 2.5-liter, turbocharged, flat-four engine.
Los Angeles is still quite far off, so expect to hear more rumblings about a production WRX or STI in the coming weeks. Take a look above for our most recent batch of spy photos, and then hop down below for some images of the stunning WRX Concept that was shown at New York.

Why I chose a Subaru WRX over a BRZ

It was early 2012, and I was ready to get a new car. Not just any car, but the car I had dreamed about for no less than a decade: the Subaru Impreza WRX. There was something about this car that always appealed to me, even before the WRX was sold stateside; originally it was the Impreza 2.5RS that caught my eye. What was so special about the WRX? Well, I loved the idea of having a small car with all-wheel drive and good power, all in a relatively affordable package. It was one car that could do it all. Oh, and that fresh rally blue paint and signature boxer rumble were easy on the eyes and ears. It was a long time coming. I was just about ready to place an order with my Subaru dealer. But wait. What's this? A new kid on the block. Subaru was releasing its long-time-coming, rear-wheel-drive sports car: the BRZ. I was enticed early on when it was announced that Toyota and Subaru would jointly develop a lightweight sports car, and my interest was piqued once I saw the beautiful FT-86 concept. Now I kind of had a tough choice. I still wanted the WRX, but also liked the idea of having a proper sports car with a low center of gravity and low weight. Very different cars, I know, but both offered the fun I craved. I didn't get to drive a BRZ, but I did sit in one and enjoyed the low seating position and crisp feel of the shifter. I could tell it was one car that would feel connected to the road, a true driver's car. After some deliberation and research, I ended up ordering the WRX, my original goal. Why? For one thing, the BRZ was so new that I couldn't get invoice pricing. Plus, with the winters here in Chicago, I really wanted AWD; I was pretty much tired of FWD, and didn't want to risk driving RWD in snowy/icy conditions. Further, the WRX provided usable back seats and plenty of cargo space in the hatchback version (which is the one I chose). To top it off, I loved the power I'd get with the WRX, even though it wouldn't handle quite like the low-slung BRZ. Long story short, it came down to what I mentioned earlier: one car that could do it all. The WRX is a jack of all trades. It offers a nice blend of performance and practicality. Do I have any regrets? Not at all. If my financial situation allowed for it, I would love to have an AWD daily driver and a RWD sports car for occasional use (either a BRZ, MX-5, or S2000), but since I could only afford one vehicle, the WRX was the right choice for me. I liked it so much, in fact, that I upgraded to a 2016 WRX.