Buying a car, to me it was one of the most stressful experiences there is navigating what type you want and how much you're going to pay for it. It's a big purchase and you don't want to make a mistake, right? That's where Consumer Reports comes in and it's annual list can be a really big help. So today an expert answering all your car questions including some of the best deals of the market. We've got Mike Quincy here, Consumer Reports. So we're going to dig into all the Consumer Reports top picks this year and you guys had a whole lot of course.
Now we want you to be able to answer your have your answer your questions answered as well. Let me get that out. Hey, here's the text number for that, 336-379-5775. You can ask about new cars, old cars, anything about cars. Mike Quincy has you covered on that. Alright, so let's talk about your topics for Consumer Reports. You guys test a whole lot of cars. What exactly does Consumer Reports select its top picks of the year? So when a car is kind of crowned a Consumer Reports top pick, it is the best of the best.
It's the top of the class. It's the valedictorian that's walking down the aisle with the cap and gown and everyone's looking at it that these are cars that performed really well in Consumer Reports tests. They've got aces for for owner satisfaction and predicted reliability and they've done well in crash tests and they've standard automatic emergency braking within forward collision warning. So. So really there's the criteria is high for for a model to get that, but these these definitely are the best.
Out there, alright. And so when we took a look at the topics, the average price of a new car over $45,000, do you really need to spend that much to get a great car that's new? Really not. And yes, that $45,000 number is daunting for for most people. It it seems amazing to me that that the average price of a car has gone up that high. So let's start out with something more affordable. Less than $35,000 is the Toyota Camry Hybrid. We love this car. It is comfortable, it has great convenience features. It's easy to live with top notch reliability and get this 47 miles per gallon overall and Consumer Reports testing. Not as flashy as a Tesla, but I gotta tell you the Camry. Hybrid is super, super easy to recommend. Wow. OK, and under that price point of $35,000 and 47 miles to the gallon, OK, lots of people seem to be opting for like a pickup truck or an SUV. Are there some good options that really won't break the bank that consumer Consumer Reports found that tested really high? In fact, one of the most surprising models and Consumer Reports top picks this year is the Ford Maverick Hybrid.
You gotta tip your hat to Ford. They didn't give up on small pickup trucks, they used small pickup trucks. Used to be a real big thing in the 70s. Not everyone needs an enormous Ford F-150. So check out the Ford Maverick hybrid. 37 miles per gallon overall and Consumer Reports tests starts around $22,000. This car is is comfortable, it can hold 4 adults and you have that bed in the back. So so you know homeowners. Can absolutely use this truck to to to do their kind of weekly duties, alright. And now there seems to be a whole lot of hybrids on the list this year. I mean there were years past there was like 2 hybrids on the list. Why do so many merits such strong consideration? Well, five of our top picks are hybrids this year which which is awesome.
The hybrids are incredible because according to Consumer Reports reliability data, they're really holding up well and these are complex machines that these are cars that jump between gasoline engine power battery. Propulsion under low throttle and and and so there's a lot going on. But again there are proving to be very reliable. Not everyone needs an electric car. Hybrids really fit the bill for most because the fuel economy and the reliability are turning out to be you know just absolute game changers.
OK. So hybrid is. Hi I'm Melissa. Now if you're one of those people who are like I don't want hybrid. I want to go all electric for sure. Consumer Reports of course did the homework on that too. What's on the list there? Well that is what people want to talk about these days. Electric cars keep in mind. Electric cars are still about only about 5% of the market. So it is that it has a a huge buyer you know buying public in there but everyone wants to talk about it. So in instead of you know breaking the bank and going for a really high expensive electric vehicle, check out the Nissan Leaf. This will give you between 149 and 212 miles miles of driving range depending on the model that you that you choose it's under $30,000. Nissan's been working on the Leaf for a long time, so it's not like they're they're you know Johnny come lately. But of course everyone wants to talk about Tesla. The Model 3 is Consumer Reports top pick for for for a more expensive electric car. You can get up to 358 miles of cruising range in this in the Model 3 which is outstanding.
If if you're thinking about electric car you're kind of on the fence and you need some kind of some distance driving. I would definitely check out the Model 3 and and and the the really the ace in the in the in the in the hand for for Tesla is is their supercharging charging network. It's second to none among all of the other charging networks out there. That they've really got had a jumpstart on this and and that's one of the reasons that we like the Tesla Model 3 so much. Yeah, I noticed it at my local sheets the other day. I was like ohh, there's a Tesla charging station right there. Mm-hmm. Alright, alright, we're going to take a quick break. We're taking your car related questions when we come back, if you've got a question, 336-379-5775..