Editors' / Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi everyone. Each year, the Edmunds.com editors gather to ponder that eternal question, "What cars or trucks would we most want to park in our garage?" For the 2004 model year our editors have once again scoured the entire automotive spectrum looking for their favorite vehicles. What they've came up with are the Edmunds.com Editors' Most Wanted cars and trucks for 2004. Click here to check out the vehicles that they have chosen: Editors' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2004. Please feel free to use the following discussion to give your opinion on Edmunds.com's choices and to list which vehicles you believe should have made the list and why. Thanks.

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prodigalsun

How much did reliability factor into the editors choices?

landru2

The Explorer as an Edmunds editors choice? Over the Pilot? *gasp*

The Focus at the top of the heap at Consumer Reports? Over the Civic? *double gasp* Along with a recommendation of the Escape and Explorer?
http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0311/04/c01-315932.htm

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi prodigalsun. I was not personally involved in the selection process so I unfortunately do not know any more about what factors were taken into account in these selections than what is stated in the article.

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prodigalsun

from reading it, sounds like the choices were made primarily on the fun/amenities factor, more so than reliability.

mirth

...seen a car-related site or mag (apart from CR) select a car based even in part on the reliability. That sort of thing factors into their long-term reviews, but I've never seen it in any of their comparos.

prodigalsun

For comparos, I agree. I guess I saw this as kind of a recommendation to buy list, which it probably isn't. when recommending to purchase, I'd hope that was a consideration.

mirth

...did they recommend the Passat over the Accord? I agree it should be a factor for recommendations though.

landru2

they like it better than an Accord.

Or maybe they're just crazy.

prodigalsun

I love those guys!

dbgindy

They came around on the KIA Sorento. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I've got over 10k miles on mine with zero problems ( knock on fake wood:-).

Duncan

mirth

...I like the Passat better than the Accord, too. ;-)

prodigalsun

Added bonus of buying a passat: you get to become close personal friends with Dieter and all the other mechanics at your local VW dealership, as the car will need a lot of work.

thel

to see so few Hondas. No CR-V, no Odyssey? I think it is difficult for publications like Edmunds to recommend vehicles due to reliablity b/c they don't have a crystal ball to see how the car will do 4-5 years down the road. All the can report on is what the car is like here and now. Unfortunately, it's up to consumers to try to guess how reliable their new ride will be.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi everyone. I wasn't sure exactly which discussion to put this link in, but this one seems somewhat appropriate. Edmunds.com recently published a list of the most researched vehicles on this site. I thought that some of you might find it interesting. Here is a link to the piece: Edmunds.com's Most Researched Vehicles. Enjoy and please feel free to post your thoughts on the article in this discussion. Thanks.

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thel

to me is that there are no surprises on that list.

stickguy

maybe not a surprise, but somewhat depressing (depending on your perspective), but there was not one domestic car on the list (all the domestics were trucks or SUVs). Every passenger car was a foreign nameplate.

perna

People don't buy domestic cars because they're excited about them. They buy them because they're cheap.

I have a feeling that will change here pretty quickly, though. Domestic mfgs have finally started sinking money into their cars again, after focusing on trucks for the last 15 years.

qbrozen

i posted this somewhere else a little while back and got no answer. so maybe someone here can set me straight. Why does Edmunds say the Titan is "the first full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese company"?

What is the Tundra? They are both listed as "full size" by Edmunds. Yeah, the Nissan is a little less than 7 inches longer and a little less than 6 inches higher, but the tundra is a bit wider and is not far behind at all in terms of Gross Weight. So what is all the hoopla surrounding Nissan's entry?

thel

Many truck people seem to think that the Tundra isn't a REAL full-size pick up b/c it is smaller than the domestics.

qbrozen

Oh, I have no doubt. But we aren't talking about how truck people "feel" here. We're talking about Edmunds and we're talking about strict numbers.

If Edmunds wants to change their classification of the Tundra to mid-size, then they should do so. At least then it would jive with what they are writing. I just get aggravated when everyone gets so jazzed about the newest thing and forget all about those that preceded it. I'm still waiting for the article that calls the Prius the pioneer of the Hybrids even though its just one step in the evolution.

rroyce10

......... The Tundra is a great truck and maybe the Titan will be better, who knows.? .. but until there is 100/150,000 of them running around the roads with refrigerators or 5000lbs of roof tiles in the back, pulling 22ft boats on the highways, the marina ramps and a couple of yankee winters, it's going to be hard to tell what they will do ..

            Personally I like the Tundra's, always have, but most of the "truck folks" want the room and the added size of a "full size" ...

                      Terry.

CarMan@Edmunds

Well, it's that time of the year again everyone. Make sure to get your votes in for the Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2004. The following is a link to the voting section of this site: Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2004. Vote early, vote often, and please feel free to talk about who you voted for and why in this discussion. Thanks.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Those of you who voted in this year's edition of Edmunds.com's Consumer's Most Wanted vehicles will be happy to know that the results are in. You may use the following link to check them out: Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2004. Please feel free to use this discussion to post your thoughts on the results.

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qbrozen

is it time to resurrect this for the '06 vote?

i did want to add a comment/question...
does anyone else find it REALLY tricky to answer in some of the categories? The reason I found this problem is because a particular vehicle... let's use BMW as an example ... would show up in a particular price category, but its options range could easily push it out of that category. So, whereas I might vote for a 5-series, I found I couldn't, in good conscience, vote for it in the under-$35k category because the 5-series I would consider to be top of this category actually wouldn't come in at under $35k. You know what I mean? And this is just one example. There were many other similar conundrums.

mopowah

Is anyone else having issues getting the survey to work?

british_rover

Could someone post a link to it I did not see it right off the bat.

qbrozen

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/surveys/cmw/2006/index.html

Kirstie_H

If it's not working, use the "help" link at the left-hand side of this page (under "Forums Tools") to report the problem. That'll get it directly to the desk of the right person - you can also post in the "our software" discussion in the Forums.