Originally restricted to vehicles with two or more people to help cut congestion, the “high occupancy” lanes are now open to single driver by owners of advanced, low-emission vehicles – an interpretation that seems at the whim of regulators and politicians.
For the second straight year, virtually all owners of the Chevrolet Volt hybrid said they would buy one again. Fully 92% of respondents who own GM’s Volt – much decried by anti-government extremists – said they would definitely buy it again. This earned GM’s $40,000 four-seat car the distinction of being the top-rated model in the latest Consumer Reports Owner Satisfaction Survey.
In addition to the Volt, other fuel-efficient models that scored among the best were the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Prius, Prius C, and the Nissan Leaf – many of them subject to federal or state taxpayer subsidies and other favorable, and controversial, treatment such as access to car pool lanes with only a driver on board.
The Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 911, the V8 Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang topped the sporty car category while the Audi A7, Lexus GS and Audi A6 were the leading luxury cars. On the other end of the happiness spectrum, the redesigned subcompact Nissan Versa Sedan had the lowest score, with fewer than half of its owners saying they would definitely buy it again. Other low scorers include the V6 versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, and the Nissan Armada, Suzuki SX4, and Mitsubishi Outlander SUVs.
Of the 44 top-rated models, 16 were branded from Detroit automakers, 14 Asian and 14 were European vehicles, no matter where they were built.
Scores are based on the percentage of respondents who answered “definitely yes” to the question: “Considering all factors (price, performance, reliability, comfort, enjoyment, etc.), would you get this car if you had it to do all over again?”
Consumer Reports received responses on almost 350,000 vehicles and more than 240 models, spanning the 2010 through 2013 model years. The survey is based on the results from Consumer Reports Annual Auto Survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.
The full report is available at CR’s web site and in the January issue of Consumer Reports. (See also Japanese Top CR Reliability Survey Again. Ford and Lincoln Plummet)
