Honda models continue to dominate Kelley Blue Book’s Best Buy Awards.
The Honda Accord received the 2018 Overall Best Buy Award, KBB recently announced. The Accord takes over for the Honda Civic, which received that award in 2017 and 2016.
The Civic is not without distinction this year, however. It received the Small Car Best Buy Award — for the fourth year running.
KBB’s Best Buy Awards include 12 awards for specific car categories — like the small car category, for example — as well as the Overall Best Buy Award. This year, half of those category awards went to Honda models.
The 2018 Best Buy categories, and award-winning vehicles in each category, are:
- Small car: Honda Civic
- Mid-size car: Honda Accord (So, the Accord earned the Mid-Size Car Best Buy award in addition to the Overall Best Buy award)
- Full-size car: Chevrolet Impala
- Luxury car: Audi A5 Sportback
- Performance car: Porsche 718 Boxster
- Electric/hybrid car: Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid
- Small SUV/crossover: Honda CR-V
- Mid-size SUV/crossover: Honda Pilot
- Full-size SUV/crossover: Ford Expedition
- Luxury SUV/crossover: Audi Q5
- Truck: Ford F-150
- Minivan: Honda Odyssey
These are all 2018 model-year vehicles. KBB’s Best Buy Awards are for new vehicles, with the automotive research firm evaluating hundreds of new vehicles before naming winners each year. The process involves driving cars and accounting for financial factors such as resale value and the cost to own a vehicle over five years.
Should you buy a new car?
To be clear, we here at Money Talks News generally discourage buying brand-new cars due to their steep depreciation. See “10 Things You Really Shouldn’t Buy New.”
That depreciation is exactly why Kelley Blue Book examines factors like resale value for its Best Buy Awards. The company explains:
“Depreciation is almost always the biggest expense in new-car ownership, and without taking it into account it’s almost impossible to know which of two similarly priced cars will cost you more in the long run. If you want to get the most car for your money, you have to consider all your costs.”
While the Best Buy Awards recognize only new vehicles, the rankings can be helpful for used-car shoppers to note the patterns among winners — such as Honda’s persisting dominance.
The Accord is one of a few Honda models that is commonly recognized. This year alone, Accords from certain model years have been deemed among the:
- Best used vehicles for $15,000 to $20,000 by Consumer Reports
- Vehicles most likely to last for 200,000 miles by iSeeCars.com
- “Most Wanted” award winners by Edmunds
If you’re in the market for a new car, check out these guides and tools:
- Edmunds’ “Price Promise” tool
- “11 Essential Tips for Buying the Right Car at the Right Price“
- “It’s a Great Time to Buy a Used Car — Just Take These 5 Steps First“
So, what’s your take on the 2018 Best Buy Award winners? Share your thoughts below or on our Facebook page.
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