Buying Guides

  • Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014 award

    We're heading into the last two months of the year, which means it's time for our annual Best Car To Buy award. This is our award that picks one vehicle--or a line of vehicles--that we consider to be the greenest new vehicle(s) launched for the new model year. (That means they have to be all-new or substantially updated from 2013 models.) How do we winnow down the dozens of new and updated vehicles into our list of five finalists for the Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2014 award? To be eligible, vehicles must be available for purchase by April 2014. At least one High Gear Media...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, test drive in Hell, Michigan
    The New Diesel Cars For 2014

    With an increasing number of diesel passenger cars appearing in showrooms, car buyers have more options for fuel-efficient driving than they did only a few years ago. After a brief hiatus several years ago, when new and tougher emissions standards came into effect for diesel vehicles, the number...

  • 2013 Toyota Prius
    Toyota Prius Vs. Ford C-Max Hybrid: Pros And Cons

    For several years, Toyota had the hybrid market pretty much sewn up with its Prius. Okay, so it never reached the heady economy highs of the original Honda Insight, but it was far more practical and electric running made it the hybrid of choice in city driving. That's until the Ford C-Max Hybrid...

  • 2001 Toyota Prius Sedan
    Is The 2001-2003 Toyota Prius A Good Used Car Buy?

    It was small, unassuming, almost a shrinking violet, really. The first-generation Toyota Prius hybrid -- launched in the U.S. in 2001 -- was the first five-seat family car to offer hybrid-electric drive and unimaginably high gas mileage. Twelve years after its initial launch, the Prius family has...

  • 2012 Lexus RX 450h
    Hybrid Cars: Six Important Things Everyone Should Know (But May Not)

    Hybrid cars are increasing in popularity all the time in the U.S, but they still make only a small proportion of new vehicle sales, and as such some people still aren't clued-up on their benefits. Hybrids use two powertrains--in the U.S, that's generally a gasoline engine and electric motors...

  • 2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel, 2012 New York Auto Show
    Diesel Cars: Six Important Things Everyone Should Know (But May Not)

    It's an exciting time for diesel fans in the U.S, with automakers finally waking up to that section of the market that longs for great highway MPG and lots of torque. Most people already know the benefits of modern diesels, but there are a few general things that people may have missed. So in the...

  • Polar Charging Post and Nissan Leaf

    Sometime in the next few weeks, the 100,000th plug-in electric car will be sold in the U.S. But they're still mostly a mystery to the average new-car buyer, and there are a few key principles that get shared over and over again. Here they are, boiled down for easy consumption: eight things you need to know about electric cars. (1) Electric cars cost more to buy than gasoline cars of the same size. The least expensive plug-in electric car on the market, the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, costs twice as much as the entry-level gasoline ForTwo. A 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car starts at...

  • 2014 Cadillac ELR
    Buyer's Guide: 2014 Plug-In Hybrids From Toyota, Ford, Honda & More

    Not all plug-in electric cars rely on battery power alone; some also have gasoline engines as backups, for longer range or more power. Last year, we identified six plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale during 2013. This year, the list gains three new entries (from BMW, Cadillac, and Mitsubishi) and loses...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma EcoChic, New York City, Jan 2012
    Fisker Karma: Range Extended Electric Car Ultimate Guide

    Make a car desirable enough, and people will buy it whatever is powering the wheels. That's the theory anyway, but in a world of unease over the suitability of electric cars, the Henrik Fisker has taken the more comfortable, usable route to creating an electric car: The range-extended Fisker Karma...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid - production model
    2013 Electric Cars: Rated Range For Each Model, Ultimate Guide

    It's really the defining feature of any plug-in electric car: How much electric range does it have? The ever-helpful EPA, which has rated the gas mileage of all new cars, publishes its estimates of electric range for every plug-in car on the market. So here's our list of all 2013 plug-in cars, with...

  • 2013 Subaru Impreza
    Most Efficient AWD Cars: Beat The Snow, And The Gas Pump

    When a weather system dumps an uncommon amount of snow in your part of the world, thoughts often turn to how you might get about in it. Provided you've not got a seven-foot drift blocking you indoors, those plans might involve an all-wheel drive car. 4WD is no substitute for careful driving and a...

  • 2013 Toyota Prius liftback
    Best Gas Mileage You Can Get: Top 10 Hybrids

    Are you in the market for a hybrid car? You probably want great gas mileage, without switching to diesel fuel, or taking the next step into plug-in vehicles. The good news is, plug-ins aside, virtually all the most fuel-efficient cars on sale right now are hybrids. Whether you're after a spacious...

  • Daniel Craig as James Bond, Agent 007, in Skyfall, with Aston Martin DB5

    James Bond, Agent 007, has now been driving his Aston Martin DB5 sports cars since 1964. With the new film, Skyfall, opening tomorrow, we thought we'd propose some new motor cars for Commander Bond. He's ventured into many other vehicles, including airplanes, submarines, and newer Aston Martins, but his roadgoing cars have all burned gasoline. Now, with growing concern over global carbon emissions and a wave of newer, greener cars hitting the market, we thought 007 might want to branch out a bit. We'd be comfortable seeing Bond climb out of any of these five green cars. Whether it's in front...

  • 2013 Nissan Sentra SL  -  First Drive, October 2012
    2013 Nissan Sentra: Details, Reviews, Gas Mileage

    If you're in the market for a new Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla or Volkswagen Jetta, you're also in the market for the 2013 Nissan Sentra. While we haven't driven the 2013 Sentra on GreenCarReports yet, our sister site at TheCarConnection has reviewed the car in full--useful for any potential buyer...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    Hybrid Or Just High MPG? Which Car Is Right For You?

    As cars throughout the automotive spectrum get more efficient, it's an increasing dilemma for buyers looking to improve their gas mileage. Just what should I buy? One of those fancy hybrids, or a regular, fuel-efficient car? Different fuel efficient vehicles excel at different types of driving--and...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Sonic
    Five Turbocharged Green Cars You Need To Drive

    There was a time when a turbocharger under the hood meant one thing and one thing only: that the car you were driving was a performance-oriented, sporty beast with that oh-so-addictive turbo whine. Today, the turbocharger has become the biggest thing in green car technology since the hybrid...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar, New York City, Aug 2012
    Ultimate Guide To Gas-Sipping Minicars On Sale In The U.S.

    Which side are you on? Bigger is better? Or perhaps 'No replacement for displacement'? Or do you think more along the lines of 'small is beautiful' and 'good things come in small packages'? If it's the latter, then you may also be a fan of the smallest cars manufacturers have to offer. And if you...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    2013 Green Car Buyers Guide: Hybrids, Diesels, Plug-Ins

    It's autumn, which means that new 2013 cars are now showing up in dealerships all across the country. With gas prices high and new fuel-economy standards in effect, automakers are rolling out new green cars of every type. Here's our selective list of the important new green models you'll be able to...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid

    Hybrids have been popular gas-sipping choices for several years, but it's taken until this year for momentum to really gather behind plug-in hybrids. Using mostly familiar hybrid technology, but with larger batteries that can be charged separately as well as during driving, many consider plug-in hybrids the ideal middle step between hybrid vehicles and full battery electric cars. With some already on sale and others due in the next year, we've compiled a guide on all the plug-in hybrids--and range-extended electric vehicles--you need to know about. And happily for drivers in California, all...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    Making The Transition To A Hybrid Car? Here’s What To Expect

    Over the past decade, hybrid electric cars have gone from being niche market vehicles for movie stars and green thinkers to everyday vehicles that can save you big money on your gas bill. In fact, with more hybrid cars to choose from than ever before, there’s never a better time to make the...

  • 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI
    Fun Cars With Good Gas Mileage To Suit Every Budget

    It's not difficult to find cars with high gas mileage these days. Car manufacturers have made a stirling effort in recent years to push economy up, without sacrificing performance or equipment. So if you're in the market for a new green car, but want a little fun every time you drive it, what are...

  • 2013 Ford Escape
    2013 Ford Escape: Why You Need To Look Beyond Gas Mileage

    Ford’s all-new 2013 Escape compact crossover may have only been on sale for a few months, but it is already proving a strong seller at Ford dealerships across the U.S. On paper, there’s little difference between the gas mileage figures of the entry-level 2.5-liter, four-cylinder Ford...

  • Tesla Model S Alpha build
    2012 Tesla Model S: Electric Luxury Sedan Ultimate Guide

    Finally, after several years of teaser images, videos, clips, auto show appearances and more, there are finally production examples of the 2012 Tesla Model S driving around on the streets Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has been working tirelessly to put the Model S on the market, and CEO Elon Musk even...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid
    Where's The Cheapest Place To Buy A Toyota Prius In The U.S?

    Have you ever wondered whether you're paying over the odds for a car, compared to your neighbors in other states? We all know that prices differ abroad, but there can sometimes be hundreds of dollars between a car in one state, and the price people pay in another. We decided to investigate the...

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