Top Car Brands of 2019; How We Choose Our Top Picks _ Talking Cars with Consumer Reports #191

**Subaru Takes the Top Spot: A Surprising Twist in Consumer Reports' Annual Auto Survey**

As we approach the annual time when consumer reports are released, it's always exciting to see which cars make the cut. This year, however, Subaru surprises us all by taking the top spot as the best brand overall. According to the latest data from Consumer Reports, Subaru has outperformed other well-known brands like Toyota, BMW, and Porsche.

**The Reason Behind Subaru's Success**

So, what sets Subaru apart from its competitors? For one, it's not just about style or image. It's about substance. When we analyzed the overall scores of all vehicles tested by Consumer Reports, it became clear that Subaru's commitment to reliability, safety features, and user-friendly design had paid off. The new Subaru Ascent, in particular, stood out for its exceptional ride comfort, making it a game-changer in the SUV market.

**The Best Cars: A Surprising Twist**

We asked ourselves, "Who makes the best cars by brand?" And the answer was not what we expected. Toyota, BMW, and Porsche were all close contenders, but Subaru took the top spot. This is especially surprising given that Subaru has traditionally been known for its modest and practical approach to car design. However, Consumer Reports' data showed that Subaru's functional and user-friendly cars are exactly what many people want.

**The Subaru Forester: A Consistent Performer**

One of the highlights of this year's survey was the redesigned Subaru Forester. This car has been a consistent performer in Consumer Reports' tests for years, and it's easy to see why. The new Forester is based on the same platform as the Impreza, another highly praised Subaru model. And when we put both cars side by side, it became clear that the Forester was indeed one of the best in its class.

**Subaru's Rise to the Top: A Trend that Will Continue**

As we look ahead to the future, it's clear that Subaru's success is not a one-time fluke. The brand will continue to evolve and innovate, incorporating new safety features and technologies into their lineup. While autonomous vehicles and vehicle automation may be on the horizon, Consumer Reports is focused on evaluating cars based on real-world data and user feedback.

**The Future of Auto Testing: A Focus on Data**

So, what can we expect from Consumer Reports in the future? The answer is that they will continue to push the boundaries of auto testing, incorporating new technologies and features into their evaluations. This means that consumers can trust that the cars they buy are not just safe but also reliable and user-friendly.

**Stay Tuned: The Full Details on This Year's Survey**

For those interested in learning more about this year's survey, including all the details and insights from Consumer Reports, be sure to check out their website at consumerreports.org. With a vast library of information on all things automotive, you won't want to miss this.

**The Verdict: Subaru Takes the Top Spot**

In conclusion, it's clear that Subaru has earned its place as the best brand overall in this year's Consumer Reports survey. While surprises are always welcome, Subaru's commitment to reliability, safety features, and user-friendly design made it a standout performer. As we look ahead to the future of auto testing, one thing is certain: Subaru will continue to be a brand to watch.

**Thanks for Watching!**

Finally, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for watching. We hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at Consumer Reports' annual auto survey. Don't forget to keep the questions coming and tune in next time for more automotive news and insights from Consumer Reports.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWe talk about our 2019 toppicks, updated reliabilitydata, and which brandsmake the best vehicles.Next on Talking Cars.Hi.And welcome to the show.I'm Jennifer Stockburger.I'm Gabe Shenhar.And I'm Jake Fisher.So this marks kind of a superexciting time of year for ushere in that we have annualmoments of, one, our top picks,top cars in a varietyof categories,as well as who makesthe best cars by brand.So before we get into some ofthe changes this year, Gabe,can you give the audiencekind of a rundownof what are the componentsof a car's overall score?Sure.There are four components thatgo into the overall score.One is the roadtest score, whichis a reflection ofwhat we do here.Then there is a survey datathat comes from our membersand that includes reliability,as well as owner satisfaction.And the fourth component issafety, which reflects a crashdata from the InsuranceInstitute of Highway Safety,as well as advancedsafety equipment in cars.And that overallscore is not static,so it's changing every year.Are there any changes to howwe're doing that this year?Right.Yeah.So it's a dynamic thing.It changes.And very often you'llsee a slight reshufflingin the ratings becauseof those changes,whether they are becauseof changing reliabilityor because of changingsafety equipment.So for instance, this year weadded pedestrian detection,so cars have to--cars get credit for havingautomatic emergency brakingwith pedestrian detection.And I was just looking--just to give some background.Pedestrian detection--some stats.And this is also from theInstitute for Highway Safety--that show that pedestriandeaths were up about 46%between 2009 and 2016.And it has a lot to dowith them being seen,be it the lighting ofthe roadways, headlights.Or in this case, the car beingable to see the pedestrianmaybe even better orfrom a driver that'snot paying attention or ininstances where they can't see.Yeah.So I mean, pedestriandeaths are definitely up.I mean, obviously we'realways making changesto the overall score toreflect the effectivenessof these new systems.And there is data thatshows that these systems areabsolutely effective.They do reduce fatalitiesof pedestrians.So we're looking to seethem on more vehicles.And it's important toknow, so like as we'regiving credit forthese systems, we'realso making sure that they'restandard on these vehicles.We initially see sometimesthey put these advanced safetysystems and it's onlyavailable on the top trim,if you get leather, if youget all the checkboxes.We're going to makesure that you go inand you're looking forcar X, you get car Xwith that safety equipment.Right.And we've done some--I mean, we've talkedabout on the showthis idea of commonnomenclature, making it sureso people can getthis equipment.Gabe, as the personwho's buying the cars,are you still findingautomatic emergency braking,pedestrian detection packaged,so it's difficult to get whenyou're spec'ing outwhat we're getting even?Yes.So we buy about 50 cars a year.And before we buycars I spec them outand it's been giving usquite a bit of headacheto know exactly whatequipment comes--you want automaticemergency braking,then sometimes you need toget this package, driverassistance.And sometimes that's not inthe driver assistance one.You have to get thedriver assistance too.And it's very convolutedand confusing, even for us.So imagine a regularcustomer wantingto buy a car gettinginto all that mess.And it's often not calledautomatic emergency breaking.It's not calledwarning.It's called some kindof crazy trade name or--Front assist or something.Right.Exactly.And what we found, not only, asyou said, it's confusing to us,it's absolutelyconfusing to consumers,it's confusing to the dealers.The dealers don't understand it.It's confusing tothe manufacturer.Sometimes you talk to themanufacturers, they're like,no, we have that.Well, wait, who did you talk to?Did you talk to Bill?I mean, it's unbelievable.We have these conversations.We have enough anecdotal datathat dealers are completelyconfused about thatand that they're notequipped to reallyeducate the customers.So again, two things, theeffectiveness and we'rehoping to guide youon what ones arereally important throughthe overall score.And on that note,there's an additionof the automaticemergency braking two--Jake-- for top picks.Yes.Which is kind of a changefor this year as well.Yes.So first of all, overall score--I mean, why overallscore is important?Because the things youtalked about, top picks,as well as whomakes the best cars,it's all based on overall score.Right.Right.When we look at thebest brands, it'sjust basically an average of theoverall scores in that brand.When we look at thetop picks, we'rechoosing in the categoriesthe top overall scorein 10 different categories.But yes, we did put adifferent bar, if you will,another miss-test whenwe're looking at--The fluidity comes back.On top picks two.And we've done this before.So, for instance, when stabilitycontrol starts coming out.It wasn't on every car.We said, well, to bea top pick you reallygot to have standardstability control.It's a huge deal.Eventually they made itstandard on all the vehiclesby law in 2012.But before we drew the bar.And now we're drawing a new bar.And about half thevehicles, half the modelsthat we cover actuallyhave automatic emergencybreaking, standard now.Oh, so it's not anunachievable bar.No.And actually among theones in our standard,the majority of those haveit as optional equipment.So we're now saying interms of this new barfor top picks is it needsto be standard equipmentfor some kind of AEB, somekind of automatic emergencybreaking.And if we didn'thave that, theremight have been the top picks.So it really is a message toall the automakers, basically.You want to be considered?You got to put that effectiveclass system on your car.You want to be a top pick?And top picks is a really bigdeal for us and for our membersas well.Top picks means, justgo ahead, buy that car,don't over-think it.And you're going to be happy.You can't go wrong here.No brainer.So yeah.Nowadays, you'renot going to wantto buy a car withoutautomatic emergency braking,so that's a very apt move.And look, we even have--I mean, we have a lotof very inexpensive carsthat are in our top picks.Right.I mean, the Toyota Yaris is--what?It starts like at$15,000 or $16,000.Again, standard AEB on this car.So it's not an onachievable car goal.It's not just-- it doesn't leaveus with a bunch of luxury cars.Right.Right.Which is good.Safety for everyonetype of concept.Right.Yeah.So that kind of capsthe safety changes,but there is also some updatesin terms of reliability.Jake, do you want to kindof summarize where that is?Sure.So another giant moment when itcomes to Consumer Reports' isour new reliability scores.And up until now it's beenan annual announcement.So in the fall we'll telleveryone the new reliabilityinformation.We're doing things a littlebit differently this year.And we're actually updating ourreliability results right now.And the reason we are ableto do that is because we've--days of yonder used to bekind of like the paper surveyand you fill out yourlittle blast or whatever.That's long gone.It's a fully digital survey.And we don't necessarilyhave to put itout one time out of year.So we've been doingsome experimentationand we've been actuallycollecting more dataafter the traditionalreliability time closes.So we're actually incorporatingthat new data, which actuallywe got from the summer of 2018.And then that now allows usto get a lot more 2018 models.In fact, we've actually doubledthis pool of 2018 models.So it's not insignificant,the addition.No.So a lot more new vehicles.And that allows us to havemuch better predictionson the new carsthat are coming outand the new carsthat are up for sale.So as a result, you'regoing to notice,all the reliability's changed.I mean, used carsgoing back to the year2000, the new carpredictions have changed.And because ofthat, some vehicleshave gained recommendation andsome have lost recommendationbased on more updatedinformation about reliability.So on that note, a questionI've heard other people ask you,and I just want-- in caseanybody is thinking the samething, what is the differencebetween the top pick thatGabe--and the recommended models?Yeah.Well, everything'sby a overall score.Right.First of all.The top pick isthe absolute bestin 10 different categories.That's something thatwe update once a year.When it comes torecommendations,they're just simplythe best overall scoresin a given category.So there may be severalrecommended models--Many cars versus one.Right.OK.So that most recent data, werethere any specific vehicles,brands where that most recentdata made a big change?Yeah.We saw-- there was about 10vehicles that kind of eitherwe are now recommending orhave lost recommendation.Probably the most notableone is the Tesla Model 3.So the Tesla Model3 was almost--it's almost a little bitof the perfect storm,because, as you know,with the Tesla Model 3,they really rampedup production.So we had data on it thatwe announced in the falland it was average.We actually had--we had, I thinkit was roughly 250vehicles that we had.And because they'veramped up productionand when we wentback into the summerwe got a lot more Tesla Model 3.So we have approximately500 vehicles now.And the models that we gotdata on in the summer--now, presumably these couldbe later production modelsor whatnot--they were more problematicthan the initial ones.We saw-- I mean,look, there was--throughout theentire Tesla lineupwe've seen issues within-car electronics.We're not seeing a lot ofproblems with the batteries.Not a lot of problems withthe drive motors, anythinglike that.But what we sawon the Tesla Model3's is a lot more trim problems,paint problems, glass problems,and actually we've seen someof these on our own car too.So on our own car, ourrear window, it had a--Crack.Yeah.We have a crack inthe rear window.And that was just--I'm not sure if it's astress crack fractureor something like that, butit wasn't hit or anything.Yeah.And we're seeing other peoplehave those problems too.And actually we've seen someweird cold weather stuffwith our car, right?I mean--Yeah.Door handles that don't open.Some problems with windows.And yeah, that--Yeah.I mean, I'm not sureif those necessarilyreflected the data set.But I mean, thosetypes of issuesmay not show up initially.So we're no longer recommendingthe Tesla Model 3 becauseof this falling reliability.Yeah.And it's not only about Model 3.I mean, there aresome other carsthat lost theirrecommendations and some othersthat gained recommendations.And just to reiterate, I mean,the Tesla Model 3, I mean,it's not based on our own car.I mean, that's data fromreal owners of Model 3'sthroughout the countryand Canada as well.And I think that's acommon misconception for usthat we answer a lot, is,that's not our data, that's notus kind of changing our mind.To your point, that'sreal owner datathat we're just summarizing.Yeah.Absolutely.I mean, this vehicleclearly it appearsthat those first vehiclesthat it sold maybeare a little differentfrom the later oneswhen they reallyramped up production.And so will we continue todo this kind of later update?So going forwardwe're not necessarilylooking to do twicea year update,but what we do recognize isthe additional data that we getin the summer isreally important,so expect to see thatsummer data incorporatedinto the fall.Maybe we'll move ourfall date slightlyto make sure that wecan incorporate that.Right.But super important data.So give me someof the highlightsof the reliability updates.For example, the Acura RDXlost its recommendationsbecause of decliningreliability.And it happens to be oneof the more popular modelsin that segmentamong our members.And a lot of it had to dowith the infotainment system,the screen that getscloudy and unresponsive.New issues.Yeah.And some issues.I mean, this is another reasonwhy the current informationis so important.So the RDX came out and it hasa brand new infotainment systemand it's got a true touchpadwhere it works a different way,but some of these systems--so this is 2019 model,so we're actuallymaking this recommendation--we have data on 2019 models.And it's not the only one.But according to Acura,they have made updatesand they've madechanges to that system.So they recognized theproblems that customers had.And they actually put itan over-the-air update.This is something thatoften we hear about Tesla.No. no.Others do this too.So Acura's put anover-the-air updatethat's supposed to fixsome of those bugs.But this is, again,a reason why wehave to be so currentwith this data,because if they'veupdated an information,we want to get thenew information assoon as possible to consumersto know if it's improved or not.So it can benefit them ifthey've made improvements.And updated reliabilitycan actually help them.And we'll see thatin the next surveywhether that worked or not.Yeah.The BMW X3 was onethat actually benefits.The newest data that we gotshowed that they actuallyrectified some ofthe problems that wehad reported in the fall.So now it's recommended.Now we're recommending that car.Yeah.So it can work both ways.Absolutely.And in your interactionswith the manufacturers,obviously it's got tobe of interest to them--and do you see it whenyou're talking to them?Is it reflectingwhat they believe?Or they're like,you guys are crazy?For the most part,they know this.So I mean, obviously theydeal with warranty claims.These are often new vehicles,especially when we'retalking about predictionsfor the new cars,but very often it's like, weknow that, but we fixed it.We think we fixed it.Right.So that's where--But we can't taketheir word for it.We have to see theevidence through a survey.Right.Yeah.Right.So again, to your point,you'll need the updatebefore you're changing scores.Right.And is it our plan to continueto evolve, either safety--to continue to raise the bar,change the bar in the future?It's going to keepon moving for sure.So I mean, goingforward really ithas to do with thesafety features thatare going to reallyshow when we get data.So, look, there's tonsof safety featuresand there's lots of safetythis and safety that,but until we actually seedata that is effective,we're not really going to beincorporating to the score.So another big componentof this time of yearis who makes thebest cars by brand.Highlights there?Well, I mean, let'sget right to it.Who makes the best--what is the best brand?I think a lot of peopleare going to be surprised.This year, when we lookedat the overall scores of allof the vehicles that we test,it wasn't Toyota, it wasn't BMW,it wasn't Porsche, itwas actually Subaru.Whoa.And look, I mean,let's be clear.We're not incorporatingprice into this.So I mean, this isvehicles at any price.And when you look at reliabilityand you look at the waythese cars drive and youlook at the way they handleand the versatility,I mean, theymake really good carsacross the board.I think it's probablyvery surprising for a lot.In fact, they have two ofthe top picks this year.They've got the new--Ascent.The new Subaru Ascent.And the redesigned Forester.And the Forester.And what's interestingabout those carsis those are actuallybased on a car platformand actually wasintroduced, what?The Impreza, the Subaru Imprezawas the first launch of that.And they're making theselarge, comfortable SUVsthat are very roomy thatdrive almost like a small car.I mean, the ride of theAscent is just amazing.The Ascent, I mean, theride comfort is so plush.It out-rides someactual luxury cars.Yeah.I mean, and that's going tobe a real surprise because--and we don't take intoaccount styling or image.And for a lot ofpeople, Subaru iskind of like a very modest,popular kind of car.And, really?The best score?Yeah.I mean, when youtake into accounthow functional these cars areand how user friendly they areand how nicely theydrive with easy to usecontrols and goodfuel economy, theyare non-nonsensekind of cars thatfit the lifestyle ofmany, many people.Who would imagine that aSubaru SUV rides betterthan a Lexus SUV?Right.But they do.It's true.They do.And we've said, probably theForester won't be a surprise.We've had that on--Although it's new.It's actually the newredesigned Forester.It's not the older one.And hit the ground running.They didn't mess it up.Right.Which we've seen too.Which we have seen.Will it continue to be the bestcar for my 80-year-old motherand my 19-year-old daughter?It will continue to be.We've touched obviously ona couple of the highlights.There's so much moreinformation behind thisin our auto spotlight onCR consumerreports.org.For those of you who likethe hard copy, all of thisis in our April autos issue onnewsstands or in your mailbox.We didn't answer anyquestions, but continue--especially if you havequestions on these topics--keep them coming attalkingcars@icloud.com.But I want to close withkind of a thought of,will we continue to evolveoverall scores and allof that in the future?Yes.The answer is yes.Thank you for watching.Absolutely.So I mean, look,the market changes.We will have tested more cars.We will have tested more cars.But more importantly,just the expectationscontinue to change.So there's moreequipment, there'smore safety features, andthings that may not even--nobody's even thinking about.Hasn't been invented right now.In five years might bea huge game changer.I mean, there's talk aboutautonomous vehicles and vehicleautomation.But for us, we don't get thatexcited about the marketing.What we're interestedin is data.We want to see ifthere's a feature that'sgoing on that is actuallymaking a difference that peoplelike or is making someone safer,then we will look over that.We'll incorporate it.So if you're looking for allthe details on these topics,it's all on consumerreports.org.Go check it out.As always, we thankyou for watching.Keep the questions coming.We'll see you next time.\n"