2015 Best Cars for the Money (US News)
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
2015 Best Cars for the Money (US News)
Upscale Midsize Cars
1. Acura TLX
(Finalists: Hyundai Genesis, Lexus ES Hybrid)
Luxury Compact SUVs
1. Acura RDX
(Finalists: Infiniti QX50, Lincoln MKC)
Luxury 3-Row SUVs
1. Acura MDX
(Finalists: Infiniti QX60, Lexus GX)
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The U.S. News 2015 Best Cars for the Money awards help take the guesswork out of car shopping by highlighting the cars, trucks and SUVs with the best combination of positive reviews and long-term ownership costs in 21 different automotive classes.
To find the award winners, we combined the average price paid from TrueCar, Inc. and five-year total cost of ownership data from Vincentric, LLC with the U.S. News Best Cars rankings data. The U.S. News rankings are based on the opinion of the automotive press about a car's performance, interior features and interior comfort, along with reliability and safety ratings.
Best Cars for the Money Awards 2015 | U.S. News Best Cars
1. Acura TLX
(Finalists: Hyundai Genesis, Lexus ES Hybrid)
Luxury Compact SUVs
1. Acura RDX
(Finalists: Infiniti QX50, Lincoln MKC)
Luxury 3-Row SUVs
1. Acura MDX
(Finalists: Infiniti QX60, Lexus GX)
---------------------------------------------------
The U.S. News 2015 Best Cars for the Money awards help take the guesswork out of car shopping by highlighting the cars, trucks and SUVs with the best combination of positive reviews and long-term ownership costs in 21 different automotive classes.
To find the award winners, we combined the average price paid from TrueCar, Inc. and five-year total cost of ownership data from Vincentric, LLC with the U.S. News Best Cars rankings data. The U.S. News rankings are based on the opinion of the automotive press about a car's performance, interior features and interior comfort, along with reliability and safety ratings.
Best Cars for the Money Awards 2015 | U.S. News Best Cars
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#3
US New always love Acura
#4
Racer
#5
The key and operative word here is "opinion". Whose opinion, since there is no long term ownership data on cost to operate, depreciation or reliability. Another marketing agreement between a manufacturer and a publication is a safe bet whenever one manufacturer takes first in multiple classes from a non-automotive news source before hard data from owners gets published by reliable sources. It is what it is.
#6
Moderator
The key and operative word here is "opinion". Whose opinion, since there is no long term ownership data on cost to operate, depreciation or reliability. Another marketing agreement between a manufacturer and a publication is a safe bet whenever one manufacturer takes first in multiple classes from a non-automotive news source before hard data from owners gets published by reliable sources. It is what it is.
![Smile](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
#7
Senior Moderator
Its US News & World Report, not torquenews, or some other car rag.
They don't just get a car, review it themselves, and then publish their findings, but base their results on a consensus of other reviews, publications, etc, plus add in a little of there own "secret sauce" to come up with a final score.
I work for a large Hospital System, and its amazing to see what organizations will go through to get a good rating from them. Part of what they look for is out in the open, and part is hidden. There are many consultant groups out there just in healthcare trying to figure out that "secret sauce" if you will, to help organizations boost their rankings.
They don't just get a car, review it themselves, and then publish their findings, but base their results on a consensus of other reviews, publications, etc, plus add in a little of there own "secret sauce" to come up with a final score.
I work for a large Hospital System, and its amazing to see what organizations will go through to get a good rating from them. Part of what they look for is out in the open, and part is hidden. There are many consultant groups out there just in healthcare trying to figure out that "secret sauce" if you will, to help organizations boost their rankings.
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#8
Summer is Coming
'Best Car for the Money' is really Acura's entire marketing strategy/approach. This ranking seemed meant for them. The day they do poorly on this ranking is a sure sign they are in trouble. Value is what brings most of us to the brand. If you can afford an MDX, TLX Adavnce, etc, you can afford a higher priced brand-conscious car like a BMW or Audi, but you choose the Acura for its value. I could afford a BMW or Audi (although I've only owned a BMW), but there is something about the way I was brought up that I find the value of the Acura every bit as important as how the car drives and I'll trade one for the other. Other's would rather not make that trade and more power to them. That is why they make so many different cars. Go for what you value. I value value.
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#9
Cool news, congrats to Honda/Acura for the multiple recognitions.
It is challenging, from Acura's perspective, to aim high at a luxury market while maintaining a best-bang-for-your-buck as a key value. Combining an upscale/premium message with a value-savings message is very difficult to put two and two together which probably explains why I am reading about Acura getting so much crap online from auto enthusiasts and commenters.
However, there will always be a portion of the market that wants a car that's a notch above the cookie-cutter / common / generic sedans while reasonably providing good value. The sales figures appear to reflect that. Here's to hoping that Acura can continue to refine their image and what they stand for so that the naysayers who don't understand what Acura's about can be silenced.
It is challenging, from Acura's perspective, to aim high at a luxury market while maintaining a best-bang-for-your-buck as a key value. Combining an upscale/premium message with a value-savings message is very difficult to put two and two together which probably explains why I am reading about Acura getting so much crap online from auto enthusiasts and commenters.
However, there will always be a portion of the market that wants a car that's a notch above the cookie-cutter / common / generic sedans while reasonably providing good value. The sales figures appear to reflect that. Here's to hoping that Acura can continue to refine their image and what they stand for so that the naysayers who don't understand what Acura's about can be silenced.
#10
Burning Brakes
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#11
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Amazing!
Acura had a decent year (2014). I hope with the new RDX and ILX they continue the success!
Acura got the nice line up: TLX, RDX and MDX, with these three cars they can easily sell 150K units plus 15K an plus units ILX. they will in top 5.
Good luck Acura!
Acura had a decent year (2014). I hope with the new RDX and ILX they continue the success!
Acura got the nice line up: TLX, RDX and MDX, with these three cars they can easily sell 150K units plus 15K an plus units ILX. they will in top 5.
Good luck Acura!
#12
Drifting
I think the updated ILX and the RDX are poised to do very well and will only help the TLX even more.
#13
Old Man Yelling at Clouds
1. Currently own
2. Currently own
3. Recently owned
Check, check and check.![Smile](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
We've been very happy with all our Acuras. Throw in my old TSX, and we've owned four of them.
2. Currently own
3. Recently owned
Check, check and check.
![Smile](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
We've been very happy with all our Acuras. Throw in my old TSX, and we've owned four of them.
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#14
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It's nice to see this good news.
#15
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I agree that is hard to prove anything, but reality is that Acura makes cars that provide great value to consumers. They are not necessary winning the harts of German loving, performance first driven crowd, but they are rather focused on the value seeking consumers. Having said that, I believe that MDX in particlular is one of the best driving SUVs out there. I have never heard bad feedback on that vehicle. Just ask previous owners. Going back to your comment, all manufacturing companies are spending marketing dollars to make their products appealing to a rating companies, however you need to win the consumers too and Honda does it well with overall value (balance between the performance, quality and price) focused consumers across all segments of the products they make. So to me, there is no surprise here.
#16
Old Man Yelling at Clouds
^ Our 2012 RDX is surprisingly fun to drive.
To me, Acura has always provided just enough performance combined with overall value to make the overall ownership experience outstanding - from what the car does to owning and maintaining it.
I drove an A4 and 328. Amazing cars in their own right, but the real turn off was required maintenance every 10K miles. For me, I don't need the hassle of a $500 service every 10K that requires fluids obtained from the tears of Bavarian Elves.![Smile](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
My 06 TSX is north of 112K miles and I've done nothing to it but scheduled maintenance. That's what I want out of my car.
To me, Acura has always provided just enough performance combined with overall value to make the overall ownership experience outstanding - from what the car does to owning and maintaining it.
I drove an A4 and 328. Amazing cars in their own right, but the real turn off was required maintenance every 10K miles. For me, I don't need the hassle of a $500 service every 10K that requires fluids obtained from the tears of Bavarian Elves.
![Smile](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
My 06 TSX is north of 112K miles and I've done nothing to it but scheduled maintenance. That's what I want out of my car.
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