DETROIT – With over 260 new vehicles on the market and prices continuing to rise, finding a safe, reliable, and budget-friendly car is challenging. If you’re shopping for a new ride, Consumer Reports has you covered with its highly anticipated annual list of the best cars, trucks, and SUVs for 2025, helping you make the smartest choice before you buy.
Every day, Consumer Reports tests new vehicles at its state-of-the-art facility, evaluating everything from safety and performance to fuel efficiency and cargo space. In addition to hands-on testing, CR’s member surveys, which include reliability and owner satisfaction data from over 300,000 vehicles, give car buyers the information they need to make the best choice.
So here are CR’s top picks for 2025.
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid is CR’s choice for the best midsized SUV. The Highlander Hybrid is a great choice for a family road trip, with three rows of seating, 35 miles per gallon overall in Consumer Reports’ testing, and a near 600-mile cruising range.
The Subaru Forester is CR’s pick for the best compact SUV. Its redesigned cabin is quiet and comfortable, and it gains some cargo space. The Forester is also efficient, averaging 29 miles per gallon in Consumer Reports tests.
Toyota’s RAV4 plug-in hybrid, formerly the RAV4 Prime, is CR’s pick for a fuel-efficient compact SUV. It offers solid performance and an excellent plug-in hybrid system with forty-two miles of electric range.
But a car doesn’t have to be expensive to be a top pick. Take the Nissan Sentra, which starts at just over $20,000. If there’s a sleeper car within Consumer Reports’ Top Picks, it has to be the Sentra. It has great handling, a comfortable ride, intuitive controls, and tons of standard advanced safety features, making it an exceptional value.
The redesigned Toyota Camry is only available as a hybrid. The top pick for sedans is fun to drive, reliable, and fuel-efficient.
If you’re outdoorsy, the Subaru Crosstrek is your best bet for urban touring and outdoor excursions with a high ground clearance, comfortable ride over rough terrain, and standard all-wheel drive.
Ford makes the list with Maverick and Maverick Hybrid pickup trucks. It’s not as big as other pickups today, but the Maverick Hybrid delivers a stunning thirty-seven miles per gallon.
And for something more upscale, the BMW X5 and X5 plug-in hybrid and the Lexus NX Hybrid are CR’s top picks for drivers looking for a more luxurious ride.
For those wanting to go fully electric, the Tesla Model Y is CR’s pick for the electric vehicle.
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