Toyota Prius Best, Nissan Armada Worst in Consumer Reports' Cost Per Mile Rankings

by TTAC Staff

Updated: February 18th, 2014 Published: December 20th, 2013

toyota prius best nissan armada worst in consumer reports cost per mile rankings

The Toyota Prius was ranked at the top of Consumer Reports’ Best New Car Value scoring for the second year in a row. CR’s analysis ranked over 200 vehicles on performance, reliability and costs and determined that over five years the Prius will cost 47 cents per mile to own and operate. Lower depreciation and operating costs for the Prius offset paying a premium for the hybrid.

“The Prius’ 44 mpg overall is the best fuel economy of any non-plug-in car that Consumer Reports has tested,” Rik Paul, the magazine’s automotive editor, said in a statement. “Though it’s not particularly cheap to buy, the Prius’ depreciation is so low that it costs less to own over the first five years than its initial MSRP. We call that a bargain.”

At the other end of the cost of ownership spectrum is the Nissan Armada, which costs consumers $1.20 per mile.

Factors going into the rankings are Consumer Reports’ own road tests, reliability predicted from the magazines’ reader generated data, plus a score calculated from depreciation, fuel, insurance premiums, maintenance, sales tax and repairs costs over five years. Ten car categories were ranked, with the Prius coming out as the overall winner.

Compact /Subcompact CarsBest, Toyota Prius Four; Worst, Volkswagen Beetle 2.5L

Midsized Cars

Best, Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium; Worst, Nissan Altima 3.5 SL

Large Cars

Best, Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited; Worst, Ford Taurus Limited

Luxury Cars

Best, Lexus ES 300h; Worst, BMW 750Li

Sports Cars/Convertibles

Best: Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring; Worst, Chevrolet Camaro convertible 2SS (V8)

Wagons/Minivans

Best, Mazda5 Grand Touring; Worst, Chrysler Town & Country Touring-L

Small SUVs

Best, Subaru Frester 2.5i Premium; Worst, Ford Escape SE (1.6T)

Midsized SUVs

Best, Nissan Murano SL; Worst, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

Luxury/Large SUVs

Best, BMW X1 xDrive28i; Worst, Nissan Armada Platinum

Pickups

Best, Honda Ridgeline RTS; Worst, Ford F-250 Lariat (6.7L V8)

#ConsumerReports #CostOfOwnership #Depreciation

TTAC Staff

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4 of 81 comments

Jacob_coulter on Dec 20, 2013

Will there ever be a domestic vehicle from the Big 3 in the "best" category for reliability? And it's no surprise that most of the "worst" categories are filled with offerings from the Big 3. I think the gap has narrowed, but would it kill the Big 3 to actually make a more reliable car than the competition? Or have they just figured consumers don't care about the gap enough to base their purchase decision on? I know, I know, all of these poor rankings are the result Consumer Reports being owned by the Japanese and the fact that people are too stupid to figure out Ford's MyTouch.

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- Dave M. on Dec 21, 2013
  
  I'd venture and say the 1986 Chevy Nova, Geo Prism and Pontiac Vibe. Surely GM learned tons from the NUMMI venture, like how to make high quality reliable cars that hold their value. Meanwhile surely Toyota learned how to make high quality reliable a/c systems and power window switches.
  
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- Golden2husky on Dec 21, 2013
  
  Yeah, the Camaro convertible SS is a "worst" car by CR. If that is really the case, we have reached the point where the worst car is amazingly awesome. I guess the "best" models fill themselves with free fuel overnight.
  
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Salguod on Dec 20, 2013

A Prius is 47 cents per mile? That seems rather high, frankly. The 2010 Outlook that I owned for a bit over 3 years cost me $0.412 per mile to own. That includes everything but insurance and registration. Given the enormous difference in fuel economy and the fact that my Outlook depreciated nearly 50% in that time, it seems that 47 cents for a Prius over 5 years is a bit high as does $1.20 for the Armada. My 1999 Odyssey cost me $0.256 over 9 years, my 2005 Mazda3 is at $0.246 from new in Feb 2006 to date. I'm curious why CRs numbers are so much higher than mine.

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