Best & Worst Cars of 2025

Welcome to Talking Cars. I'm Jennifer Stockburger and this marks the final episode of 2025 and

it gives us a chance to kind of reflect back on all the cars we've tested this year and

to give more members of the team who aren't normally on the show a chance to share what

they liked and which cars they didn't like and for you to meet more of the team that

makes all of this happen. Let's get started. Michael Monticello and he brought notes. So

this ought to be good. So let's start with your least favorite. My least favorite. Well,

no, no. See, look at, look at all this. I got scientific. He really did. I got scientific

and I went down red circle and looked it. I picked out all the cars that I thought were

my least favorite and all the cars that I thought were my most favorite. And then I went

through and added up all their one day trip scores and then divided by the thing. And so

I've kind of figured out and they mostly kind of ended up with where I thought I might be, but

so you're a bit data driven off. I'm a numbers guy. And you know, I don't like to put a number

on numbers, right? So this year I actually got scientific. So you want to start with least

favorite? Let's start with your least favorite least favorite. And honestly, I would say it's

more most disappointing if it's okay to kind of switch it up a little bit. And that's, that's

the Toyota forerunner. And when you think about that, the old version, which had been around

for a long time, iconic was crazy outdated. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And then they come out with an

all new version. And it ends up with the exact same road test scores before. Yeah. Right. Which

just drives very truckie. Yeah. You know, at the the that that turbo four cylinder in the model

we have the SR five is just it's, it's allowed. There's vibrations coming through the steering

wheel anytime you're accelerating. The transmission is pretty bumpy in terms of the shifts. The

ride is bouncy. It's very loud inside partially because of the engine, but also because of

wind noise. It's just and of course, the handling is sloppy. We kind of expect I can give it a

pass on that. And I get that it needs to be off roadie, right? Even though I think it's fair to

say most forerunner buyers aren't going to take it truly off road. When you spend this kind of

money, you don't want to get it scratched up. But my best example is I was some someone came by

to do something at the house. And I had the forerunner there and he goes, Oh, you know, the

new forerunner, huh? He goes, What do you think of it? And he goes, you know, my wife saw it and

she really thinks it looks cool. And I said, Well, honestly, it drives pretty truckie. And he

goes, Oh, she'll stick with a Highlander then. Yeah. And that's honestly the best choice probably

for most most people. So it's just disappointing. I expected so much more out of it. And it just

it the power is really good. But the way it delivers it is not good. And every so many so many

other things are just kind of crude about it for an all new version. Right? We're spoiled. We're

spoiled by things like the Highlander and your favorite. My favorite again, going by the numbers.

Okay, it was very close between the Ionic Hyundai Ionic nine and the BMW X three. But the numbers

right here, I mean, look at these. Hey, you can't argue. You can't argue with data. Hard numbers.

Like he could have written them down, but there was some real hard numbers. I don't know what I

this took me hours last night. I'm kidding. It didn't take me hours. So it's the BMW X three. Yeah.

And I mean, the numbers again, not just my numbers, our numbers back up has the highest road

test. You're not alone with those highest road test score of any small luxury SUV road test score,

not necessarily overall score, but road test score, which is basically how the vehicle drives and

what it's like to live with. Okay, so two caveats all get out of the way right now. Yep. I hate the

controls. We all pretty much don't like the controls. It's, I wouldn't say the extra three is

alone in that. No, no, no. Too few physical controls, right? So it just makes it more difficult to deal

with. And the steering is a little bit light for my taste and tells you very, very little. And that's

something that BMW has been dealing with for a little while now with this electric power steering.

But so many other things when I look at my numbers here, driving position got a very high score.

Front seats, super high score. I love those front seats. They're not only super comfortable,

but super well bolstered, hold you in place, powertrain, really high score. It's a turbo

four cylinder, doesn't make a lot of power, but it does really good things with that power.

And it's very energetic, has lots of, you know, for passing zones, transmission for the most

parts just very smoothly handling in spite of that steering is very competent. And the ride

is decent. It's not amazing, but it's not like cushy, but it's more than good enough for most

people. Yeah, I like a little topness under underneath. And it's very quiet. So it really ticks

all the boxes for I think a luxury SUV. And like I said, the numbers don't lie. It's the highest,

has the highest road test score. Perfect. Perfect. Well, there you go. How was your year, by the way?

It was, it was a really good year. Yeah, really good year. All right. Well, happy new year to you.

Happy new year to you. Thanks. You're no stranger to Alex and Isaac. So it's been a busy year for

you, really busy year for you, some new people on your team. But what stood out for you in our

fleet over the past year? Quite a few. I feel like there were a lot of good cars, but the one I chose

was the Toyota Crown Signia. Yeah, I, it's kind of like a wagon, which, you know, there's, it's

probably the only one. Yeah, the only one. They call it an SUV, but come on, look at it.

We compared it to the Venza. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It kind of replaced it in the lineup too. Yeah, like

it's powertrains, maybe not its best attribute in terms of the noise and all that stuff,

but I think it looks cool. If you get it in red, go look at it next to the Ferrari

Puro Sangway, this like SUV. Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to google this. It kind of looks

very similar. It's bizarre. Yeah. So yeah, that was one of my favorite ones. It just drove well,

looks cool and unique. It's so dependable. Yeah, that too, right? It's gonna be good fuel economy,

all that. And which one did you opt out of? I don't want to take those keys.

Q6, Audi Q6 e-tron. And, you know, I was almost hesitant to say it because it's actually not

a bad car, but really it was disappointing because it's, and I'm gonna get told I'm an EV

hater, which is not true, but this one in particular because, you know, it's got all the latest and

greatest EV technology on it, right? The 800 volt and the silicon carbide, this and that,

but just the final package together just felt a little underwhelming. Didn't do that great in

our range testing. And the ride was not great too. And just, I don't know, all of it together,

even though the hype was kind of high for me, it underdelivered it again. So again,

not a terrible car, just didn't meet expectations. We've heard other people say it wasn't that it

was a bad car. It just failed to meet the hype, the expectation, the, the, you know, promotion

around it. And that was that one for you. And especially because you have something I'm looking

forward to is the BMW iX3, the Noya class, they call it, right? So like BMW is trying to take

their EVs to the next, next level and Audi could have done that, but it doesn't feel like it quite

hit the mark. No, perfect. Thanks. Thank you. We welcome John Ibbotson to the table. John is

our manager of auto testing. And if that doesn't tell you that he's organizing the testing schedule,

he's also responsible with his team for keeping all of the test cars going all of the time. So

he does a lot of dealer swaps. But John, what was your favorite car of the fleet for 2025?

Well, I'm a truck guy. So what we had here, the Dodge Ram would be kind of going to be my favorite.

Yep. And it, and it does, you know, we talked about the Rams ride and the Rams power delivery,

it just does all of those things so well. It's always been one of my favorites all along. It's

one of the nicest Taftun trucks to drive. Obviously, there's some issues with reliability,

which may not make it a best one to pick for yourself overall. But it is a nice vehicle to

drive. Yeah. And your least favorite? My least favorite was the Cybertruck. I just, I can't get

used to the steering wheel. I can't get used to parking the vehicle. I'm irritated before I leave

the parking lot. Yeah. The steering ratios just make slow speed very different and awkward. And

yeah, I agree with you. I don't think I'm a fan. And again, I go back to, you would think that

would leave here a lot because of its stature and it didn't leave a lot because I think you're not

alone in that. So. Right. Well, thanks, John. Yes. So we welcome Avery Wischegrod to the table.

And I'm very interested because Avery spends so much time, you spend so much time behind the wheel

in a testing capacity. I'm very interested to hear what you have from a just pure

this car. I like, pleases me, capacity. So what sticks out for you? So I really enjoyed the

228 Grand Coupe. This car, we tested this car right after a string of big SUVs. Right. And it

was so refreshing to just get into a small nimble car that's fun to drive, has really comfortable

front seats, a good powertrain, good handling. And it was such a breath of fresh air after all the

big cars. You're a second person who's referenced like BMW seats as being comfortable. And do you

find you don't mind being lower? I think that to me, a lot of people get into us today.

Yeah. I don't mind it. Of course, it depends on the car. Some cars you can sit low and see

just fine. Some you sit low and can't see anything. Yeah. I think it has a lot to do with the

surrounding. Do you feel like you're in a cave? Right. Right. Yeah. And again, the 228 is pretty

small. So you can see out of it okay. I love the nimble. Yes. Very nimble. Fun to drive. Yeah,

fun to drive. That's great. And least favorite. I'm going to go EX90 by Volvo. Not because it's not

a nice driving vehicle, but because such basic things are such a pain. For example, in this car,

you need to place the key card on the wireless charger in order to turn it on. And you can't

operate anything in the car like the power windows without turning it on first. Now as soon as you

open the door, it turns off. Yeah. So if you're in the car and you want to get out and do something

and get back in, well, the car is now off. Yeah. And now you have to take the key card and put it

back on. And it's such a basic car thing, right? Just to get in, turn it on and have it maybe stay

on. Right. And yeah, it's just annoying. Do you think we often get, you know, one of the criticisms

of us sometimes is, ah, if you owned it, you'd get used to it. You guys just don't drive them enough.

So yes. However, with this car, at least as of now, as of us testing it, even if you pair your

phone as a key, you still have to put your phone on the charger, which you might do anyway. So that

might make it a little bit easier. But pretty much every other car has, you know, proximity.

You don't need to necessarily take the key or your phone out of your pocket, but not this one. And

unlike the EX30, which we got with a key fob that gives you proximity locking and unlocking,

this one doesn't come with that. Yeah. I believe it might be an option from the dealer, but

so clearly, everyone knows how to do it. It just didn't happen. They've got the technology, but

for some reason they chose not to. Yeah. So you might not get used to it. Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise,

it's a great car. I know. Drives really nicely. And we've paired so much of drives great, but

too many quirks. Yeah. Too many quirks. Thanks, Aubrey. No problem. A familiar face, a familiar

voice, Michael Croson. I'm going with formal names today. Okay. Michael Croson. From our fleet,

which car stood out for you in good or bad? We'll start either way. Let's start bad. Okay. I did

not like the ID buzz. The public likes it. When you drive it, it has the best reaction of all time.

It's almost a pleasure to drive in that aspect versus some other vehicles where we get maybe

a different finger pointed at you. But I don't think the buzz itself is good value. Yeah. It's

really expensive. The range isn't very good. It's hard to get in and out of. It's got some oddities

about it. And I don't see them on the road. I've seen one or two. Yeah. So, you know, I think

people are seeing that they go, they drive them, they're kind of neat. But when the reality sets

in that this might be something I spend 70 plus thousand dollars on, right, people have second

thoughts and there's not selling. I don't think. Do you think if range was greater or it was a

slightly different, maybe a hybrid powertrain? Yes. No. Or there's enough that warrants maybe not.

If range was greater at that price, that'd be better value. Yep. I do think it was a hybrid.

That would be very interesting. Yeah. Because it would open it up to more people, a little more

usability. Yep. You know, that kind of vehicle, you might take it like camping and things. So,

having a big battery on board, you know, you could potentially like sleep with the AC on or

sleep with the heat on and that kind of stuff. So, I think that's interesting.

Yeah. A hybrid might have been the choice. Yeah. You wouldn't get that real low floor so much,

because you have to put a whole powertrain in there. Right. So, I mean, I get why they did it,

but I don't think it's good value. Yeah. And your favorite. This is in test right now. So,

I don't know if it's on the official list that Dave sent out, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Loose of gravity. Yeah. It's fine as a vehicle as far as all the real actual things. The software

is still a bit of a mess and there's things that happen that shouldn't happen. But it's like an

800 and, I don't know, something horsepower minivan. Yeah. I did acceleration testing on it

yesterday and oh boy, is it fast. So, that's just amazing that you can buy a minivan that

does what this thing does. Yeah. Wait, talk about, I always appreciate, you know, I don't

need the numbers. I don't need to know it's zero to 60 and whatever you made. It's uncomfortably

fast. Uncomfortably fast. But boy, do I love instant power in highway driving. To merge,

to pass, like I just love power. The passing speed and power and the numbers that I saw

between, you know, this speed and that speed versus time. Yep. Real fast. Okay. Okay. Shockingly,

uncomfortably fast. Okay. Well, don't drive it shockingly and uncomfortably. No, just on the

track. Just on the track. So. And it's also kind of like the Ford Flex, which you can't get anymore.

And I know you love. Oh, I do. And I love the Flex as well. Well, there's some cars out there.

You know, we talked about that, the Palisades, the Santa Fe. They're a little bit square. They're

getting close. But the Flex, again, was kind of like this minivan, but with traditional doors.

Yeah. And I think the gravity, I mean, I'm sure the people at Lucid don't want the gravity compared

to a Flex or minivan, but that's what it is. But that's what it is. Thanks. Thank you.

We welcome Steph Schrader to the table, new to our content team. So, she's had a bit of a

disadvantage because she didn't get to drive all the cars of 2025, but a true auto enthusiast.

So I'm very interested in what stood out to you as your favorites and least favorites.

So my favorite kind of comes with some caveats just because I haven't driven everything. Yep.

I did like the Land Cruiser a lot. The Toyota Land Cruiser. It just looks cool. It has a bunch of

buttons on the inside. I've driven so many cars with touchscreens and I go over to change a basic

setting and I'm veering off the road. It's just dangerous. Bring back buttons. I mean,

the drivetrain's a little rough. It's kind of like constant start-stop with the hybrid system.

And just any time that the gas engine has to kick in, it's just... You know it.

And it annoyingly prompts you to re-subscribe to the connected services if you've let the

free trial expire every time you get in. But other than that, I was just like, this is great.

It's a big body and frame truck. I want to play with it in the mud.

Yep. Even at its price, I always say, would you take your $70,000 Land Cruiser through the mud?

Why would you buy a Land Cruiser if you don't want to take it in the mud?

Well, there you go. You would. You absolutely would then.

It's cute, but it would be cuter with some stripes. Some little pinstripes.

Ah, you're going to add. Nice.

Via shrubs. Yeah. Yep. I can help with this.

Perfect. Perfect. She'll do it. She'll do it for us. And least favorite.

The Volvo EX90 is probably getting brought up a lot in this conversation, but I just kind of,

if the Torment Nexus was a car, that is it. It just binged and bonged and every little thing.

Even when I like got back in it to like, okay, I'm tweaking some settings,

sitting here drinking my coffee, it would like deeing every time a car went by.

Yes. A little too sensitive.

Just like it's just everything. And I couldn't tell if it was

broken and like, because so many things on that were just delivered. It was delivered unfinished.

Yes. I couldn't tell if it was broken and like

lane keep assist wouldn't turn off. Because we have some like fun little twisty roads

near the office. So you naturally cross that line, right? Yep.

There's just, you know, would you like to hit a trash can or would you like to cross the little

line for a second? Yep. And you know, generally I don't like hitting trash cans. So

it just, I couldn't tell if it was torque steer where it was, where it'll pull to one side because,

you know, there's too much going to one wheel or the other. Or if it was

lane keep assist. And, you know, it just, it's so frosty. Like it wasn't even good to drive. Some

of the cars that have like annoying warnings or this or that. And the infotainment screen had

tiny text for me. I have, my eyes are kind of garbage. So I don't know why they let me drive

cars, but they do. They still let her do it. I was surprised. Big screen little icons. Like

you had a lot of real estate there. Why didn't you give it to me? Yeah. And it's just, I mean,

that's one more thing where it's just, this is unsafe. It's hard to see at a glance. Give me

a button with a clear icon, clear text if you have to put text to label things. It was like the

anti-land cruiser. You and I haven't had this conversation, but I say there's a big difference

between driving the car and operating the car. And so much, so many times we're like,

it's so great to drive, but I can't do anything very easily. And to your point,

I think a lot of things were broken in the next time. Perfect. Thanks, Steph.

We welcome Alex George, who leads our Auto's content team. So he sees all the words that go

with every car. So let's start out your first full year with CR, least favorite car of 2025.

Mine would be, for comparison, the Honda Prologue was a disappointing one for me.

Perfectly fine car, not going for it. But as somebody who is newly aware of the benefits

of what Honda does to allow their interiors and to their UI, all those kinds of things. A lot of

that people should know is absent from the Prologue. Prologue is based on a General Motors,

basically underneath its skin. So as an EV, if you're a fan of Honda and you're looking for an

EV, which I expect people would be if they're looking at this car, it's going to, it was a

enough for you. Not quite. That was my problem. So Acura is also owned by, you know,

Supreme Brands Honda, very nice and very accurate. But the Prologue just wasn't quite that.

And for a $50,000 electric car, I think there are cooler options out there. There's a lot more

with high reliability scores as well that you would choose. Great. And your favorite?

Pacific Hybrid. I'm choosing, again, Honda for this one. So again, as I edit every

road test, every first drive, you know, watch the videos beforehand, I was understanding that

among hybrids, which as a category has become fantastic, they drive better than the regular

gas version, they get more gas mileage. They are as reliable or sometimes more reliable.

But among that category, Toyota created it more or less. I was thinking about saying the

Crown Signia. I liked that one a lot. But the Civic Hybrid, in terms of how smooth it is when

you pull away, how fast you can merge with traffic and the utility of its kind of hatchback design

as a sedan, it's a fantastic way to, for $30,000, it's such a great car.

For $30,000. And I think you're touching on people don't realize they think of hybrid and they

think pure fuel economy. But you already said it. It typically, certainly in our scoring,

makes it a better car. It's quieter. It leaves the line a little smoother. Great, great choices.

Yeah, for sure. And again, I say this in contrast to the Prologue, because the Honda,

the knobs feel good. It's amongst our assessments of how easy they are to use. Honda is the

sets of standard for knobs, buttons. You don't have to look off the road when you want to change

the temperature. All that, they do extremely well.

Great. Thanks. All right, we welcome James McQueen. He works in our comms department,

sets us up with all our interviews. But James, I'm just going to preclude this with the reputation

that you have of notoriously buying for yourself and your wife and your family cars that CR

doesn't always recommend. Yes, yes, yes. Nobody's perfect. And one of my character flows is not

always taking consumer reports is trusted advice. So what is your most preferred car for 2025?

Well, I would say the car that I enjoyed the most being in this year was honestly the Rem 1500.

You know, I know it's a big pickup truck, but there's honestly, I felt a lot to like about

this car. So we of course got, you know, the first model that didn't have the Hemi V8,

the vaunted Hemi V8. They went down to, you know, the twin turbo inline six,

which I was a little skeptical, you know, I'm a big displacement guy. So anytime you start

shrinking my motor, I get a little nervous. So I was a little skeptical, but honestly,

I was so surprised. They proved me, they turned me into a believer because that motor is so good.

It is, it performs so well. It is so quick. It is so powerful. It is so smooth and refined that it

was just hard not to enjoy it and moving a big vehicle. Absolutely. So so the way that it got

down the road was just a real delight to drive. And then overall, you just have a car, a pickup

truck that has pretty darn good ride comfort. You know, it's, it's, you know, for a full size

pickup, you know, it's reasonably agile and you know, the controls are pretty decent. The seats

are okay, you know, and a handling of responsive. So I mean, it was just a delight. I felt to just

pilot around despite the fact that it's, you know, so big. I mean, we put out an article a while ago,

you know, basically saying that pickup trucks are kind of like the new family haulers and

I bought into that. I'm like, this is actually pretty good for me to put the whole family in.

And of course you have all the utility stuff, which as a homeowner, you're always going to find

some need for a pickup truck. The cabs are huge, huge, huge, huge, huge. Your kids are certainly

not kicking your seat back because they have plenty of room. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

So totally enjoy being in that car. I'm going to be sad to see it leave our fleet.

Yeah, there you go. And your least favorite, James.

Oh, my least favorite. Well, you know, see this one is kind of interesting because it's a car that

I actually liked, but that had a kind of fatal flaw for me that kind of took, and that's the

civic hybrid sport. And you know, again, this is a good car. I mean, I love the car overall.

I felt that it was a treat to drive, nice handling, outstanding power train. You know,

it had that, you know, the two, the two motor, you know, hybrid C, VT, really,

really smooth, really, really good performing. And I was so fuel efficient. And you know, so

a lot of the butt, the butt actually came to the headroom. I had zero headroom and I mean zero.

Not like get a haircut and it'll be fine. No, I had zero headroom. I get into that car and

immediately my head is just touching, you know, roof of the car, which was a real letdown because,

you know, you know, the seat didn't have an adjustment. You couldn't move it up and down.

So I'm literally driving in the car, you know, like a turtle would his head halfway out of the

shell. So that's not cool. And I'm not six foot seven. I'm not, you know, you're a big guy,

but you're not. So even though I like the car, the fact remains that if your head doesn't fit,

it's probably not the car you should get. Right. For sure. For sure. And it speaks to why we have

such a range of testers from people who are barely five foot to yourself or Ryan or Alex,

who are taller. Love it. Love it. So appreciate you. Thanks. No problem. We welcome Joseph Veslak

to the table. And it's been a big year for Joe because he's a new dad. Yeah. Super exciting.

Congratulations. But I'm interested if being a new dad changed what you liked and didn't like,

or if you're true to yourself. Oh, I'm true to myself. I still like cars that, uh, yeah,

they're not the easiest to live with. I'm still willing to make that sacrifice to drive something

that's cool or that I enjoy to drive. And what was that? That'd be the forerunner. I said it last

year. It was the most that was the vehicle I anticipated the most. And, um, yeah, I still

find it to be cool, fun to drive, even though it's not great out there on the road in terms of,

you know, sporty handling or anything, but that's expected. And, um, yeah, it, uh, excuse the offroad.

Yeah. Yeah. I think this is a great opportunity too, because when we're doing this, you can one,

talk about what looks cool. Yes. And two, even if it's not perfect, what you actually like,

because I think you're right. If you were coming out of a forerunner, you know,

you're probably going to be fine with the truckiness. Yeah. I think most people who entertain

this vehicle are interested in it, kind of know what they're getting into similar to the Bronco,

the Wrangler, you know, we get, they're not going to perform that great in our, you know,

track tests and certain tests that we have. But yeah, it's still, I still find it to be cool.

It still looks as cool as it does, you know, after we had it for a while, usually that stuff

wanes, but not, not with a forerunner. They've really kept like, that's a forerunner. You

know, immediately, you don't need to say is that a new version, you know, immediately. And what

about your least favorite? Yeah, poor Fiat 500e. I mean, it's just the range is very,

very small. It doesn't ride great. It just, you know, I feel bad for the car. I want to like it,

but, you know, it's not. We're hearing a lot of that. It's such a disappointment, but I think

you're right. If you're going to opt for that little space, it drives okay. But if it doesn't

have the range to warrant that compromise, I think you might be on to something. Yeah,

efficient, easy. You know, it's about just, you could throw gas in it on the ice platform of

that or ice version, you know, and then it makes it easy to live with. But then why,

why complicated with charging? Yep. And range. So much appreciated. Big year for Joe. It'll be

a bigger year in 2026. Thank you. Thank you. We welcome Oliver Smith, the newest member of

our auto test team to the table. So you are all at a disadvantage because you've been here about

three months. You may not have experienced all of the cars, but many of them are still here.

So in your tenure, what car stands out to you as being a favorite? So I have driven a lot of them

in a short period of time. So my assessment is not as good as many, but my favorite was definitely

based on my family and how we used it, the Rivian. I didn't think I was going to like it.

R1S. The R1S, yeah. It has personality. It kind of grew on me. Kids loved it. It's a happy place

to spend some time. It is. And it brings the EV quiet. So I agree. It definitely grew on me with

time. Great. Great. And least favorite, Oliver. My least favorite was the Kia K4. It's not a

place I want to spend any more time. It just didn't do it for me. Nothing particularly obnoxious

about it. I just don't want to go in it again. Do you think we've been spoiled by larger cars,

SUVs, that now when we're in a smaller sedan, it skews our view? Yeah, I think you're right. I guess

when I was thinking about what to pick, I was thinking, what do I look forward to drive next?

Yes. And what don't I want to get in again? And I think you're right. It's just like not a nice

place to be as nice as a Rivian R1S, for example. There you go. I think it certainly has its appeal,

but like you say, how much time do you want to spend in it? My kids didn't like it either,

which makes it difficult for the dad at the front. Yes. My kids growing up, you know,

I've had many years here would say, Ma, put that in the logbook, something that they didn't care

for. They haven't picked that one up yet, but it went time. They will. Thanks, Oliver. Yeah, thank you.

We welcome John Williams back to the table and we were just saying, we had a pretty good fleet

this year. It was hard to pick out those you loved and those you disliked the most.

Yeah, it really was. It was. But for you, John, what stands out, either way, good or bad?

Sure. Yeah, I'll start with the good. Always good to start with the good. Always good.

So for me this year, I'm someone who really enjoys driving. So I was kind of looking at that list

and thinking of cars that were really engaging to drive that I really enjoyed my time in.

And for me, that was definitely the Civic Hybrid. I think the powertrain in that car is just

really dialed in. It's really smooth off the line. The CVT does these simulated upshifts,

so it doesn't rev like crazy like a lot of the other CVTs out there. And it's just really

enjoyable to drive. Yeah, I think it's funny how they're making cars that don't actually shift.

Sound feel like they shift and sound like they shift, but that's, you know, the appeal for many.

Yeah. And the handling on it is really great too. I'll admit, I have not been in it yet,

but after this episode, I'm going to make a point to get in it. Yeah.

And a least favorite, John. Least favorite. This one was tougher for me. I think there's kind of a

lot of low hanging fruit like the Cybertruck Volvo EX30 things with kind of obnoxious controls, but

I was trying to focus more on something more in the mainstream market, which for me, unfortunately,

was a little bit disappointed by the Nissan Kicks. Yeah. I think kind of the way that Nissan has

marketed the car, they're really going for this, a lot of features at a low price. Right. So you

do get, you know, a nice infotainment screen, you get a wireless charger. The interior looks kind

of nice. It's got some neat styling elements on the outside. I'll give it that, but the actual

driving experience for me was where it kind of fell apart. A little underpowered. Yeah. It's

underpowered. It's noisy. The ride was honestly the biggest issue for me. You kind of feel every

bump and I drove it back from the dealer that we bought it from was about an hour away and

got out of the car pretty, pretty tired. You knew right away. You knew right away. It wasn't

going to be a good pick. And it's so cute. I so want it again. So wanted to love it. It's too bad.

It's a tough class. It's up against like, you know, the HRV, the Kona,

curl across all those. It's just a tough place to be. Great. Well, thanks, John. Yeah, absolutely.

We welcome Andrew Belise to the table. We are used to seeing him behind the camera, not in front

of the camera, but welcome to the table and what did you love and not love of the cars we tested

this year? Okay. So again, I'm like indecisive about this, but it's definitely, I definitely,

it definitely is a hybrid. And I got into this car recently is the Toyota Crown Signia. Yeah.

I got in that and I was like, this is it for me. This is, I do this thought experiment a lot where

it's like, if I didn't work here and I didn't have access to all these vehicles, what would I

actually buy? What do I actually like? Yep. The Crown Signia is not as much SUV as wagon,

I feel like styling wise. So, and it's a little raised. So you kind of get the best of both.

You have a little SUV nest to it. And then you also have like kind of the wagon look. I'm not

crazy about the color that we bought, that champagne. Rust bronze, whatever. Yeah. It's a

little old for my demo, but I guess it's fine. You would liven it up if you bought it. I'll say

that my wife's grandmother said, this is a beautiful color. And I said, I knew that was,

and she's in her, she's about to be 80. So I was like, not for me. But yeah, the hybrid range is

great. I fit both my car seats back there for my kids. So yeah. And the cargo space was great. So

I like that hatchback usability of it. And it was just easy. The other, the other car that I was

thinking about was the Camry, just cause it's hop in and go. Yeah. Yeah. And I really like that.

And it's just, it's simple. My phone worked great. It hooked up really quickly. But yeah,

if I can only choose one, probably the Crown Signia. Yeah. Really nice balance. Yeah. That

car. And I think we've said that in our road tests like this, really balanced car. Yeah.

And the not so great. Yeah. And I love this car. But when I think about how much

extra stuff kind of comes with it, I gotta say it's the ID buzz. Yeah. I, I, I love the idea of

it, the vintage look. But the, the everyday living with this car, first the range, like you can't

really go anywhere. Right. You know, like a hundred mile radius, maybe, and then you're gonna,

already gonna have to think about charging. That was the first thing. Second thing is a

price that's pretty expensive. It's like 80,000 dollars. Yeah. Or it starts around 70. So for

that I could get two other cars that would probably be fine. Yeah. Now I know that the Crown

Signia is not the cheapest either, but still. And then the third thing is if you need to get

anything done, like accomplish anything on your daily trip, whether it's bring your kids to school,

go to the grocery store, anything, you're going to have to stop and explain and talk to every

single person. Because which is, yeah, I will say it's nice. I will say this car turned more

heads than the Corvette that we had a couple of years ago that I brought home than anything I've

ever driven here. And that was cool. I had everyone from a biker who shared some happy

expletives with me how cool it was on the road. He loved it. Then I had just people walk up and

say, oh, this is great and everything. But I found I had to explain more of the drawbacks to people.

Because they were convinced you must love this. And two things I had to explain. Once this is

not my car, I work at Consumer Reports, yada, yada. And then also like it has its drawbacks. So

there's not much range. It's really expensive. I will say though, for the purposes of just like

driving around town, I drove a bunch of friends to a 40th birthday party. It was a blast. I brought

everyone in it. But I guess it's not really a strong case for like, I wrote why I didn't like it.

It's probably 50-50. But I that the whole kind of aura that comes around the car is a lot to

walk around with. You wanted to love it. But yeah, yeah, for sure. And I think that's there's like

that element of disappointment. Oh, yeah, I really wanted to love it. I did. And I think we say all

the time, the cars that leave our lot more often is a great judgment of what what the road test

at least is going to show. And as much as that was so cool, it didn't leave as often as I thought

it would. No, no. For those reasons. Yeah. Yeah. To that point, the crown's taken out. I just got

in it recently and we've had that for a little while. So refresh yourself. For sure. Well, thanks.

Thank you. We welcome Mary Reed, our business manager who is super involved in all the buying

and selling and registering and everything of every car we test. So you get into the details.

But I also want to hear what Mary has to say because you and I often align on what cars we

like and don't like. So what was your favorite car of 2025? Probably the Honda Passport.

I liked that the size is wonderful, wonderful to go shopping in easy to park, very easy to drive

and maneuver. Yep. Just a very comfortable car. Simple V6, great power delivery. It's not surprising

because I just bought a Ridgeline, but it's like the SUV Ridgeline. And least favorite.

Least favorite, recently I drove the Nissan Kix, had did nothing for me. Looks like a bubble.

Looks cute. Or a big sneaker. No, I don't even like the looks. Okay. I love that big sneaker.

Yeah. Underpowered, not great visibility all the way around. Yeah. Just nothing to ride home about.

Yeah. Nothing to love. We talk about merging. We have these parkways nearby where you have to merge

into very fast traffic from a stop and the Nissan Kix. You probably would have to say

twice about it. Yeah. It just does nothing for you and just no reason to be there.

So much appreciated. Thanks. No problem. So we welcome John Mosley to the table.

Another new member of the team helping in not only the shop, but helping Emily and I and

Block on Child Seats valuable. You've had kind of a fast track to child safety. No pressure,

recognizing that you maybe haven't driven the whole fleet, but of the cars you've driven in our

fleet, do any stand out as something you really thought was done, implemented really well?

Well, it's different for me coming from the dealer and we had very, very few EV cars. Yeah.

And driving the EV cars has been a different experience just as far as an acceleration.

That aspect of things has been fun. Yeah. And seeing the different manufacturers,

whether it be BMW or Audi and those has been quite of an experience. Can't really say I didn't

drive the whole fleet, but I can't really say I have a favorite. It was a little different

driving the Mini to Boston and back for some training and fun car to drive. I don't fit all

that well on the car. Yes. You are not alone in that sentiment today. It's just very different and

fun. Can't really say a worst car because I haven't driven enough. Okay. Great. Thanks, John.

Thank you. So we welcome Gordon Jengres and we are not talking tires to get more talking cars.

And Gordon's concerned about his attire because we literally plucked him right out of the garage.

He's working. He's not in his festive winter wear today like I am. So, Gordon, the fleet of 2025,

what was your favorite car? Favorite, I'd probably go with the Ram 1500 just because

as far as trucks go, I think Ram has the best ride. They're comfortable. To me, they feel more

car-like. Yep. I don't know about the reliability. That's a different story. But if I was going to

get a new truck, that might be the one I'd get. Right. And you're a person that actually uses a

truck quite often outdoorsy, wood, whatever you're working or wood burning, whatever you're doing.

So you use a truck as a truck. So you appreciate that part of it as well. Yeah, I did a little bit

of towing with the Ram. Oh, you did? Oh, you have a boat? Yeah. Yeah, it did fine. I mean, as expected.

Right. Good engine, good powertrain. And your least favorite?

Um, see, this is kind of, I have a love-hate relationship with the, I love. We're not alone.

We've heard this a little bit. So any of the minis, I love like the, let's see what was it,

the Cooper Sport. Yeah, Sport, all 4E or whatever you had in Countrymen. Yeah. I think they're fun

to drive. Yep. They handle well. It's just the infotainment center just completely ruins everything

for me. It's, it takes a car that I otherwise like to drive and I would never buy it just

because of the infotainment center. I encourage people so much to do your test drive and go,

but also sit with it for a minute, pair your phone, try to find your radio stations, set

your climate controls, do what I say, do a test drive sitting still because they can,

they can be deal drivers. Oh, five minutes sit in that car. You would realize how difficult it is

to do anything. Yeah. And what's a deal breaker and what's not? Yeah. For me, it's just, if I can't

change the climate without looking, I want a real basic controls on everything. Yep. Little

old school. Yeah. Right. So, all right. Before we let you loose, favorite tire of 2025?

So we just finished testing the UHP program. So Michelin Pilot Sport. Venerable. Yeah. It's

venerable. Top of the list. Yep. Thanks. We welcome Nicole Lucas to the table.

Nicole is in charge of a lot of the auto's content on our digital team. She takes all of

our numbers, all of our stuff and makes it appear on CRO magically. Lots of hard work,

but Nicole hails from the motor city, but is often here and drives some of what's in the fleet.

So I'm very interested when you're here, are there cars that you preferred,

looked for, wanted to drive during the past year? So the two cars that I had a lot of fun

driving. So, and I kind of spread out, you know, which ones to check out in my most recent visit.

The Fiat 500, the E. I have to highlight that one because just looking at it and being in it

just brings you joy. Yeah. It's just, it's happy. It's this little tiny thing that just makes you

smile. Unfortunately, driving wise, it's, I mean, it's, it's, you know, not a performance vehicle,

but it's just fun and makes you smile. The other vehicle, which I drove the next day,

was the Volvo EX30. Yeah. And driving wise, that is super fun. Yeah. The only challenge

is at every single stoplight, I had to figure out how to do basic driving things. So, you know,

my first stoplight was, oh man, it's cold. How do I turn on the heat? And, you know, in the 24

hours I had the vehicle, I really felt like I nailed it. Unfortunately, when I came back to ATC,

you have to roll down your window and buzz in. You're right. I could not for the life of me figure

out how to roll down the window. This is pretty basic stuff. Some basic stuff. So driving wise,

it's fun, especially, you know, on the hilly roads around here, because it's a little flat in

Detroit. Yeah. But figuring out how to drive it was, was a challenge. Yeah. I agree. They're both

really fun to drive. Really fun. And the, and the fiat's adorable. It's just a, you want to put

it in your pocket and just take it home. Right. You're not alone in the statement of I wanted to

like it. I wanted it to be more and it just didn't stand up. Yeah. Thanks, Nicole. Yeah. Thank you.

Last but not least, we bring Michael Quincy. I'm feeling very formal today.

Michael Quincy to the table, years of cars. Thank you, Jennifer. Yeah. What stands out in 2025

for Michael Quincy? 2025. Well, it's the haunted passport. Okay. So I so wanted to like the Toyota

4Runner, which was redesigned. Yeah. But the noise levels, the ride, the handling, the wheezy

engine, the terrible interior, it just, it just kills it for me. But the thing I like about the

4Runner is the size is right. Right. So that's where the passport comes in. The passport is quieter,

it rides better, super simple controls, nicer interior for about the same money. Yep. It fits

my life. I need some utility, you know, folded down the back seat, but I don't need a third row

seat. Right. I don't need serious off-road hardware that you get with the 4Runner.

I just wish it got better fuel economy. That's like the only downside that I can see with the

passport. But I love the day-to-day usability of this car and I would totally, totally buy one.

Not offensive in any way. No, no, I just, it fits everything that I want in my life.

There you go. And the counter, point counterpoint, your least favorite.

You might notice I got to my best quickly. Yeah. You had more trouble?

I got more to say about the worst. Oh. Before you go there, did you find it a tough list

this year to pick a worst? I did. Yes. Yes. I think the best ones jumped out at me easier.

Yes. The worst ones, they were embarrassingly a lot to choose from.

Okay. The opposite of what I've gotten to say. I thought there was a lot of lousy cars.

And the winner is or the loser is for you? Let's just give a little setup here.

So for all of our test cars, we have a digital log book where everybody writes about their

thoughts about the car and it covers everything. It's like usability, seat comfort, power train,

handling, you named. But there's one section in the digital log books that says, would you

recommend this vehicle to friends or family? Which brings me to my worst pick of 2025 that

we tested this year. Drum roll, please. The Volvo EX30. Okay. Okay. The whole, would you

recommend this vehicle thing in the log book? Not one tester said they'd recommend this car.

It was completely unanimous thumbs down. Some of the people wrote, hell no. Monticello wrote that.

Oh, okay. There you go. You can hear him say that, right?

Okay. The controls would drive even a relatively sane person over the ledge.

It's $50,000 and only has 180 mile range. Even if it were $35,000, the Nero EV or the Kona EV

would be a better choice. Absolutely not. The vehicle's a usability nightmare. The interior

does not feel luxurious at all. I cringe at the thought of showing my parents how to use this car.

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Yeah. It's very interesting and it's come across a lot

at the table today of the value element, like 450 grand, 4 over 70 grand. This just didn't work,

which for, so people are aware, the number, the price doesn't come into our ratings,

only in how we may present them. But it's very interesting. But we think like, like kind of

normal people. I mean, I've always looked at our test cars like that maybe didn't measure up and

what else can you get for the money? Right. And whether it's in the exact same category or not,

it's still like, well, you need a car. What else can you get for that? And I always thought that

was kind of, I guess, a logical way of thinking about a value proposition. Most people have a

budget of something. Yeah. But really, what kills the EX30 is the controls. I mean, the side mirror

adjusted using the center screen, which is a horrible design. Other EV manufacturers do this.

The climate controls are all on the touchscreen. The steering wheel buttons are not labeled for

any media. It takes way too many steps for certain tasks, like adjusting the ADAS settings.

But the funniest experience that I had with this car is that the driver monitor system

in the EX30 will bark at you. You'll get visual warnings, you'll get chimes, audible stuff.

You're basically saying, keep your eyes on the road. And I've literally yelled at this car.

I said, I would keep my eyes on the road if your controls were better designed.

Really? Oh, it talked back to the EX30. It drove me mad how insanely

logical the controls are in this vehicle. Now, it's an absolute rocket ship. But you'd think

there'd be a compelling market for a smallish kind of EV with some European panache. Yep.

But the EX30 absolutely is not it. Did not meet its mark. No. Well, there you go.

But before we go, let's hear your picks. Oh, we didn't do my picks. Let's talk to Jennifer.

You may or may not be surprised, and we certainly are having a mind meld. Also,

my favorite of this fleet was the Honda Passport. And again, I just bought a Ridgeline,

so it's not a stretch. It's the SUV version of the Honda Ridgeline pretty much. But I really,

again, it fits me. Kind of what you were saying. V6 in a world of a lot of turbocharged 4s.

And an engine that's been built for like 30 years. So parts availability, reliability,

fantastic. And a good power delivery. I really like it. Again, not the stellar fuel economy.

You have to know that that balance exists. It's not going to be the 24s,

the 26s that we see in some of the other either mid-sized SUVs or compact pickups.

So yes, absolutely the Honda Passport. And my least favorite, and again,

I'm repeating what we've heard a lot at the table today, was not because I didn't like the car.

It was the whole holistic thing of it being disappointed. And that was the Chevrolet Equinox.

And I'll tell you what, I really like to drive the car. I don't hesitate to grab those keys.

I really like the driving experience. Our road test score says, I'm not the only one

who likes the car. It did pretty well. But when you roll up the owner satisfaction and the

reliability on that car, it's got a very, very low overall score.

But you're not driving owner satisfaction. You're going to take the keys willingly.

I do take the keys willingly. So what about it that is it that you don't really like?

It's no, I do like it. I want to recommend it to friends and family, to your point.

But I can't because of the reliability numbers. I see what you're saying.

I wish I wanted it to be better. But you can't. And that's why you're disappointed.

Yeah, I'm disappointed. That's an interesting take on the best and worst.

And again, I thought we had a really good car this year. And so much so that I was like,

I'm going to pick that one, not because I don't like driving it, because I can't recommend it.

Wow. That's an inspired take. And I even remember talking to Alex Nizek about

the recent upswing of GM, not upswing, but we've tested a bunch of GM models that have been redesigned.

Models that cost more than the Equinox. I remember Alex saying,

I think dollar for dollar, Equinox is better than all of them.

Yes. And you're right. I didn't even mention not $50,000.

When you sort, we have great sortability on Sierra. No, it's one of the least expensive

SUVs in that category. So my hope is that the reliability improves.

You're like, GM, if you're over the next few years and you'll have a really good car.

Wow. Yeah, there you go. Boy, that threw me for a loop.

I don't think we've heard Equinox today. That was fantastic. So I'm going to throw you for a loop.

And actually, I already spoke with Super Producer Dave Abrams and this is my show now.

Oh. So welcome to Talking Cards. I'm Mike Quincy.

I'm Jennifer Stock. And in case you, the audience didn't know, this is Jen's last show.

She's calling it a career here at CR's Auto Test. And not only has Jen been a trailblazer

for child safety seats, tire testing, headlight testing, and managing this 327-acre facility,

she is without a doubt the resident psychologist and psychiatrist here at Auto Test.

When she's in the office, people are lining up to talk to her and not just about work.

And in some ways, I think that's an even more important impact that you've had at this place

outside of the testing. Jen has been here for 26 years. And just want to kind of do a little

exit interview before you go. Oh, thank you. So a couple of questions. From when you started

to today, what do you think has been the biggest changes, like how we test and in the industry?

So you just went through it pretty much on the EX-30.

And you alluded to it. When we started, it was about breaking, handling, acceleration, fuel

economy. Those all still exist. But we have now the Oliver Smiths and the Maddie McCarty's of the

world that are human factors engineers. No longer is a car just a machine that you get in and

pretty intuitively know how to operate. You now need UX and all of that, that those

skill sets bring to the table in addition to how it breaks and handles and gets you from A to B.

So and again, I'm repeating, there's driving the car and there's operating the car. And you just

said you have this EX-30 that drives actually really nicely, but you need the Maddie's and the

alters of the world to weigh in. To me, that's the biggest difference.

Yeah, you say UX, there's also usability. We should just call it controls.

Whatever you call it, controls. The day-to-day livability, how easy or how difficult it is

to do a simple change like adjusting the climate control. Or the mirrors. And how that relates,

whereas Emily, to safety. Right. And when you started for our magazine or our website,

we maybe spent this much room talking about controls. Now we spend this much of it talking

about controls. Yeah, because it was about reach. Right. How far is it to the tune knob or the gear

selector? Because they were all pretty, pretty intuitive. Yeah. Okay, good answer. So next

question. You've often said that engineering had brought you to cars, which is kind of the

opposite approach to what most people here took. Yeah. If you didn't wind up here,

where do you think you would have wound up? And what advice would you have for young people

interested in what we do, especially women? Yeah, I think, well, let me go backwards,

because I think there's a huge place for more women in autos. And I think I've used the step

before. Women influence in the car's market 80% of the purchases, whether they're buying for

themselves, which many more do now. I've had dealers in our shopping here say,

don't you want to check with your husband? No, I do not. I'm here on my own. Or they're influencing

a decision for a family. There's a lot of influence. And I think having us at the table

when the cars are being designed and usability, stature, big differences, is a huge thing. I

would love to see more women going to engineering and particularly autos engineering.

Um, if I didn't do go to autos, and again, it was a recruiter and Jean Peterson

interviewing me at the University of Connecticut for Pirelli Tire.

Go Huskies. That brought me, yeah, Go Huskies, to where we sit today. I think it would have been

something more on the medical side, the biomedical side, or something along those lines. Engineering

for good in a different way. Or the counseling side. But I will tell you, I have zero complaints.

I have had the best careers, not just at CR, but at Pirelli and Walbro as well. So happy.

I haven't thought that that is the mark of a life well lived. If you look back and you say,

yeah, I'd do that again. I would do it again. Excellent. I would do it again.

And raise the family at the same time and had what I feel. I always say to people,

if you roll over in the morning and you're first before you even open your eyes is,

oh my gosh, I got to go there again. You need to make a change. I have not one day.

I don't think in my entire career had that thought.

So last question. We're always under the gun here with deadlines. I mean, that's public.

And we have high standards at Consumer Reports. So there's always a lot going on.

I imagine you won't miss the constant pressure of the deadlines. But what do you think you will miss?

The people. The people. I did it. You guys gave me a wonderful retirement kind of send off.

And my takeaway was, I miss the sounding board. I miss the people with different views.

You surround yourself with friends who probably are mostly like-minded.

Your family is probably even more like-minded coming to work. If I have another big decision

in life to make, I'm coming back here. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to hear,

believe it or not, what Dave Abrams has to say. I want to hear what Emily has to say,

because you give me perspective. And I will miss. I don't want to be someone who retires and gets

really out of touch. I rely on so many of the young people here to keep me in touch,

to show me how to use my computer on my phone. But all of that stuff. So I probably won't be

a stranger. I hope that's all right. It's more than all right. It's actually-

And I really enjoy talking. I really enjoy this podcast. When I listen back sometimes,

I'm like, oh, my voice really is horribly grading. But it's okay.

We've all evolved and come a long way from the first podcast we've done to right now.

And I'll keep listening. And we hope we get a little better for it. Well,

thank you. Needless to say, the circle of talking cars fans and consumer reports members,

and for all of us here at Autotest, the world has been and continues to be a better place

because you're in it. Thank you. Now I can't talk. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you've done.

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