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Welcome to the Total Car Score podcast bringing you the world of cars from inside the car.
And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Ficks, and Javier Mota.
Well, here we are in the back stretch of 2025.
Can you believe it?
The year is pretty much gone.
How are you, Lauren?
I'm great.
Yeah, I can't believe it.
It's wild.
What happened?
I know.
Carl, how are you?
We're in September, but like pretty soon it's going to be Halloween Thanksgiving
Christmas, and that's it.
We're done.
Yeah, we're down to crunch time, both calendar year-wise and car of the year-wise.
So all three of us will be busy over the next few months trying to figure out what the best
car of the year is.
And that's the reason for this episode, because today, Nactoy North American car, truck, and
utility vehicle of the year announced the best of 2026, and there are a few surprises.
The list of cars is always short in the recent years.
What do you think it was?
Oh, when we switch from truck, when we divide a truck with SUV, right, Lauren?
That's correct.
That was during my term and leadership.
Yeah, definitely something that changed.
But remember, people started switching to SUVs.
Yeah.
And that's why there's less and less sedans that are the least.
Right.
I mean, they're so popular.
People still like them.
It's not like nobody wants them, but let's go through the list of the candidates
for this 2026 car of the year award in North America, Audi A5, Dodge Charger,
Hondra Perlut, Kia K4 hatchback, Mercedes-Benz CLA, and Nissan Centra.
I'm surprised that I'm not seeing the Nissan Leaf, because probably it's the most important
car on the category, unless it's, oh, no, it's in the SUV, my bad, my bad.
I guess it's not a sedan, the Leaf.
No.
I think it used to be.
I'm actually surprised they put it in that category.
Yeah.
So it should be a car because Nissan, you know, I drove it just a few days ago and my video
was up at Carl Broward Cars on YouTube, but it's not an SUV.
They tried to make it look like one because nobody wants to drive a hatchback.
Everyone, you know, like Lauren said, for the past 20 years, SUV, SUV, SUV, SUV.
So that's what we're all supposed to be driving.
And that's what all the car companies want to make every car look like, whether
it really is or not.
This car does not.
You think it's like a marketing thing?
Like they call it.
Oh, it's 100% a marketing thing.
100%.
First of all, it doesn't have an elevated ride height.
In fact, it sits lower than the previous one.
It's more aerodynamic.
It's good because what do you want to get out of an EV?
You want to get max range?
How do you get max range aerodynamic efficiency?
So this new all new Leaf for 2026 actually sits lower than the previous gen.
And it has no all wheel drive option.
So if you were going to say, and someone did actually, one of the other journalists at
the event with me said, what defines it as an SUV?
And you can imagine kind of the interesting, you know, verbal calisthenics and gymnastics
that were done to try to define it as an SUV by the Nissan folks.
Overall, I generally like the car.
We can talk more about it when we get to the SUV section, even though we should
be talking about in the car section right now.
But that's the one thing I would dispute or argue with.
It's not an SUV.
So I was wrong and right.
It's not on the car list, but it's in the SUV list.
And it should be in the car list.
Yes.
I agree.
Well, maybe you can make a pushback on that, Javier.
Well, I don't know.
I don't know.
So of the cars that are there, Audi A5, this Charger, Honda Prelude,
Kia K4, Mercedes Benz, CLA and Nissan Sentra.
I'm going to tell you, I mean my, I'm sorry for going first.
The ones that won't win, in my opinion.
Nissan Sentra is not going to win, even though it's probably the most
affordable car in the market right now.
And the Dodge Charger, I don't think it's going to win because people like
Karl Brower still misses one with a Emmy.
Well, it's a bad execution of an EV, too.
Exactly.
It's a bad EV, but anyway, just keep going.
So those, those two win, in my opinion, won win.
But what about, what do you think, Lauren?
Honestly, the Honda Prelude, I haven't driven it yet because we've only seen like
sneak peeks.
But is the Civic revised pretty much?
Oh, well, that it should be our great vehicle and the Kia K4, I like a lot.
Nissan Sentra has great value.
So I'm going to say it's going to be those final three and the winner will be the Kia
K4.
Oh, wow.
All right.
I agree.
I agree the Kia K4 hatchback.
By the way, the Prelude, I don't want to be cynical or mean or anything else,
but I have to be honest.
You don't want to be cynical, Karl?
No.
I rarely show my cynical side.
That's what I like about Karl.
The Acura ADX, I drove it recently, and I don't know if you guys have driven it yet.
Really nicely executed on every level, except the price.
Well, no, no, the transmission is terrible.
It's a CVT and Acura tries to make it into an interesting CVT by putting fake shift
points in and having paddle shifters, you know, paddle quote unquote shifters for
the continuously variable transmission that has no way to be shifted.
So they're doing the same thing for the Prelude.
So even though I haven't driven the Prelude, I hear again, we're talking more verbal calisthenics
going on.
You read the press release and the description of the Prelude, and all I hear is more creatively
trying to make it sound like it's really fun and sporty even though it's got a CVT,
which is an impossible state.
Not possible.
Not possible.
And the other thing, if you, if we are honest or cynical or whatever or something in between,
honest, the CVT, the Integra, all these cars look the same inside and out more or less.
Yeah.
Yeah, they definitely the styling is, I do feel like even the German cars have lost their
personality.
No, that's true too.
Yeah.
I think Genesis is one of the few brands that's really standing out.
Kia is doing a great job, but a lot of these brands are just they all look the same.
What is that?
Is that?
Oh, I thought it was a Mercedes.
No, wait.
It's a BMW or is it an Audi?
They all look the same like jelly beans on wheels or potatoes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we give it to the Kia then, I guess.
I'm Kia K4 should win.
I don't know if it will win.
Yeah.
But it should win.
Yeah.
But if we go by my recent history, people a lot of the 50 euros love the Honda Civic.
So I think the prelude is different.
Right there.
Prelude is different.
We shall see.
Yeah.
Then the truck, I think we can give it to Ford again already.
So you know, the two fords are good.
The F-150 is good.
I haven't driven the Lobo edition, but I do like the Maverick.
It was a ton of fun.
Yeah.
But the F-150 isn't all new, is it?
Neither is the Maverick.
Oh, it's just a trim.
It's a Lobo trim.
Yeah.
I don't think it should win.
Okay.
It shouldn't even be in the list.
Exactly.
Well, again, this is what happens when I'm not in charge, you know?
That's the all new truck.
It's got to be new.
It's got to be different.
A trim or a mid-cycle refresh does not qualify.
And they're putting some in.
A lot of brands pulled their names out because it wasn't new.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there aren't many options either.
I mean, I guess the Ram 1500 is not new either, but they're bringing back the
Hemi so that makes it new again.
I don't know.
It'll make it a final three in my book, but it's not new.
When was the Ram all new?
Was it last year?
Two years ago.
Oh, no.
Like two years.
Two years.
I guess it was a couple of years ago.
Okay.
Well, it was new with the Hurricane engine, not with the Hemi, so that's why I guess
they put it back as new, even though it's pretty much the same as it was before the
new engines.
Nothing else.
Well, it's a new world.
How about we spin it that way, or maybe that's what Ram will do.
It's a new.
We're not going to be forced to buy EVs.
We're going to let the market decide world.
And so the Ram coming back with the Hemi represents that.
So it's a new world and it's a new truck of the year.
We should change the name of the organization.
I'll leave it at that.
That's the people running the show.
How's that?
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dealer.
Okay, we should change the name of the awards then, I guess.
Yeah, it's best of the year.
Well, no, I mean, I think what you do see here is, look, we broke truck and SUV apart
a couple of years ago because there were so many SUVs.
But the thing is, as soon as we did that, we've had a lot of years, you guys both
know, where we're really kind of scratching.
Is there kind of a new truck?
Is there anything that's all new for the truck world?
Yeah.
Because there just aren't that many truck models.
This year is maybe the best example of that.
So I'm fine with the idea that it's like, look, it's called truck of the year, car of
the year, and SUV of the year.
It's supposed to be an all new vehicle to be eligible.
But maybe we just need to start saying, look, it's going to be an all new vehicle when
one's available.
And when one isn't, which is only going to happen in the truck category, then it's
the best of, it's the best.
Exactly.
Whatever it's out there.
Whatever it's out there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's ready for the Rivian R1T quad motor, which is also bearing in the original.
Quad motor.
Wow.
Listen, they're going to be lucky if they stay in business.
They're going to sell about a hundred of those.
So yeah, whatever.
They look cool though.
I mean, I have to say.
That's true.
Look, the Rivian is well engineered.
It's a well engineered EV.
Yeah.
It costs too much and isn't a very good truck because as soon as you start using
it as a truck, it's mileage and it's range falls off a cliff and it takes a
lot of pain.
Pain in the butt to go get it fixed, you know, versus a regular truck that you
destroy there.
You know, every dog is like, well, you lose mileage, you use range on a diesel and
a gas truck too.
Right.
And then you solve the problem in five to 10 minutes at 140,000 different gas
stations across the country that are always open, the pay system always works.
There's not a line and you just go and fill up.
So truck EVs are not a good idea.
So should we give it then to Ford again?
I think they won five in a row.
They do make the best trucks, I'm sorry to say.
Lightning, the Maverick, the F-150, all of the Super Duty, I think, one, two.
Yes.
Well, they certainly sell the best, so.
I know.
And the Maverick is still long.
The SUV list, as always, Accur IDX, Audi Q5 that I've driven or like drove last
week, Cadillac Escalade, AQ, another electric, the bigger one.
And then Cadillac has the OPTIQ and the Vistik 2 Ford Expedition Genesis
GV70, which I don't think is completely new.
It's our fresh, but again, I think it's it's pretty new.
Honda Passport, Ioni 9 Hyundai Palisade, which I think is the best.
I really like that car.
I do too.
Cherokee, the Lucid Gravity, Nissan Leaf, again, I think maybe going to get
some votes, Polestar 4, Subaru Foster Hybrid, Toyota 4Runner, which is really
good for that we're going to drive in a few months or weeks.
Volkswagen T1, which also is really good on the Volvo EX30, who finally made it
to the US after what?
But we'll see.
We'll see if it actually shows up.
Yeah, yeah, it was supposed to be voting on it last year and it couldn't get here.
So yeah, so it was supposed to be $35,000 and now it's like 55 something
because it's not really there.
Yeah.
And they switch the production from China to Belgium.
So it's been difficult for them.
So that's like Polestar.
What do you like there, Lauren?
Well, I know what I don't like, but I do like the Hyundai Palisade.
I think they didn't tell me what you don't like.
The Cadillacs look great.
The electric side of it is ridiculous.
Yeah.
If those cars were hybrid, they couldn't.
They wouldn't be able to make them fast enough.
You know, you don't like the icky cars?
The icky.
You don't like the icky cars?
No, I'm not an icky car person.
I like cool cars.
That is so funny.
Oh, I never thought of the icky cars.
Oh, my gosh, you are so bad.
I love I like the Palisade.
The Polestar 4 is cool, but I think it's not going to do it.
But the RAV4 I expect to do really well.
The T1 was excellent.
The 4Runner is always good.
The Ford Expedition, you know, my daughter has one.
So I spent a lot of time inside one.
But the new one or the past one, the last one, she's got last years.
But still, they're great trucks.
It's just, I don't know.
They're just a lot of great candidates.
There's a lot of alternatives.
Yeah, but if I was going to buy a car on that list myself, I'd buy a Palisade in a minute.
Yeah, in a minute.
If I said you got to buy one of the cars in the list, what am I buying?
Palisade.
And they're going to they're going to have the plug in hybrid pretty soon
by the end of the year, I believe.
So that's going to be even better.
Well, yeah, I think a lot of changes, just like we see in Chrysler
doing a lot of doing a lot of stepping back.
We're not going to do the electric trucking.
We're going to get rid of our electric vehicles.
Oh, really?
Now, after you stuck your heels in the ground, because I got in this in charge.
Yeah, I put the right guy in charge.
We'll always wonder, or at least I will, the I wish I had the DeLorean
and go back to the other timeline where GM doesn't doesn't walk away
from their hybrid and plug in hybrid, which they were ahead of the market
on with the cat with the Chevy Volt and the Cadillac.
What was it called?
The two door convertible version of the bolt.
But anyways, the XLR was it?
It was it was a it was a volt in a tuxedo.
Yeah, it was a volt in a two door convertible body style,
which they overpriced. They priced too high and that was dumb.
They thought to try to make it.
And we know some of them have one.
This is a Tesla.
So this is just like a Tesla.
We're going to make it 70 grand.
It was like, guys, come on.
But anyways, GM, you know,
hybrids are half measures.
We're going all in on EVs.
And now here they are.
Well, we're going to make some hybrids and plug in hybrids.
It's like, yeah, you were already doing that.
And then you shut it all down.
And now you got to fire it back up.
But anyways, I agree with you guys.
I think Palisades, probably the car I would personally buy.
But I also would have to say this.
What's the best selling car on this list by a huge margin?
Oh, let me get a rough four.
A Honda.
Rath four.
Oh, Rath four is the best selling non full sized truck
in the country right now.
It's the new Honda Civic or Honda Corp or Toyota Camry,
whatever you want to call it.
But for a third reason, Toyota doesn't win often in actory.
I don't know why.
It frustrates me because, you know, it's like, well,
at some point as jurors, we should be looking at what the market says.
And if the market keeps saying that Toyota's going there,
let's go and ask about that.
Now, the Rath four is going to be huge.
It's going to be all new.
You know, it's going to be well done because it's, you know,
it's it's Toyota's F one 50 and they're not going to screw around.
And it's going to be all hybrid starting this generation,
which just like they did with the Camry already
and they're doing with a lot of their other models, the Sienna.
So, you know, as as always,
Toyota seems to be the smartest guys.
You know, everyone wants to.
Everyone says they're the smartest guys in the room
when you go to the automakers.
One of them has the biggest global sales.
Yeah, longest lasting cars, according to IC cars data,
and just generally is a winner consistently, globally, all the time.
So, yeah.
So, um, KIA gave for hatchback.
Ford, Maverick, Lovo and Hyundai Palisade.
They have your winners for not to I bet you want to vote.
I bet we're right.
I think I think we're right.
I would, like I said, I mean, I would like to think people
would potentially give the Rath four more consideration,
but they probably won't because it's not as flashy and cool as the Palisade.
So I guess it'll probably win.
So there you have it.
The official schedule for this is that in November,
well, in October, we're going to go to Detroit
and test all these cars back to back.
Then we're going to vote again.
We're going to select the finalist for three in each category.
What those will be announcing in a lay in November.
And then the winners go back to Detroit in January for the winners
in the Detroit auto show. Yeah. Yeah.
And there was over again.
What is all this new again?
Yeah. Yeah, that's OK.
Sometimes it's good.
Sometimes it's good to have something tried and true, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Because I think we keep running all these silly changes, you know.
But and we're all members of World Car of the Year
and we've started the road to World Car.
So we just got our long list of cars.
I don't know. We don't know.
That's going to be interesting.
That's going to be a very interesting year there,
because I don't know three quarters of the cars.
I know.
Well, that'll be that'll be the topic of another episode.
So thank you for your time, and I hope we are right.
So I think we've been right in the previous year.
So I think yeah, I think we I think we've kind of figured this out.
So real quick.
Who do you think are the three finalists in the SUV?
Because I think there's a lot of, you know, the TV ones finalists.
Finalists in the SUV.
Yeah, what three?
So is it to me?
It's to me, it should be Palisade for sorry, Palisade,
RAV4 and probably take you on or Genesis GV7.
How about how about the Honda Passport?
It's really good.
I drove it in Colorado about three weeks ago when I was back there on a trip.
And I really liked it.
Vehicles as well. There's a lot of good vehicles.
Yeah, I'm going to go with Carl Palisade and RAV4
and the Nissan Lev, I think might get some votes to get it.
I would be OK with that, guys.
Yeah, you're out on the Polestar four.
I mean, it's tough, but it's going to be very.
I mean, you've seen like in the past year, the difference was one boat.
I mean, like that.
Yeah, so I can tell which is kind of part of the fun of why we test drive
every vehicle we can and we make decisions, you know,
based on what we think based on our experiences.
I think most of the journalists that are part of the jury are experienced.
We have some new ones.
We have four new ones which could throw a wrench.
Actually, we're down one.
We're down one because we had one person resigned.
So now we'll have three new jurors.
And we have no idea how they're going to vote.
Exactly. And none of them are from Detroit.
So that could throw a wrench in the whole thing.
Excellent. Well, we'll we'll see pretty soon.
So thank you for your time and hope to see you in person
next week over for the test drives. For sure. Yes.
We'll talk about Toyota since we're going to be at Toyota.
We'll talk about that on a future episode. OK. Yeah.
All right. Bye, everyone.
All right. Bye. Thanks a lot.
That's a wrap for this episode of the Total Car Score podcast.
Want more expert takes on the hottest cars, industry trends and insider insights?
Join Javier Mota, Lauren Fix and Carl Brower every week for the ultimate auto talk.
Hit subscribe, like and share with your friends to stay informed and stay ahead.
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About this episode
Predictions for the 2026 NACTOY Car, Truck, and SUV of the Year awards take center stage as hosts Carl Brower, Lauren Ficks, and Javier Mota discuss the nominees and their potential winners. The conversation highlights the shift from sedans to SUVs, with candidates like the Kia K4 hatchback and Hyundai Palisade gaining attention. The hosts debate the merits of various vehicles, including the Honda Prelude and Nissan Leaf, while also critiquing the industry's trend towards similar designs. Insights into the upcoming voting process and the impact of new jurors add depth to the discussion.
In this episode, we dive into The Best of 2026 list from the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle Awards (NACTOY) and before the 50 expert jurors even get behind the wheel to test every eligible model, we share our bold predictions for the winners: Kia K4 Hatchback, Ford Maverick Lobo, and Hyundai Palisade.
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