While CR does not perform its own crash tests, it incorporates data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the NHTSA. Bonus points are awarded for standard safety features like city-speed automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. Methodology and Testing Rigor
This measures whether owners would "definitely" buy the same car again if they had to do it over. It captures the emotional and experiential side of ownership that road tests alone might miss. consumer reports car buying guide
This is arguably CR’s most influential metric. It is based on annual surveys of hundreds of thousands of CR members who report real-world problems they encountered in the previous 12 months across 20 potential trouble spots, ranging from engine and transmission to in-car electronics. While CR does not perform its own crash
Every year, CR’s engineers put roughly 50 new vehicles through more than 50 rigorous tests at their 327-acre facility in Connecticut. These include acceleration, braking, emergency handling, fuel economy, and specialized tests like a "rock hill" to evaluate off-road capability. It captures the emotional and experiential side of
CR distills its vast amount of data into a single for each vehicle. This score is built upon four critical metrics: