U.S. News Rankings & Reviews

If you enter the phrases “car reviews” or “car rankings” into an online search engine, the Website of U.S. News will consistently rank at the top of the search results, and rightly so. The U.S. News car rankings and reviews are arguably the most authoritative and comprehensive online resources on new vehicles. Because the site’s editors compile data from all major published auto reviews and safety ratings, the information U.S. News provides about each vehicle is remarkably thorough. Read on to learn about the history of U.S. News and how it arrives at its rankings.

U.S. News History

Although you may know U.S. News mostly by its online presence, its primary function is to publish the magazine U.S. News and World Report. The magazine’s first real claim to fame was the annual ranking of United States universities and colleges that started in 1983. Since then, U.S. News has made a name for itself as an authoritative and trustworthy source of ranking information on everything from graduate programs to new cars. The U.S. News site came online in 1995, and the site’s auto rankings and reviews section is one of its most popular.

The Ranking & Review Process

Unbeknownst to most readers, the car reviews and rankings on the U.S. News Website are not the result of firsthand evaluations by the editors; rather, the information is the result of an analysis and compilation of auto reviews by other respected sources. In other words, U.S. News editors do not test drive and review new vehicles themselves. Instead, they provide an overview of the consensus of the country’s foremost automotive experts on each vehicle. U.S. News offers reviews and rankings on all new vehicles in the U.S. Vehicle categories include cars, trucks, SUVs, vans, and hybrids. Within each of these categories, U.S. News establishes sub-categories in which comparable vehicles are ranked. For example, sub-categories in the “car” segment include “affordable small cars,” “luxury large cars,” and “exotic sports cars,” to name a few.

Scoring

Based on ratings information from independent sources and an analysis of respected third-party reviews, U.S. News editors come up with a score on a scale from one to ten that reflects what professional automotive critics have said about a particular vehicle. The editors cull the reviews from magazines, Websites, and newspapers. For each car review, the editors score the vehicle on four separate components:

  • Performance: reflects reviewers’ impressions of the vehicle’s acceleration, handling, ride quality, braking, and other qualitative measures of the car’s performance
  • Interior: reflects reviewers’ impressions of the comfort, cargo space, styling, features, and quality of a vehicle’s cabin
  • Exterior: reflects reviewers’ impressions of the vehicle’s design, build quality, and curb appeal
  • Overall recommendation: reflects reviewers’ general tone and level of recommendation of a vehicle

Additional Data: Safety, Reliability, and Awards

U.S. News also includes information that new carbuyers are interested in but may not be able to find in traditional auto reviews, such as safety ratings and reliability scores. The additional information provided in the U.S. News rankings and reviews is summarized below.

  • Safety: U.S. News arrives at a safety score for each new vehicle based on federal government and car insurance industry crash-test scores
  • Reliability: the reliability score a car receives on the U.S. News site is identical to the Predicted Reliability rating issued by J.D. Power and Associates
  • Awards: vehicles that earn significant auto industry awards, such as the North American Car of the Year award or the Motor Trend Car of the Year, receive higher recommendation scores to represent the importance of such accolades