Chevrolet Volt (2013)

The Volt is largely unchanged from prior years, be sure to check out our review of the 2011 model. What's new for 2013? Well, in addition to those in our earlier review... The much-needed rear wiper was added in 2012. Lane departure warning, collision alert are now standard. Rear camera available as part of an optional Park Assist package. We recommend it. There’s a small bump up in EV driving range over prior years, up 3 miles to 38. A new "Hold" mode helps to conserve battery charge for later use. How's it work? When the Volt's in "Hold" mode, it'll make more use of the gasoline generator, saving the batteries for later. You might want that if you’re heading into a city, and want to use the battery power in stop-and-go driving, where it’s more efficient. Or if you’re heading out on a hot date, and want to sneak back up the driveway later without waking up your husband. Navigation is now available as an option. Heated seats are available as part of the leather seating package. In addition to those in our earlier review… $7,500 Federal tax credit won't last forever. Like the hybrids, it will be gone after Chevrolet reaches 50,000 in sales. If you're hot to get one, don't dawdle. Even with the tax credit, this is a pricey investment in your green-ness, despite the impressive technology.

2013 Chevrolet Volt

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Nissan Maxima (2013)

Great, smooth engine. Nice. Infiniti-like, upscale quiet interior. Good balance of comfort and handling, particularly on highway. Has all the usual bells and whistles one would expect. Calls for premium fuel. The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), while overall very good, made the accelerator very touchy or “twitchy” at low speeds, such as when accelerating out of a corner in city traffic. We hope Nissan will offer a programming change to address this issue, in the near future. “Wide thighs” styling in the rear: This is obviously intended to make the car look sporty, but it requires extra care when parking in tight quarters, since the rear-wheel fenders bulge out further than one would expect. Limited trunk room. Less expensive Altima is almost as nice.

2013 Nissan Maxima

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Subaru XV Crosstrek (2013)

Brawny looks, and more ground clearance than a regular Imprezza. Nice balance of practicality, price, promised mileage and styling. Compact size makes it easy to park in urban areas. All-wheel drive and ground clearance provide confidence for snow, mud, dirt and rutted roads. More stylish than the Imprezza in the opinion of some. Good visibility front and sides. Uglier than sin. (Editor’s note: That’s Ray's opinion. Look at how he dresses. Other [read younger] Car Talk staffers like the looks.) Around town, we only got 17 MPG—not very good in this day and age. That's the same mileage cars were getting 50 years ago! Although Consumer Reports got 26 mpg overall. Note your mileage may vary… and when it does, it always varies in the lower direction. Visibility out the back is compromised, but there is a back-up camera to ameliorate the situation.

2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek

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Toyota Camry Hybrid (2013)

Great gas mileage. Expect typical Toyota reliability. In other words, expect very little to go wrong for a long time. Plenty of room in the front and the back, and a spacious trunk; an extremely practical family car. As a result, it’s become the go-to cab of choice here in Our Fair City. Effortless to drive: Easy steering and handling make it a low-effort car for those who value getting from here to there with minimal effort and fuss. Perfectly adequate visibility all around. It’s a great nerd car. This is the perfect car for someone who wants to make a wise choice, and never wants to worry about his or her car, and don’t want to stand out in the crowd. With its redesign in 2012, the Camry, and even this Camry hybrid, has become a full-fledged geezer car. Like the cab car of choice it’s replacing (the Ford Crown Vic), it appeals to people who have been driving for decades. Everything from the styling, to the ease of driving, suggests that older people drive this car. Nothing wrong with that, unless wearing the automotive equivalent of plaid pants irks you. When the car is stopped (at a light, for instance), you could really tell when the gasoline engine kicked on. We found it annoying. If you’re sipping a full cup of coffee when the engine starts, you may get a brown stain on your tie. Once the car is moving, it’s totally seamless. But if you’re considering the Camry hybrid, take it for a test drive in city traffic and see if it bothers you.

2013 Toyota Camry Hybrid

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Volvo S60 T5 AWD (2013)

Very sweet car. About the size of a 3-series BMW. Has the typical Volvo attributes: feels very solid. Handles well, but was a bit rough on bumpy roads, likely due to the low profile tires. Comfortable for a long drive, plenty of room in the front and adequate room in the back. Interior design is very clean, very Swedish, with just about the most comfortable seats you'll sit in -- car or not. Comes with all the amenities -- almost. We noticed the absence of a rear camera and the blind spot detector, both of which we recommend. It is noticeable but not showy. It's a bit under the radar -- you can have a really nice car, without being ostentatious. Neither a rear camera nor blind spot detector are standard -- an omission for a safety-minded company like Volvo. The rear camera is available on the higher-end S60 T5 packages, and Volvos “BLISS” blind spot monitoring system is available as an option at any trim level. We’d recommend both. Mileage is mediocre -- 23 MPG average (EPA: 20/29/23 city/highway/mixed) which is not particularly impressive these days. After manufacturer's warranty of four years, expect to pay premium prices to maintain and repair the S60. Consider the extended warranty, if you intend to keep this car for a while.

2013 Volvo S60

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Ford Escape SE (2013)

Attractive, modern looking design. The Escape is built on the excellent Ford Focus platform, which helps explain why it’s almost fun to drive. It’s a nice sized vehicle. Not huge. Yet there’s enough room in the back seat to carry passengers, and enough room in the cargo compartment for a reasonable amount of stuff. Better visibility than the other crossover SUVs, including the Mazda CX-5 we drove just prior to the Escape. Decent MPG -- especially on the highway. We got high 20’s on the highway, low 20’s around town, about 25 overall, with more highway than city. State-of-the-art, 1.6 liter, GDI (Gas Direct Injection) turbo-charged engine has more than enough power despite its small size. You know what else has a 1.6 liter engine? The Mini. So it’s impressive to power a 3,502-pound car so comfortably with an engine that small. Welcome to the future. Considering the engine’s size, it’s nice and quiet, too, except under hard acceleration. (And an engine is supposed to make noise then!) High-quality feel, compared to the older Ford Escape -- the items you touch every day, like directional controls and the steering wheel, have a sense of solidity and quality about them. Could use a backup camera. The ride was firm, and to some, a bit harsh on some roads. Both the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5 offer a softer, more comfortable ride, in exchange for some handling prowess. But both have a better reliability records. (Recent J.D. Powers reports about Ford’s lackluster quality ratings are a source of concern.) SYNC (voice-controlled) audio, telephone and climate-control system is still buggy and hard to get used to. We spent a lot of time with our eyes off the road trying to handle basic chores. With a starting list price of $22,470 for the base, two-wheel-drive, S model, Ford is positioning the Escape as a premium offering in its class. It starts $1,500 higher than the Mazda CX 5, and is only a few hundred dollars cheaper than the equivalent Honda CR-V, which has a time-tested record of reliability.

2013 Ford Escape

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Honda Accord (2013)

We're hard-pressed to find anything about this car that we don't like. Quiet and comfortable. Easy to operate controls, with simple and straightforward dashboard controls. Direct-injection four-cylinder engine has plenty of power. Why anyone would want the optional 6-cylinder engine is beyond us. Very well appointed. Spacious, airy feeling cabin. Backseat is extraordinarily spacious -- it can easily fit three people, comfortably -- and the roof isn't so dramatically raked that there are issues with headroom. The rear deck is somewhat high, but a backup camera helps mitigate the reduced visibility out the back. Good visibility out the side windows, and we were impressed that the Accord’s A-pillars were not humungous, as they can be in an increasing number of new vehicles. It still has a side curtain airbag inside the pillar, which Honda seems to have successfully squeezed into the pillar, somehow. We're in love with the Accord's "Lane Watch" feature. Turn on your right directional, and the camera that's mounted on the right side mirror will show you the road immediately next to your car, and for many feet behind it. If you don't care to run over cyclists or pedestrian's toes, Lane Watch is a great addition. You can activate it any time you want, too, by pressing a button on the directional stalk. With the addition of the Lane Watch side cameras, there's no longer any need to adjust the Accord's mirrors to avoid the classic side-mirror blind spots. How will Lane Watch work when the cameras are covered in salt and dirt? Time will tell. They are in an easy to clean location, however. EPA claims 26 city/ 36 highway, but we weren't able to reach those numbers. If you can attain those numbers by driving gently, you'll be doing well-- those are darn good numbers for a comfortable, five passenger car. Ride is firmer than some other competitors in the same segment. That’s a plus for those who lean towards handing over cushiness. But those wanting a softer, more isolating ride, might prefer the Camry or Altima.

Other notes: We test drove the four-door Accord.

2013 Honda Accord

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Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (2012)

Handles decently—much better than in the past. Quite comfortable, though not cushy. Nicely appointed and tastefully done inside. Nice sunroof. All the accoutrements you’d want, including heated seats and a great sound system. Feels higher quality, more solid and more luxurious than past Grand Cherokees. Plenty of room up front, decent room in the back. Lots of traction settings: snow, sport, sand, rocks, etc. Air suspension for off-road use. If you’re part of the .002 percentage of the population that actually needs these settings, you’re all set. Otherwise, it’s always in all-wheel drive. Looks better than the old Grand Cherokee. It’s a reasonably good looking car. Very heavy SUV, resulting in an average mileage reading on the car’s computer of 13 mpg, doing a combination of city and highway driving. That’s terrible! Fairly lousy visibility. Parking by Braille due to the high front and back. Motorized rear lift gate is annoyingly slow when opening and closing, and cannot be overridden. It requires a wait. If Jeep was concerned about the weight, they could have followed the lead of other manufacturers, and made a lighter, aluminum rear gate. Not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination. For the same money, you can buy a fully-loaded Honda Pilot, or a Volvo XC90. Reliability not great in the past. Something to keep an eye on as this edition ages.

2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee

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Hyundai Genesis (2012)

Has all the luxury attributes you might expect at this level: seat heaters, rear camera, tilting mirrors, satellite radio. Very comfortable seats and ride, plenty of room in the front and back, and very nice on the highway. Fairly decent visibility for a car of this size, though a bit limited out the back. Priced many thousands below the Infiniti M and the Lexus G. It’s in the same class as these vehicles, even though not quite at their level in terms of prestige, performance or track record. The 14.4 mpg, our average city mpg, is borderline inexcusable these days. We found it a bit “boaty”—after turning the wheel, it’s slow to respond. Not a “sporty” handling car. People who see you driving this car think will either think you’re a genius, or that you didn’t have the money to buy the Lexus or Infiniti that you really wanted!

2012 Hyundai Genesis

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Honda Civic EX (2012)

Perfectly adequate, easy-to-live with car that drives like a…. Civic! The usual Civic attributes: It’s easy to drive and smooth riding, and it handles competently. Sensible, intuitive and simple layout for all controls. The A-pillar, between the side window and the windshield, had an inset section of glass that improves visibility when turning. The usual Civic excellent reliability and great fuel economy that we’ve come to expect. Two-level dashboard has an easy-to-view speedometer, fuel gauge and clock. Dashboard is entirely computer-generated, using LEDs. At night, everything on the dash lights up, and it’s easy to think that your headlights lights are on when they’re not. There’s no automatic light switch to turn off the headlights—in 2012, that’s just plain dumb, in our humble opinion. The interior is cheap looking, especially for the high-end $22,000 EX version that we drove. The plastic looks cheap and there were spaces between pieces of it. No trunk latch. You need to use the key fob or the release button near the driver’s window, to open the rear hatch. Other cars in this segment, notably the Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus, have made huge improvements, leaving the Civic falling behind by comparison.

2012 Honda Civic

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