BBNovaRacing.com

From our local newsline:

Announced last Friday, the following GM vehicles have received 2008 Best Buy or Recommended Buy awards from Consumer Guide.

Best Buy
Buick Enclave: Premium Midsize SUV
Cadillac CTS: Premium Midsize Car
Cadillac Escalade: Premium Large SUV
Chevrolet Corvette: Premium Sporty/ Performance Car
Chevrolet Suburban: Large SUV
Chevrolet Tahoe: Large SUV
GMC Acadia: Midsize SUV
Saturn Outlook: Midsize SUV

Recommended Buy
Cadillac DTS: Premium Large Car
Chevrolet Avalanche: Large Pick-up
Chevrolet Silverado 1500: Large Pick-up
GMC Sierra 1500: Large Pick-up
Saab 9-3; Premium Compact Car
Saturn Aura: Midsize Car
Saturn Vue: Compact SUV

Also - this just in:

More good news on the awards front -- learned today that Chevy, GMC and Cadillac have won three of the 10 categories in Popular Mechanics' Automotive Excellence Awards as follows:

1) Workhorse Award -- Chevy Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD with the Duramax diesel engine;
2) Fuel Economy Award -- Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid;
3) Luxury Award -- Cadillac CTS.

GM is the only manufacturer to win three awards this year.

Pop. Mechanics has asked if Bob Lutz would be available to accept the awards at a reception at the LA Auto Show in mid November.

AND...this just in today....

Toyota is slipping, Consumer Reports says

Magazine won't automatically recommend redesigned Toyotas, citing below-average quality in new models. Ford improves dramatically.

Consumer Reports magazine reported today that the quality of cars made by Toyota, long the benchmark for reliability among automotive brands, had slipped so much that the organization no longer will automatically recommend them.

Releasing the results of its 2007 annual Car Reliability Survey today in Detroit, the magazine said two high-profile models, the top-selling Camry V-6 and the four-wheel-drive Tundra pickup, both redesigned this year, scored below average. Consumer Reports won't recommend any model scoring below average to its readers.

Typically, Consumer Reports will recommend a vehicle only if it has at least one year of reliability data. New and redesigned Toyota models had been exempted from that standard because of the company's record. The magazine said today it no longer will recommend any new or redesigned Toyota-built models without reliability data on a specific design.

Article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1192...l?mod=yahoo_hs