Family Cars Review

Reviews hone in on the best family cars

For the purposes of this report, a family car is defined as a midsize or large four-door sedan with a starting price of around $18,000 up to $30,000. More expensive sedans are covered in our report on sports sedans. Less expensive sedans and hatchbacks are included in our report on economy cars. We also cover hybrid cars in a separate report. If you're looking for an environmentally friendly or exceptionally fuel-efficient family sedan, you'll want to investigate hybrid versions of the Toyota Camry, Saturn Aura, Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima, along with the Toyota Prius hybrid.

The 2009 family sedan category is crowded with big names, all jockeying for position. The venerable Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima are trying to fight off competition from the sporty new Mazda6, the bargain-priced Hyundai Sonata and the well-received Chevy Malibu, among others.

It makes great fodder for reviews. The best sources have all conducted head-to-head tests of the major family cars, and each source declares a winner -- but for the 2009 model year, it's rarely the same car. Testers at Car and Driver and Edmunds Inside Line concentrate on performance, Cars.com stresses value among family cars, and Motor Trend considers both. The Truth About Cars, in its direct, always entertaining style, weighs everything equally and comes up with yet a different family-car top pick.

To sort through the confusion, we turned to scientific testing by nonprofit and government agencies. We found fuel-economy and pollution data at FuelEconomy.gov (operated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy) and GreenerCars.org (run by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy). To find the safest family cars, we studied crash-test data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Still, the best overall review source is Consumer Reports. Experts here consider every possible aspect of nearly every family car on the market, before ranking the family cars from best to worst -- and Consumer Reports' refusal to accept advertising or freebies keeps it innocent of any favoritism.

In such a crowded class, critics have no trouble finding the losers. The Chrysler Sebring (*Est. $20,515 to $35,125) "stinks things up in dead last" in more than one reputable comparison test, as The Truth About Cars' William C. Montgomery puts it. In fact, Montgomery spends quite a bit of ink criticizing the "dreadful," "atrocious" and "dismally shameful Sebring."

Experts find problems with almost every component of the Sebring family sedan, from its noisy engine, clumsy handling and soft brakes to the cheap-looking plastic interior and uncomfortable seats. Consumers apparently aren't biting, either: Sebring sales fell "an eye-opening 87 percent" between February 2008 and February 2009, Edmunds Auto Observer reports.

The Chrysler Sebring's corporate twin, the Dodge Avenger (*Est. $20,515 to $25,415), fares no better. It finishes last in Motor Trend's test of 10 family sedans. Like other review sources, Motor Trend finds the Avenger "a frightful drive," with mediocre brakes and a Sebring-like cheap plastic interior. The Avenger's low reliability ratings (according to owner surveys) drag its scores down further.

During a government crash test, the Chrysler Avenger's driver door sprang open. Federal authorities noted that this "increases the likelihood of occupant ejection," and they've added a cautionary Safety Concern notation to the Avenger's rating. Avenger sales have been almost as bad as Sebring's, falling 77 percent between February 2008 and February 2009.

Two GM family sedans fare almost as poorly these Chryslers in reviews. The Pontiac G6 (*Est. $19,275 to $32,300) is named the least dependable midsize car in J.D. Power and Associates' latest owner survey. Experts predict this car will quickly lose its value.

"It's just not a very good [car]," Edmunds.com testers conclude. Like their counterparts elsewhere, they see through the G6's "gaudy" hood scoop-and-spoiler body kit to its decidedly un-sporty handling and an interior that reminds them of a cheap rental car. ConsumerGuide.com notes the "numerous squeaks and rattles" that developed during more than 9,000 miles of testing the G6.

The 2009 Pontiac G6 does get a nod from Edmunds.com for being quite cheap to own. But none of our sources recommend the aging Buick LaCrosse (*Est. $25,640 to $33,805), which debuted in 2005. It lags behind better family sedans in almost every test category: roominess, handling, fuel economy and especially safety.

The LaCrosse does a "poor" job protecting occupants in rear-end crashes and only a "marginal" job in side crashes, the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found. Government crash tests show that the driver would have an 11 to 20 percent chance of serious injury if the LaCrosse were hit in the side by a pickup or SUV moving 31 mph. With most family sedans, the risk is less than 6 percent. Despite all that, the Buick LaCrosse is reliable -- it sits atop the midsize class in J.D. Power's 2009 Vehicle Dependability Study rankings.

The fully redesigned 2010 LaCrosse may solve some of those problems, reviewers say (see our What to Look For page in this report). The redesign also does away with the oft-criticized Buick LaCrosse Super trim (*Est. $33,805), which includes a 300-horsepower V-8 with a sport-tuned suspension. Critics wonder who Buick thought might buy it in the first place.

"Perhaps horsepower-loving seniors who like the idea of screeching their tires in a Ft. Lauderdale Publix parking lot," Edmunds.com guesses. Reviews note that the Pontiac G8 (*Est. $28,250 to $37,610) -- a powerful full-size family sedan with rear-wheel drive and an optional V-8 -- handles its horses much better than the front-wheel-drive LaCrosse Super, and it's cheaper to boot.

The LaCrosse Super "makes a coherent case for itself," concludes Michael Martineck at The Truth About Cars. "Providing you're sick or senile. Or, preferably, both." Suffice it to say, reviewers will not miss the soon-to-be-gone, current-generation Buick LaCrosse.