Not 1 Toyota Won a 2023 Best Car for the Money Award
U.S. News & World Report recently released its list of award winners for the 2023 Best Car for the Money across twelve car categories. Hyundai won in four categories, Kia hit the top spot in three, while Chevrolet and Honda each won two awards. Surprisingly, not a single Toyota vehicle won in any class. Doesn’t Toyota still make some of the most affordable cars? Let’s look a little further into this omission.
Why didn’t even one of the affordable Toyota cars win this award?
The award for the 2023 Best Car for the Money across twelve categories doesn’t mean the Toyota vehicles aren’t some of the best but simply are not award winners. Most likely, the U.S. News team has some Toyota models near the top, but the winners had a little something more that offered more value.
The methodology U.S. News & World Report uses to determine award winners in each class combines quality, value, and the overall Best Car Rankings score. The Best Car Ranking scores are based on safety and reliability data along with the opinions of the reviewers and testers at U.S. news.
Were any Toyota vehicles on this list last year?
For 2022, the Toyota Avalon won the Best Large Car for the Money award. Unfortunately, this category is no longer part of the auto market, and neither is the Avalon. The full-size sedan class has shrunk to only three models in the mainstream market.
Where do Toyota cars and SUVs fall in each category?
If we turn our minds to the U.S. News overall rankings for each vehicle class instead of the Best Car for the Money ratings, we see that some of the winners hit the top spot for both lists. That said, here’s where the affordable Toyota cars and SUVs rank in each vehicle class:
- Midsize SUVs
- Toyota Highlander 13th
- Toyota 4Runner 22nd
- Compact Cars
- Toyota Corolla 5th
- Compact SUVs
- Toyota RAV4 8th
- Electric SUVs
- Toyota bZ4X 9th
- Hybrid Cars
- 2022 Toyota Avalon 3rd
- Toyota Camry 3rd
- Toyota Corolla 8th
- Toyota Prius 9th
- Toyota Prius Prime 9th
- Toyota Crown 11th
- Hybrid SUV
- Toyota RAV4 5th
- Toyota Highlander 6th
- Toyota RAV4 Prime 6th
- Toyota Venza 11th
- Midsize Cars
- Toyota Camry 3rd
- Minivans
- Toyota Sienna 5th
- Subcompact SUVs
- Toyota Corolla Cross 8th
- 2022 Toyota C-HR 19th
What does this tell us about Toyota vehicles?
None of the competing Toyota vehicles reached the top of U.S. News lists as the best in the respective categories, and these models aren’t considered the best for the money by this organization.
Note: When researching vehicles to find the right one to drive, multiple opinions from experts can offer different information for various models. Consider the 2023 Toyota Tacoma for a second. This midsize truck is the top-rated model with Kelley Blue Book but falls to dead last in the U.S. News rankings.
Next, check out the most reliable compact SUV, or learn more about affordable Toyota cars and SUVs in this video below:
