Like clock work each year, right around the time the leaves start to change and retailers start their full onslaught of Christmas, the various automobile publications start the enviable task of naming their version of “car of the year” or some variation thereof.
You the consumer can choose from the MT car, truck or SUV of the year, or choose one of the 10 selections from the C&D Top Ten List. Sort through the Automobile Magazine list and pick from one of several honorable mentions that compliment the yearly automobile of the year or go you’re the highly trained Agents here at AutoSpies.com by choosing the BMW 1-Series which was our 2008 Car of the Year.
The winners are spread across the broad ranging from cars like the Honda Fit to the Audi R8. Other choices include the Chevrolet Malibu, the Cadillac CTS, Porsche Boxster/Cayman and the BMW 3-Series, a car that makes multiple lists.
Based on my informal count, there are in excess of 20 different cars and trucks honored by the various automobile sources available.
And they are all good, if not great cars.
But as we enter that time of year again for the 2009 choices to be announced, I can’t help but stop and scratch my head and ask, “Do YOU really care?”
Let’s face it, there is a lot of bragging and claims made here on AutoSpies.com regarding particular cars that readers either own, or wish they owned. A claim that is not heard here is people claiming that their car made one of the many “ten best” or “car of the year” lists as published by the magazines.
Let’s clarify here for a second, this IS NOT a slam on any of the various lists out there. Those resources serve a purpose in educating people not as in tune with cars as our readers are when they are searching for their next new car or truck.
But for you, the AutoSpies.com reader, do you really care?
Does seeing a particular car on one of the various lists make you run out to buy it?
In recently announcing the Subaru Forester as the MT SUV of the Year, did your heart skip a beat as you quickly loaded up the car to head for the Subaru dealer?
Of course it didn’t, but we all know a certain segment of the market will flock to the dealer based on the article making the proclamation coupled with the ensuing advertising that will follow.
As a faithful AutoSpies.com reader, do you really care what cars make your list? Automobile Magazine just named the 2009 Nissan GT-R their automobile of the year, a fine selection but one we have known about here for months. Is that classification enough to sway you one way or another regarding the GT-R. Last year the very same honor was bestowed upon the R8, a car at least one of our readers has parked in his garage.
Did that award prompt the purchase?
I highly doubt it.
So do you as a highly informed person, and a regular reader of AutoSpies.com (and probably other automotive resources as well), really care what cars make the various “Best of” and “Top Ten” lists?
If you do care, enlighten us as to why.
If you don’t care, perhaps provide a benchmark that would get your attention.
Maybe collectively we can come up with a better system to bring the best products to the forefront of the automobile spectrum.
Let us know what you think.
Be sure to check out the
2008 LA Auto Show Gallery