2026 Top Picks

Shopping for a new car? Consumer Reports' Top Picks highlight the best cars, SUVs, and trucks you can buy right now—standouts for performance, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety. In this episode, we break down this year's winners across key segments, from sedans and small SUVs to three-row SUVs, featuring brands like Toyota, Honda, Ford, Tesla, BMW, Lexus, and Subaru. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 00:00 - Introduction 00:15 - 2026 Top Picks 23:57 - Safety Verdict 29:27 - Question: What's the best way to buy a car located too far away to inspect in person? ---------------------------------- Best Cars of 2026 — CR Top Picks ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safety Verdict The Safest Cars You Can Buy Right Now Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT How Car Brands Stack Up On Lifetime Repair Cost ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT 10 Best SUVs You Can Buy Right Now ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Consumerreports.org/Talkingcars ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT The Weekly Cars Newsletter: Shop Smarter. Drive Smarter. ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Lock in savings with a better way to buy a car. ?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT

You can listen to 2026 Top Picks online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

2026 Top Picks is an episode from Talking Cars (HQ) by Consumer Reports.

This episode is 33:56 long.

This episode was published on Feb 4, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Talking Cars (HQ) when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.