A new car is second only to a home as the most expensive purchase many consumers will ever make. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the average price of a new car sold in the United States is $28,400. With that much money at stake, it’s important to make a good decision so your investment will last as long as possible.

The magazine Consumer Reports (CR) claims to be one of the most dependable sources for unbiased evaluations of reliability. Recently, CR released it’s automotive reliability reports and there were some surprises. Japanese brands dominated the survey's upper echelons and took the top nine spots. They were led by Scion, Lexus, Acura, Mazda, Honda, and Toyota. No surprises there. Ford has been a model of American reliability. The brand ranked 10th in CR’s reliability ranking last year and competed well with Japanese makes. This year, however, the Ford brand has slipped 10 spots, to 20th out of 28 makes.

The U.S. News and World Report also released its ratings of the most affordable vehicles. Oddly enough, the #1 position occupied by most of the categories were occupied by Ford products. The Ford Fiesta won the top pick for Affordable Small Car, Ford Fusion for Affordable Mid-Size Cars and Ford Taurus for Affordable Large vehicle. The Ford Mustang won #1 in Affordable Sporty and Affordable Convertible while the Fusion took the Affordable Hybrid.

When reading the reports from these magazines you must take the approach much like you would when listening to a politian. Be skeptical, just because they say so doesn’t mean it’s the truth. Understand what you are reading and consider the source. Affordability vs. Reliability are two very different things. Just because the vehicle is affordable doesn’t necessarily mean it’s reliable and vice versa. Compare the prices of a Lexus, one of CR’s most reliable vehicles, to the top pick of U.S. News’s Ford Taurus. It’s hardly a comparison. The Lexus is by far more expensive than a Ford Taurus.

My best advise when shopping for a new vehicle is to find one in your price range and then do your research before buying. Hit the internet and read what the experts are saying about the vehicle you like. But remember, consider the source and understand what your reading. I’m sure you can find all kinds of great commentary about the Chevrolet Malibu on a Chevy web site.