Yahoo Autos Presidents Day Weekend: 25 best deals on American-made cars
Many automakers, as well as local dealerships, are advertising discounts and low-interest rates for this car-sales holiday, but not all deals merit a presidential seal of approval. We have analyzed the available offers and transactions to flag the best deals on American-made cars.
We maintain a Best New Car Deals list, highlighting those models that offer notable discounts on models that meet Consumer Reports' criteria to be recommended. These featured vehicles scored well in our testing, had average or better reliability in our subscriber survey, and performed well in government or insurance-industry safety tests, if evaluated.
But for this car-sales holiday, we scrutinized the recent leads secured through our Build & Buy service, reflecting not just potential discounts, but real-world pricing. The retail price and savings are based on the average configured vehicle at consumerreports.org. In other words, these are cars as popularly equipped with real price quotes from dealerships bound to high customer service standards.
Of these, we removed any model that did not meet the criteria for being Consumer Reports recommended.
We then sorted the list based on the percentage discounted off the MSRP, or retail price, ranked by the available savings. From that, we focused on the models that are made in America, emphasizing the patriotic nature of this holiday. Of course, there are some models manufactured at more than one facility, and the percentage of components sourced from the United States can vary widely, even if the manufacturing plant is located here. Clearly, there are numerous ways to determine how "American" a model is. To keep things simple, we focused on where the factory is located. If buying American is a top priority, we encourage you to always triple-check the window sticker on the specific model you are considering to verify its country of origin and parts sourcing.
Not surprisingly, the greatest discounts are on remaining 2012 models and vehicles that are about to be replaced, such as the Chevrolet Silverado. Such leftovers may be harder to find, but if saving money is your priority, it is worth the look. We have flagged five below, in addition to 20 vehicles from the 2013 model year.
Simply put, the chart highlights good American-made cars with good savings available.
Make & model | Average MSRP | Savings off avg. MSRP ($) | Savings off avg. MSRP (%) | Bottom line price |
2012 Mazda6 | $21,839 | $5,605 | -26% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2012 Nissan Maxima | 36,741 | 8,084 | -22% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2012 Nissan Altima | 24,997 | 4,734 | -19% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2012 Mitsubishi Outlander | 21,578 | 3,954 | -18% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2012 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 35,052 | 5,932 | -17% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Nissan Maxima | 37,938 | 6,085 | -16% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Mazda6 | 25,571 | 3,983 | -15% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Chevrolet Silverado | 38,403 | 5,365 | -14% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 GMC Sierra 1500 | 41,500 | 5,323 | -13% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Ford F-150 | 43,576 | 5,341 | -12% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Toyota Tundra 4WD | 39,851 | 4,849 | -12% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport | 24,505 | 2,858 | -12% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Dodge Durango | 41,840 | 4,757 | -11% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Kia Sorento | 29,945 | 3,297 | -11% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Acura MDX | 48,514 | 5,315 | -11% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Ford Expedition | 52,640 | 5,560 | -11% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Ford Expedition EL | 54,567 | 5,673 | -10% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Ford Mustang | 32,329 | 3,209 | -10% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Toyota Corolla | 18,826 | 1,866 | -10% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Chevrolet Suburban | 57,654 | 5,320 | -9% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Toyota Highlander | 37,296 | 3,421 | -9% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Kia Optima | 28,088 | 2,463 | -9% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 GMC Yukon XL | 58,899 | 5,053 | -11% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
2013 Nissan Altima | 27,422 | 2,327 | -8% | Get the Bottom Line Price |
To research these further, or to find the latest trim-level pricing on any model, visit the Consumer Reports car model pages (available to online subscribers) and click the "Next: View Pricing" button. There you will find the Estimated Savings Guarantee and Estimated Subscriber Price for the vehicle you are interested in. With the Consumer Reports Build & Buy Program, participating dealers have agreed to pass along discounts provided by any applicable manufacturer incentives for the vehicle you're buying. This includes unadvertised manufacturer-to-dealer incentives, for which it's typically up to the dealer whether to keep the savings or pass them on to the customer. In addition, subscribers may also be eligible for additional CR Savings.
More from Consumer Reports:
2013 New Car Preview
Best & worst used cars
Complete Ratings for 200 cars and trucks
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