The Best Cars You Can Buy in 2024 | Gear Patrol (2024)

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What are the best new cars to buy? It’s a tricky question to answer, and heavily dependent on what you’re looking for. Some vehicles provide value; others shoot for excellence. Some try to be generalists; others specialize in one specific aspect. You may be looking for a hyper-efficient electric car or still want a raucous-sounding V8. We’re not here to judge.

What unites the best cars, whatever their purposes, is that they go above and beyond what they need to be. Whether it’s a trusted icon that has been mastering the art for decades or an upstart catching one of those cars’ product planners napping, the best cars do that little bit extra to provide the optimal driving experience.

There are plenty of new cars out there — and we at the Gear Patrol motoring section have driven most of them. Here is our authoritative (though admittedly subjective) list of the best cars you can buy in 2024.

Best Small Truck: Ford Maverick

Ford

The Maverick isn’t the flashiest vehicle in the Ford lineup, but it’s a segment-bending new small truck that may redefine what a truck can be. It’s the first affordable, practical and fun new people’s car to emerge in a long while. And if that weren’t enough, the base-model Maverick is now the cheapest hybrid on sale in the United States.

Best Midsize Truck: Toyota Tacoma

Jonathan Harper

The Tacoma is all-new for 2024, and it lives up to the hype. The new TNGA-F platform, a coil-sprung rear suspension, an upgraded interior and a new 8-speed transmission make the truck feel modern and sophisticated without losing its charm. And there’s still a Tacoma for everyone, whether you’re looking for a solid base truck or fully-loaded overlander.

Best Full-Size Truck: Ford F-150

Ford

Dropping luxury car money on a pickup seems crazy, but once you spend a little time in one of the regal Ford F-150, it feels almost logical. The F-150 is packed with all sorts of ingenious features that, combined with its immense inherent capability, arguably make it worthy of dropping $80K or more.

Best Heavy Duty Truck: Ford Super Duty

Ford

Ford overhauled its Super Duty lineup last year, and the new version is one of the most versatile and capable vehicles on the planet. It can tow up to 40,000 pounds (if you need to transport an aircraft carrier anchor) and support up to an 8,000-pound payload. It’s quite nifty when you leave the pavement too.

Best Small SUV: Honda CR-V

Honda

You can’t really make owning a Honda CR-V Hybrid feel thrilling or sexy —despite Honda’s best efforts. But few, if any cars are as brilliant at being boring. The CR-V is expertly tuned for everyday driving. It’s pleasant to live with and spacious. We defy anyone to find a better fully-loaded family SUV package for $40,000.

Best Small Luxury SUV: Genesis GV70

Genesis

Genesis is still a luxury upstart — the brand did not launch its first standalone vehicle until 2017, and only branched out into SUVs last year — but the GV70 is a bold, bar-setting statement of intent from a mature automaker. The GV70 doesn’t just offer better value than the rivals like the BMW X3 or the Audi Q5. It’s just better, and it does it all at a relatively affordable price point.

Best Midsize SUV: Toyota Grand Highlander

Toyota

Toyota debuted the new Grand Highlander for 2024. And it’s the new king of the three-row midsize SUV block. It offers three strong powertrain options, two of them hybrid. And its spacious third-row can accommodate full-size adults.

Best Full-Size SUV: GMC Yukon

GMC

General Motors makes an excellent full-size SUV under multiple badges. The GMC Yukon is our favorite of the trio. It offers a definitive style upgrade over the Chevy Tahoe, without being that much more expensive. It feels premium, without going full-on Escalade.

Best Off-Road SUV: Ford Bronco

Ford

The Bronco dared to challenge the hallowed Jeep Wrangler. And Ford did the damn thing right. The Bronco is as badass as everyone hoped it would be; the Wrangler has legitimate competition and even— dare we utter this blasphemy — may have some catching up to do.

Best Midsize Luxury SUV: Genesis GV80

Genesis

The Genesis GV80 looks distinctive, exotic and expensive with its bold grille, signature double-lighting and premium material quality. If you don’t know quite what you’re looking at it reads sort of like a Bentley, which not coincidentally is where Genesis poached the GV80’s lead designer from.

Best Full-Size Luxury SUV: Lexus LX 600

Lexus

The Toyota Land Cruiser is special — and the LX has always been special because it’s a Land Cruiser. There just aren’t that many vehicles where you can cart the kids to school, climb a mountain without breaking a sweat and then have your driver chauffeur you into work in sublime comfort.

Best Minivan: Toyota Sienna

Toyota

The all-new Toyota Sienna looks genuinely cool and provides something most of the competition — minivan or three-row SUV — does not: outstanding fuel economy and all-wheel drive in the same vehicle. That’s the sort of game-changer that can bring buyers into the minivan fold.

Best Small Car: Honda Civic

Honda

The Honda Civic is worth your attention — and not just because Honda is marketing it on Twitch to urbane young people like yourself. The Civic offers excellent handling, exceptional value, a cool interior and not one but two versions with a manual transmission.

Best Small Luxury Car: Genesis G70

Genesis

The Genesis G70 is a tremendous value in the luxury sport sedan market. And it’s not just a value play. With great looks, a luxurious cabin, sporty driving dynamics and some serious engine pop, it’s just as good as its big-name rivals — maybe better.

Best Midsize Car: Honda Accord

Honda

Honda made some massive changes with the new Accord, such as ditching the vaunted V6 and making the hybrid the new performance model. But the commitment to providing luxury sedan refinement at an affordable price remains the same. There’s a reason the Accord has taken up a permanent residency on the Car and Driver 10 Best list.

Best Midsize Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes-Benz

The E-Class has been the Goldilocks mainstay of the Mercedes lineup for decades. Want a buttery smooth entry-level luxury sedan? A 600-horsepower firebreathing wagon? How about something precisely in between that’s brilliant in its own right? The E-Class has you covered.

Best Full-Size Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Mercedes

These days, SUVs and crossovers (hell, arguably even pickup trucks) have become the de facto choice for luxury buyers, but a few hundred miles behind the wheel of the new S-Class will remind you just how appealing it is to drive a fancy sedan instead.

Best Station Wagon: Subaru Outback

Subaru

Many vehicles try to combine the best of car-like handling and SUV-like capability and practicality, but few succeed — at a price point that mere mortals can afford — like the Subaru Outback, which packs as much space and off-road prowess as many sport-utes without the fuel-economy pain.

Best Luxury Station Wagon: Audi RS6 Avant

Audi

We absolutely love that Audi brought over the RS 6 Avant to the U.S. The new Performance version offers up to 621 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque with an impressive AWD system to make the most of it. You can do 0-60 mph in a blistering 3.1 seconds when you’re running late for that school run.

Best Sports Car: Porsche 911

Porsche

The Porsche 911 is the benchmark for a reason. The current generation is an objective improvement in nearly every measurable way. It is more powerful, faster, handles better, keeps occupants safer, has more advanced technology, and is even more eco-friendly than its predecessors.

Best Affordable Sports Car: Volkswagen Golf GTI

Volkswagen

Driving it every day, the 8th generation GTI is the same GTI as always, but a little bit better. The car is still quick, lively and responsive. Steering remains precise. Driving the GTI is smooth and easy to drive from the get-go. Reactions to your inputs can be downright uncanny.

Best Sports Sedan: Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing

Cadillac

The CT5-V Blackwing puts out 668 horsepower from its supercharged 6.2-liter V8. For perspective, you’re getting more horsepower on tap than Cadillac’s DPi-V.R race car — with traction control that would be illegal in any racing series.

Best Plug-In Hybrid Car: Toyota Prius Prime

Toyota

Toyota’s new Prius Prime shatters every perception you had about the old Prius. It’s even more efficient, offering more than 40 miles of EV only range. It’s legitimately sporty, packing around 100 more horsepower than the previous gen. And it no longer looks dorky.

Best Plug-In Hybrid SUV: BMW X5 xDrive50e

BMW

The X5 xDrive50e is a mouthful to say. But it may be the best alternative, if you’re not quite ready to go full-on iX. It drives like a BMW, with a consistent feel whichever power source you’re using. And it packs enough range to cover most commutes on battery power.

Best Mainstream Electric Car: Hyundai Ioniq 5

Hyundai

The Ioniq 5 is one of the best cars on the road, electric or not. It’s super quick and surprisingly comfortable driving around town. It offers some. of the fastest charging tech on the market with Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. And it offers distinctive EV style, without that being a bad thing.

Best Luxury Electric Car: Mercedes-Benz EQS

Mercedes

The Mercedes EQS is no sport sedan. But it rides with the sort of solidity and comfort that most luxury cars can only dream about. Bentley and Rolls-Royce engineers would be happy to extol the virtues of having ample mass when it comes to ride and NVH, and this Mercedes has plenty of mass to go around, thanks to the 108-kWh battery pack at the bottom of the chassis.

Best Electric Sports Car: Porsche Taycan

Photo by Will Sabel Courtney

No super-sedan or sports feels quite as quick as the Taycan in the real world. The Porsche’s electric motors are always primed to give their all the instant you ask for it, no matter how fast they’re turning. To accomplish something similar in an internal combustion car, you’d have to drive around with the engine close to the power peak at all times.

Best Mainstream Electric SUV: Ford Mustang Mach-E

Ford

The Mach E’s crossover body, multiple battery sizes and available all-wheel-drive handle the need, serving up ample space, plenty of range and four-season capability. The Mustang badge and sporty styling, in turn, provide the want — a ride that looks cool.

Best Electric Luxury SUV: BMW iX

BMW

It’s hard not to see the BMW iX as an ideal proposition for anyone seeking out an electric luxury SUV and doesn’t plan on going off-roading…which, let’s face it, is probably 99 percent of electric SUV buyers. Downright quick and surprisingly fun, visually compelling, and packed with clever tech, it’s a car that feels like a breath of fresh air.

Best Electric Truck: Ford F-150 Lightning

Ford

The F-150 Lightning looks like the standard F-150. It’s as tough as a standard F-150. It delivers performance — outstripping the F-150 Raptor on horsepower and torque — that cannot be scoffed at. The F-150 Lightning offers practical features that make it more versatile and useful for the people who use trucks. And — given how much prices have been rising — it does not cost much more than a conventional pickup.

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