Hey everyone, Josh Logan here. Before you ever step into a dealership or start browsing classifieds, the most important phase of car ownership happens right here: research.
- Safety Ratings & Crash Testing
- Pricing, Value & Total Cost to Own
- Professional Reviews & Road Tests
- Reliability & Owner Satisfaction
- Vehicle History (For Used Cars)
- TheLoganZone Automotive Guides
Being an informed consumer is your single greatest advantage. This page is your curated toolkit. I’ve gathered the most reliable, unbiased, and essential online resources to help you research your next car like a pro. There are no sales pitches here—just powerful data and expert reviews to help you make the best possible decision.
Safety Ratings & Crash Testing
This is the non-negotiable starting point for any vehicle search. These two organizations are the gold standard for safety in the United States.
- IIHS – The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Famous for their rigorous crash tests, including the small overlap front test. Look for their “Top Safety Pick” and “Top Safety Pick+” awards.
- NHTSA – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: The U.S. government’s 5-Star Safety Ratings program. They provide frontal, side, and rollover crash test ratings.
Pricing, Value & Total Cost to Own
Know what a car is really worth and what it will really cost you over time.
- Kelley Blue Book (KBB): The long-standing benchmark for new and used car pricing, trade-in values, and fair market range.
- Edmunds “True Cost to Own®” (TCO): A powerful tool that calculates the 5-year ownership costs of a vehicle, including depreciation, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
Professional Reviews & Road Tests
Get expert opinions from seasoned automotive journalists who have driven and tested hundreds of cars.
- Consumer Reports: Unbiased and incredibly thorough. They buy every car they test and have the most comprehensive reliability data available. (Requires a subscription for full access, but is often worth it).
- Edmunds: Provides excellent written and video reviews, detailed road tests, and a great side-by-side vehicle comparison tool.
- MotorTrend: A great source for performance-oriented reviews, long-term road tests, and their prestigious “Car of the Year” awards.
Reliability & Owner Satisfaction
How does a car hold up in the real world? This is where you find out from actual owners.
- J.D. Power: Provides widely cited initial quality and dependability ratings based on massive surveys of vehicle owners.
- Consumer Reports Reliability Ratings: (Included with subscription) The most respected source for predicted reliability of new and used cars based on member surveys.
Vehicle History (For Used Cars)
If you’re considering a used car, a vehicle history report is absolutely essential.
- CarFax: The most well-known provider of vehicle history reports, checking for accidents, service records, title issues, and more.
- AutoCheck: A strong competitor to CarFax, often used by dealers and auctions. It’s wise to check both if you’re serious about a specific used car.
TheLoganZone Automotive Guides
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