Hybrid Car Review

According to the press release, IntelliChoice.com and AutoPacific created the Motorist's Choice Awards to determine the vehicles that delivered both the highest satisfaction and lowest cost of ownership. The collaboration between the two respected firms, who have each been authorities on the U.S. auto market for the last 20 years, takes selected owner satisfaction data from AutoPacific's surveys of new car and light truck buyers and combines it with IntelliChoice.com's rating methodology to create a new measurement that speaks to both the hearts and minds of car buyers.

Mercury Mariner Hybrid

The Mercury Mariner Hybrid won the small crossover/sports utility class. But it did not win in the SUV/Crossover category. That award went to the Infiniti QX56. Award presentations will be made to each winning manufacturer at the Orange County Auto Show on October 4, 2006.

The top winners in each category were:

Cars/Wagons:	Lexus LS430
SUVs/Crossovers:	Infiniti QX56
Minivans:	Honda Odyssey
Pickup Trucks:	Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 (2WD)

This year is the first year for the awards. A full list of winners follows:

MOTORIST'S CHOICE AWARDS MODEL YEAR 2006 RANKINGS
CARS/WAGONS:
Index	Model	Class
729	Lexus LS 430	Luxury Car
707	Audi A6 4.2 Quattro	Sports Sedan/Wagon
700	Toyota Avalon	Fullsize Car
684	Lexus ES 330	Near Luxury Car
682	Chevrolet Corvette	Sports Car
674	Lexus SC 430	Luxury Convertible
673	Honda Accord Sedan V6	Midsize Car
656	Honda Accord Coupe	Compact Car
653	MINI Cooper Convertible	Convertible
647	MINI Cooper	Subcompact Car
637	Honda Civic Si	Base Sports Car
620	Subaru Legacy Wagon	Midsize/Fullsize Wagon
609	Scion xB	Compact Wagon
SUVS/CROSSOVERS:
Index	Model	Class
737	Infiniti QX56	Luxury Sport Utility
704	Nissan Armada	Sport Utility
700	Lexus RX 330	Luxury Crossover
664	Nissan Murano	Midsize Crossover
660	Toyota 4Runner	Intermediate Sports Utility
638	Mercury Mariner Hybrid	Small Crossover/Sports Utility
625	Kia Sportage	Compact Sports Utility
PICKUP TRUCKS:
Index	Model	Class
697	Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 2WD	Fullsize Pickup Truck 2WD 1/2 Ton
695	Honda Ridgeline	Compact Pickup Truck 4WD
694	Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Extended Cab 2WD	Fullsize Pickup Truck 2WD 3/4 Ton
686	Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Extended Cab 4WD	Fullsize Pickup Truck 4WD 1/2 Ton
645	Chevrolet Avalanche 2500 4WD	Fullsize Pickup Truck 4WD 3/4 Ton
638	Dodge Ram 3500 Mega Cab 2WD	Fullsize Pickup Truck 2WD One Ton
638	Dodge Ram 3500 Mega Cab 4WD	Fullsize Pickup Truck 4WD One Ton
617	Toyota Tacoma 2WD	Compact Pickup Truck 2WD
MINIVANS:
Index	Model	Class
664	Honda Odyssey	Minivan

Methodology
The Motorist's Choice Awards were calculated by combining IntelliChoice.com cost of ownership data with AutoPacific's customer satisfaction survey data.

AutoPacific surveys 45 different vehicle ownership attributes, and of these, 38 product-focused attributes were used. Each of the product attributes generates a score between 5 and 25, allowing a maximum possible score of 950, which is then normalized to 1000. The actual scores range from 495 to 756.

The remaining seven attributes are cost-ownership-focused and addressed by IntelliChoice.com: Depreciation, Financing, Fuel, Insurance, Maintenance, Repairs, and State Fees. IntelliChoice.com rates vehicles based on the vehicles' total ownership cost against the vehicles' total expected cost.

To merge the IntelliChoice.com data with the AutoPacific rating system, IntelliChoice.com ranked each model within the 29 different classes. A conversion formula was then used such that the best model within the IntelliChoice.com analysis received the equivalent score as the best model within the AutoPacific analysis, and the worst model received the equivalent score as the worst model within the AutoPacific analysis. This conversion was done for each class.

The final step was to combine the AutoPacific score with the converted IntelliChoice.com score. This was accomplished by creating a weighting for each class based on the AutoPacific importance scores from the 45 attributes. The average importance score from the product attributes were weighted against the average importance score from the ownership cost attributes. The AutoPacific and IntelliChoice.com scores were combined through multiplying the AutoPacific Score by the product attributes weighting and the IntelliChoice.com score by the ownership cost attributes weighting, and then adding the two scores together.