Use Car and Driver to develop specific questions about a vehicle, then check those questions against the exact version you might buy. Keep measured results, reviewer judgments and award eligibility separate in your notes. Each helps in a different way, and none replaces your own requirements or an inspection of a used car.
Match the article to the actual vehicle
Save the article URL, publication or update date, model year, trim, engine or battery, transmission, driven wheels and important options. Record whether the piece is a preview, a first drive, an instrumented test, a comparison or a longer ownership report. If that evidence type is unclear, leave it unresolved until you find the explanation.
Compare the tested configuration with the sale listing. Note differences in wheels, tires, seating or equipment that matter to your question. A result for an expensive option package may have limited relevance to the lower-priced example on your shortlist.
Start with three needs of your own, such as carrying a particular load, comfortable commuting and predictable operating costs. This prevents an entertaining review from quietly changing the purpose of the purchase.
Keep results and judgments in separate fields
Car and Driver’s testing-methodology article explains its instrumented work and test definitions, including rollout in standing-start acceleration figures. Read the definition attached to a result before comparing it with another publisher’s number. These controlled tests are evidence to interpret; do not reproduce performance maneuvers on public roads.
Its vehicle-rating explanation describes a ten-point rating informed by testing and editorial evaluation within vehicle categories. Treat that rating as a published assessment with a stated method. It is not a percentage probability that the vehicle will satisfy your household or remain trouble-free.
On a narrow screen, scroll the table horizontally. Keyboard users can focus its region and use the arrow keys.
| Information | Record alongside it | Use it to |
|---|---|---|
| Measured result | Units, test definition, vehicle configuration and source | Make a like-for-like comparison where possible |
| Reviewer observation | Context, reviewer’s task and your different needs | Plan a specific observation on your test drive |
| Specification or estimate | Whether supplied by manufacturer or another source | Verify the exact variant and meaning |
| Award or rating | Year, category, eligibility and assessment method | Understand the scope of the recognition |
| Missing evidence | What the article does not resolve for you | Assign a follow-up rather than invent a score |
Keep quotations brief and link to the original report. Your worksheet needs the facts relevant to your decision, not a copy of a publication’s tables or scoring system. Recording the source also makes later corrections easier to trace.
Read 10Best within its year and rules
For the 2026 10Best competition, Car and Driver describes considering new or substantially updated vehicles alongside returning winners, with a starting-price ceiling of $115,000 and an on-sale deadline at the end of January 2026. Those are that edition’s eligibility conditions; check the next edition’s rules before carrying them forward.
Ask whether an award applies to the model and version you are considering, and what your priorities add to the decision. A vehicle outside a list may have been ineligible or may simply serve a different need. Read the explanation before treating absence as a poor test result.
Use awards to discover candidates, then return to the configuration record. Keep price, availability and the condition of the specific car as separate evidence. An old award remains part of a model’s history but does not establish its present maintenance condition.
Turn a comparison into a test-drive question
For two candidates, use the same evidence fields and mark anything unavailable. If one has a detailed test and the other only a preview, the uneven documentation is an uncertainty, not an automatic victory for the more extensively covered car.
When numbers differ, first check units, configuration, dates and methods. If the comparison still lacks a common basis, describe the difference without declaring a winner from false precision.
Combine reading with your own evidence
After reading, list the questions that remain: fit, controls, service records, running costs and the exact equipment in the vehicle for sale. Gather those answers through inspection, a suitable test drive and primary vehicle documentation. Keep the source and observation date with each answer.
Summarize why a candidate meets your needs and what would change that conclusion. A useful shortlist is one whose reasoning another person can follow. Revisit it when the price, configuration, condition or intended use changes, rather than relying on an award label alone.
Save a practical worksheet
Download the using car and driver worksheet (plain text). Open it in any text editor, save a private copy, and fill in the prompts while you work. It includes the article link and supporting references. Record “unknown” when a question still needs evidence.