Five-Year-Old Used Cars: The Car Guide's Top Picks of 2017

When searching for information on a particular used vehicle, it can be interesting and useful to look at what the automotive press had to say about it at the time.

The Best Buys section of The Car Guide is a good place to start. By going back to the vehicle's model year, you can see if it was among the experts' most recommended choices.

Considering a five-year-old used vehicle? Let's take a quick look at the 2017 best buys as compiled by The Car Guide...

Let's start with the smaller cars. The Nissan Micra, Toyota Yaris, and Honda Civic were the winners in their respective categories. These are simple and very reliable models, so no issues to report, and that's still the case five years later.

For more space, journalists recommended the Volkswagen Golf Wagon, the Mazda6, or the Dodge Charger. Note, however, that the latter can be more expensive to maintain and to fill up at the pump.

Speaking of Mazda, the Japanese brand performed particularly well in the 2017 Car Guide Best Buys. Three of its SUVs had been crowned: the small CX-3, the compact CX-5 and the three-row mid-size CX-9. The former, however, had some transmission and air conditioner issues. A Subaru Crosstrek or Honda HR-V might be a better choice today, especially since they are more spacious.

The Chrysler Pacifica was the best minivan on the market five years ago, thanks in part to its plug-in hybrid version, while the Honda Ridgeline and Ram 1500 represented the pinnacle of pickup trucks in the mid-size and full-size segments, respectively. In fact, year after year, the Ridgeline has often been the winner because of its versatility and driving dynamics.

For those who love a bit of sportiness, The Car Guide recommended the Mazda MX-5, Audi S3 as well as the Porsche 718 Boxster/718 Cayman and 911. These still remain the benchmark in their categories with their combination of style, quality, performance and reliability.

Finally, if you're into luxury, you should know that the best buys included models like the Audi A4/A5 and Q7, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and GLS, the Porsche Macan and the Tesla Model S.

Be sure to check out the vast inventory of used vehicles for sale on Otogo.ca!