Best Cars For Road Trips

Flying is so common to most people that they rarely think about driving anymore, but there are still great road trips to had out there. For instance, down the Coast Highway from San Francisco to Los Angeles, LA to Las Vegas, and New York to either the Catskills or down to the Beaches of Florida. Sometimes a great road trip is all you need to "wake up and smell the coffee" so to speak.

Of course, the prevailing mantra to having a great road trip is having a great car to drive. You want a car that gets good gas mileage, seats everyone comfortably, and above all, is peppy and a joy to drive. We're assuming here that you perhaps have the wife and kids in tow, so fundamentally, we're talking about joy to drive mid-size cars. So, we consulted our automotive genies and came up with the following list.

Ten top midsize sedans

#10 The Subaru Legacy.

A roomy, comfortable sedan that starts at around $22,000, the Legacy has many things going for it, although U.S. News and World Reports gave it low marks for power.

#9 The Chevrolet Malibu

Much like the Subaru Legacy, the Malibu is considered a comfortable and well-built car, but U.S. News and World Reports suggests there are better cars in the mid-size sedan class.

#8. The Honda Clarity

This car has the reputation of being a Honda but is perhaps underpowered like the Legacy and the Malibu.

#7. The Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.

Perhaps still underpowered, but the Hyundai is a well-built car and its vehicle mileage of nearly 45 mpg on the Highway and 39 mpg in the city make it an attractive choice.

#6 The Mazda6.

Here we are getting into true road cars, with impressive performance that makes many satisfied customers.

#5. The Kia Optima.

A remarkably roomy car, this one is also fun to drive.

#4. The Hyundai Sonata.

Another roomy, comfortable sedan with many attractive features, U.S. News and World Reports rates it an excellent family vehicle with an attractive price.

#3. The Nissan Altima

Rated among the top midsize sedans, Altimas have both style and performance

#2. The Toyota Camry

The Camry runs neck and neck with the number one vehicle as the most popular sedan for features, including reliability and performance. It is considered not merely a good car, but an excellent one, and the price, for what you get is reasonable.

#1. The 2019 Honda Accord

The 2019 Honda Accord, not surprisingly, is the number one rated vehicle. U.S. News and World Report calls it an outstanding vehicle with highly responsive steering, having all the technological bells and whistles you would want, and a choice of very peppy and responsive engines.

But it's not just U.S. News and World Report that rates the Accord highly. Accords have generated the best car of the year awards and even car of the decade honors by various automotive rating experts such as Autobyte and Edmunds.com. Edmonds describes the Accord as sporty, fun to drive, and has many safety features that comes standard.

A new Accord will run you around $23,000, although, for the features provided, Edmonds recommends potential buyers consider the EX model, which starts at around $30,000. U.S. News and World Reports gives the Honda Accord a 9 out of 10 rating that takes into account performance, reliability, safety, and interior room and features, while Edmunds rates the Accord an 8.3 out of 10.

Summer is coming soon, so the question now, is which new vehicle will you take your next personal road trip in?