Top-Rated Large Car AutoPacific & Autobytel Consumer Award

by Lyndon Bell

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February 1, 2012

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2 min. Reading Time

Over 75,000 owners of new cars and light trucks in the United States were surveyed in the first quarter of 2012 to determine the winners of the AutoPacific & Autobytel 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (VSA). Based on the results of the survey, the 2012 Chrysler 300 is awarded the title of America’s highest-rated Large Car.

Dominating a field including such standouts as the Ford Taurus and the Chrysler's stablemate, the Dodge Charger, the Chrysler 300 wins over its buyers with strong performance, an outstanding array of standard features, and that indefinable quality known as "presence". Among Chrysler 300 owners, satisfaction with their choice of automobile is exceptionally high.

This determination is based solely on actual owner input. The AutoPacific & Autobytel VSA is very different from other automotive awards concentrating primarily on reliability, quality, or subjective journalist evaluations to the exclusion of how satisfied actual owners are with their vehicles. Because overall vehicle satisfaction is in fact derived from ownership experiences, AutoPacific & Autobytel’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award is a significantly more accurate measurement of how satisfied new car and light truck buyers are with their recently purchased vehicles.

Top-Rated Large Car: 2012 Chrysler 300

Significantly redesigned for the 2011 model year, Chrysler managed to keep the magic in its halo sedan, the Chrysler 300. The company did so by choosing an evolutionary path, focusing on improving the shortcomings of the previous car, while also building on its strengths.

Quieter and more luxurious than the outgoing model the AutoPacific & Autobytel Top-Rated Large Car, the 2012 Chrysler 300, goes over the road with outstanding poise. Further, it corners on par with the best handling sedans in the world—bar none. Steering feel is terrific, the brakes are exceptional, and the engine feels as though it would churn out power until the end of time.

Inside, soft touch materials are employed everywhere an occupant would come into contact with the 300’s interior components. A huge monitor dominates the dash to control the audio, navigation and communication features. The rest of the instrumentation, bathed in ice blue lighting for illumination, looks at once elegant and purposeful. The seats offer outstanding support, the driving position is ideal, and passenger comfort throughout the cabin is optimal.

With this new iteration of the 300, Chrysler has considerably expanded the definition of the full-size American sedan. An absolutely brilliant automobile, the Chrysler 300 is well deserving of the AutoPacific & Autobytel Best-Rated Large Car Vehicle Satisfaction Award.

Top-Rated Large Car: 2012 Lincoln MKZ Competitors

Hot on the heels of the Chrysler 300 for the title of AutoPacific & Autobytel’s highest-rated Large Car were the Ford Taurus, Dodge Charger, Buick LaCrosse, and Chevrolet Impala.

Coincidence all are built by American manufacturers?

Hardly.

The large car is a mode of transport the Detroit Three have specialized in going back as far as the early days of the auto industry.

Yes, the definition and indeed, part of the mission statement of this segment has changed to value driving dynamics and personal technology as much as comfort. But each of the runners-up in the top-rated large car category demonstrates the Americans have a firm grasp on those aspects of car building as well.