The Best Cars You Can Buy in 2023

Looking for a great new ride? Start looking here.

What are the best new cars to buy? It's a tricky question to answer, and heavily dependent on what you're looking for. Some vehicles provide value; others shoot for excellence. Some try to be generalists; others specialize in one specific aspect. You may be looking for a hyper-efficient electric car or still want a raucous-sounding V8. We're not here to judge.

What unites the best cars, whatever their purposes, is that they go above and beyond what they need to be. Whether it's a trusted icon that has been mastering the art for decades or an upstart catching one of those cars' product planners napping, the best cars do that little bit extra to provide the optimal driving experience.

There are plenty of new cars out there — and we at the Gear Patrol motoring section have driven most of them. Here is our authoritative (though admittedly subjective) list of the best cars you can buy in 2023.

Best Small Truck: Ford Maverick

The Maverick isn't the flashiest vehicle in the Ford lineup, but it's a segment-bending new small truck that may redefine what a truck can be. It's the first affordable, practical and fun new people's car to emerge in a long while. And if that weren't enough, the base model Maverick is now the cheapest hybrid on sale in the United States.

The Tacoma looks better than the competition; it’s muscular and athletic looking but without the forced effort other manufacturers put into that. It’s simple, capable and durable. That combo is what many truck and off-roader buyers want. And it's why the Tacoma dominates its market segment.

Dropping luxury car money on a pickup seems crazy, but once you spend a little time in one of the regal Ford F-150, it feels almost logical. The F-150 is packed with all sorts of ingenious features that, combined with its immense inherent capability, arguably make it worthy of dropping $80K.