The Driveway

Come with us on a journey across the pond for the CarGurus Great European Car Draft of 2026. We're picking 4 of the countries in Europe that are tied to vehicle production (of cars that we can buy and drive in the United States) and picking one vehicle from each country to build our European Garage. Those countries are England, Italy, Germany, and Sweden. A few stipulations–all four vehicles must add up to less than $300,000 and no single vehicle can cost LESS than $40,000. Lastly, once a model is selected, that model is now off the board, but the automaker is still available. We hope you enjoy the show, we had a great time recording this one, and let us know who YOU would pick as the winner in the poll for this episode.

Walk onto any dealer lot today and you'll find more choices than ever — EVs parked next to plug-in hybrids, trucks with interiors that rival luxury sedans, and three-row crossovers available with enough powertrain options to make your head spin. More choice is a good thing, but it also makes the question harder: which ones are actually worth your money?Our editorial team backs that up by driving and reviewing hundreds of new vehicles every year, living with and testing each vehicle the same way its future owners will. We do everything from quick daily trips hauling kids and groceries, long summer road trips to the campground, slow drives through blinding snow or up dusty trails, and fast drives through winding canyon roads and around the track.The CarGurus Confidence Awards put those two things together — pairing real-world market data with hands-on editorial expertise, to identify the best new vehicles on sale today across four categories.These aren't aspirational picks. Every winner is a vehicle you can find at a dealership near you, at a price that makes sense, right now.

This is a special episode, it's episode FIFTY, and it's roughly the one year anniversary of The Driveway! To commemorate the occasion, we found some other cars that have stood the test of time, but not for 50 episodes, at least 50 YEARS! In this episode we draft our dream garage from a pool of nameplates and vehicles that have lasted at least 50 years (that's since 1976!) The nameplates do not have to have been in continuous production, but the essence of the vehicle must be the same as it was when launched, so for example, the Ford Bronco would be a candidate, but not something like the Ford Maverick. Listen along, and vote in the poll for who did the best job building their four car garage of classics. And as a side note, if you've been here for all fifty episodes, let us know, because you're a real one!

Today we're recapping the 2026 New York International Auto Show in New York City. This year, Natalie traveled to New York to attend the show in person and brought back her experience to share with us! All the biggest reveals from Subaru's new Getaway, Kia's refreshed Seltos and all-new EV3, The Hyundai Boulder concept, Chrysler's updated Pacifica, and more! What was your favorite reveal of the show? Let us know!

Most of us at one time or another need to offload a car to make way for a new one. How do you go about doing that? Do you trade in at the dealer? Sell privately or through a listing website? Once you've sold your car, how do you get your next one? In this episode, we'll help you navigate the sometimes confusing path about this process.

This week, we dive into our favorite features in modern cars. We also touch on a few features that we we wish would go away, and finish up with a few we wish would make their return. There's also some news–Lincoln may be ready to cash in on Ford's Bronco model! Hear our takes and let us know what you think!

We sat down at the table this week to have a little bit of fun. We're drafting our DREAM value garage... feels a bit like an oxymoron eh? We set a limit of $90,000 MSRP only to build a varied and practical 3-car garage. How do we want to spend the money, what do each of us value in a garage, and naturally, who won? Listen to the show and then leave a comment or respond to the poll–who built the best dream value garage?

This episode, we go back, back to cars that we think were ahead of their time. Some by a few years, some quite a bit longer. Did we choose well? Let us know!

For this week’s episode, we dug into the data for ALL of our written reviews on CarGurus.com from 2025, we crunched the numbers, and VOILA—out came our 2025 Test Drive Review Awards! Broken out into the most popular categories, we discuss which cars surprised us, which were our favorites, and what we would take home ourselves. As always, thanks for listening, let us know if you agree with our takes!

For the final episode of the Driveway in 2025, we go through our end of year Superlative Awards. Which were our favorite vehicles that we personally drove this year? This is a fun one, so hopefully you enjoy! Happy holidays to you and yours, we'll be back in January with new episodes!

These are the cars that were discontinued for the 2026 model year. We say goodbye to some vehicles that we really enjoy, and to some that were a bit of a surprise! Let us know if any of the cars surprise or sadden you in the comments!

In this episode, we're combining Matt's love of sports (fantasy or otherwise) and the team's love for cars! Instead of drafting athletes to our team, we're drafting cars to fill out our dream garage. This episode is focused on Toyota's lineup from the last 25 years. Let us know which member of the team built the best garage, and have a great week!

Welcome to the show!After full-size pickup trucks, compact crossovers are the most in-demand vehicle class currently on sale in the United States. We look at all of them, from the Jeep Compass to the Toyota RAV4, and decide which one is the best.---------0:00 - Welcome to the Show1:08 - Rules of the Game5:30 - Ford Bronco Sport vs Jeep Compass9:30 - Mazda CX-50 vs Mitsubishi Outlander14:15 - Volkswagen Tiguan vs Chevrolet Equinox19:50 - Hyundai Tucson vs Nissan Rogue25:15 - Second Round - Wild Region32:40 - Second Round - Mild Region40:00 - Final Four47:00 - Championship Round