Best car values to spend your tax return on

With the federal income tax deadline behind us, many citizens anxiously await a tax return to use for their own stimulus plan. If you're considering spending the funds on a new car, we have a fresh list for you to shop that takes good cars, made more attractive by strong value and deep discounts.

It is clear as we update our best new car deals and best used car deals lists that all the filters we use can shrink the choices rather rapidly. With all such lists, we focus on the cars that performed well in our tests, have average or better reliability, and, if crash tested, provide an adequate overall safety Rating. (In addition, pickups and SUVs must not have tipped up in the government's rollover test.) Then, we look at the potential savings.

For new cars, we're looking at savings of at least five percent below MSRP, factoring national customer rebates and hidden-dealer incentives. Often, there can be additional regional incentives offered; this information is available through our detailed price reports.

Here, we also looked at value, based on a combination of overall road test score, predicted reliability score, and five-year owner costs. Each listed car is ranked by its value score, and all are above average. The Toyota Prius stands out with a score that is more than twice that of the average car. (See our complete report on best new-car values.)

All the cars listed below made it past all of the filters mentioned, ensuring they truly are good cars available at good prices. Sure, there are many cars you can buy at deeper discounts, but when looking at the dollars and sense in spending your hard-earned money, these are worth consideration.