10 Biggest News Stories Of The Year: Tesla Model 3, Kia Soul Come Cheap, Ford F-150 Goes Bye-Bye

The new year is a time to take stock, make resolutions and embrace all sorts of self-help cliches — like, “Out with the old, in with the new.” Clear back at the beginning of 2023, Cars.com’s Editorial team was resolving to purge its fleet of long-term test vehicles of the by-then-long-in-the-tooth 2021 Ford F-150 Limited hybrid, which reviewers and editors had been driving daily and reporting on for two years and nearly 27,000 miles. We hated to see it go thanks to its comfortable, luxury-leaning interior, 11,600-pound towing capacity, handy onboard generator, refined road manners for everyday duty and general pragmatism — but we loved to watch it leave for all the fuel-efficiency IOUs the hybrid truck failed to make good on.

Related: Best Car of 2023

In one of Cars.com’s most popular news articles in the whole of the past year, the general consensus is clear among our editors: We’d never buy one again. Across our F-150 ownership experience, we averaged just over 17 mpg compared with the F-150 hybrid’s EPA rating of 24 mpg for combined highway and city driving. And at the end of the day, the word “hybrid” comes with certain fuel-economy expectations — especially if the manufacturer recommends filling up with high-grade gas.

“The selling point of any hybrid is the fuel economy, and with the F-150, we rarely were able to achieve its EPA-rated 24 mpg combined,” Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Newman stated. “For a pickup truck that prefers premium gas, that’s a huge miss.”

For the full debrief on our time with the 2021 Ford F-150 Limited hybrid — published way back in February — follow the link below to the No. 10 news story on our countdown of 2023’s most read articles.

And it’s out with the old, in with the new, indeed, with a full half of the year’s top 10 stories pertaining specifically to buying new vehicles. Another 40% of articles on the countdown help shoppers choose among fuel-sipping, electric and used models.

At No. 1 is our roundup of the 10 cheapest cars available (under specified parameters, such as an automatic transmission) as of its publication date in October, with prices ranging from just under $18,000 up to just over $22,000. These include specified trim levels of the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage, 2023 Kia Rio, 2023 Nissan Versa, 2023 Kia Forte, 2023 Hyundai Venue, 2023 Kia Soul, 2024 Chevrolet Trax, 2023 Nissan Sentra, 2023 Nissan Kicks and 2023 Hyundai Elantra. For full details on each of the cheapest new cars you can buy — including specific trims, EPA-rated fuel economy, respective destination charges and much more — follow the link below to the No. 1 news story of the year.

At No. 2 is something for those who want to save money and the planet in our roundup of the 11 cheapest electric vehicles you can currently buy, last updated in December as of this writing. It may come as a surprise to you that you can find an affordable Tesla on this list in the Model 3 compact sedan, which starts at a reasonable (for Tesla) $40,380 and boasts a driving range of up to 358 miles on a full charge. For details on the modestly priced Model 3, as well as the other 10 cars on the list, follow the link below to the No. 2 news story of the year.

Beyond all that, we have more headlines on affordable cars, cheap SUVs, tax-credit-eligible EVs and $10,000-or-less used models, as well as roundups of fuel-efficient cars and longest-range electrics. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in 2023:

1. Here Are the 10 Cheapest New Cars You Can Buy Right Now

2. Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy

3. 2023 Cars.com Affordability Report: Best Value New Cars

4. What to Know Before Purchasing an Electric Vehicle: A Buying Guide

5. Here Are the 10 Cheapest New SUVs You Can Buy Right Now

6. Which Electric Cars Are Still Eligible for the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit?

7. What Are the Most Fuel-Efficient Cars?

8. Electric Cars With the Longest Range

9. What Are the Best Used Cars for $10,000?

10. After 2 Years and 26,000 Miles, It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Our 2021 Ford F-150

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.