Quality, safety, and value are the top factors for new-car buyers and are certainly not lost on moms looking to buy the right family car. Hitting all these attributes in a vehicle that is also kid friendly can be a challenge, but our experts have found 25 of the best, least-expensive mom-friendly cars that are appealing to moms with children of varying ages.

Watch our automotive experts chat about new road test results and answer reader questions in the third episode of "Talking Cars with Consumer Reports."

Automakers tout the size of their SUV's third-row seats claiming they are accessible and usable. And while SUVs are pitched as a hipper alternative to the minivan, they still can't rival the big people movers.

A built-in vacuum is pure genius for a minivan. You'll find this innovation on the 2014 Honda Odyssey, the lightly freshened version our current Top Pick minivan.

Conventional wisdom says that car deals are better at the end of the year. But is this still true? Our analysis shows, some new-car offers in late December are great, while others are just hype.

Some of my counterparts believe this microvan was the sleeper of the LA Auto Show. Although the Connect only arrived in the U.S. market in 2009, it is now a 10-year-old vehicle that was designed to be Spartan and utilitarian. Now, Ford is reimagining this new generation to serve dual purposes as a commercial and a passenger vehicle.

Paying more for a new car doesn't guarantee that it will be reliable. Fuel-efficient hatchbacks, wagons, compact sports sedans, compact pickups, and small SUVs are the most reliable vehicles according to our 2012 Annual Auto Survey, which is based on our subscribers' experiences with 1.2 million vehicles. Upscale cars, minivans and luxury SUVs are among the least reliable.

More stylish than your average plumber's van, the redesigned Transit Connect gets a smoother, less upright look than the boxy small cargo van it replaces, with a front-end treatment reminiscent of the Focus and Fiesta small cars.

Just because a car generates a lot of buzz or is a best seller doesn't mean that it's a good choice for you. The five models here may be on a lot of buyers' shopping lists, but we suggest you steer clear. They didn't perform well in our testing or they suffer from subpar reliability. Either way, there are better choices.

Chrysler is recalling a small number of 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans equipped with powered rear liftgate doors. About 471 of the minivans have faulty sensors that may not prevent the door from closing on a finger or other appendage says the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nissan North America is recalling more than 23,500 of its 2011 and 2012 model year Nissan Quest minivans. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there is a software problem with the recalled minivans' fuel systems that could cause the vehicles to stall, increasing the risk of a collision.

American Honda Motors has issued a recall for 45,747 of its 2008 and 2009 model year Odyssey minivans equipped with the power rear liftgate option. The gas-filled struts used to open and close the rear hatch are flawed and may fail to support the lifted door, said the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Following the introduction of its full-size NV cargo van, Nissan is broadening its van lineup with the compact NV200 unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show.

One electric vehicle on the market that has been frequently overlooked was also the first: the Ford Transit Connect electric van. That was probably because it only came as a cargo van, with only two front seats. Well, that’s about to change.

Ford released a few more details about its upcoming C-Max hybrid and plug-in hybrid vans on a conference call with the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) this week.