This segment has been hardest hit by the huge popularity of sport-utility vehicles. Just a few years ago there were more than 12 cars in the segment and now there are just seven. Heading up the field as Best Buys are the Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid twins. They have real room for six, exceptional road manners, and plenty of power.

Toyota's Avalon and Buick's LeSabre are two Recommended choices. Both have room for five and offer a comfortable ride (with modest handling capabilities). If you are looking for towing ability or don't mind having a rear-drive car, then you might take a look at the Ford Crown Victoria. With its rear-drive layout and body-on-frame chassis it's a dinosaur in this class, but Ford has updated it nicely over the years and it comes at a reasonable price.

Crown Victoria sells mostly to law enforcement agencies and taxi operators who won't have anything but a traditional, big rear-drive V8 sedan. Mercury's similar Grand Marquis trades mostly on the retail side, appealing to older, more conservative buyers who like the same sort of car. Fleet business is usually more stable than the consumer market, which helps explain why sales in the first nine months of 2001 were off less than 2 percent for Crown Vic versus 17.6 percent for Grand Marquis.

Sources say both versions will start the 2003 model year in early '02 with a mild restyle, nature and extent unknown, though a somewhat "edgier" look seems probable. A full redesign is reportedly on for 2005 or '06. Rear drive will continue, but the next Crown Vic and Grand Marquis are said to be slightly smaller than today's models, though larger than a current Taurus/Sable. The basis should be a new lower-cost version of the Lincoln LS/Jaguar S-Type platform, with a solid-axle rear suspension (versus independent) but perhaps a longer wheelbase. We think the redesign will bring the return of full-size Ford and Mercury station wagons, provided the midsize Taurus/Sable wagon is dropped after 2004, as is being rumored.