Consumer Guide® Automotive places each vehicle into one of 18 classes based on size, price, and market position. Large Cars comprise the biggest passenger sedans and wagons. Large, inside and out, they offer lots of metal for the money and are dominated by domestic brands.

Our Best Buys include Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Magnum. Our Recommended picks are the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego.

Ford Motor says Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria will phase out in 2010-2012 timeframe, thus finally retiring their vintage-1979 basic design. However, sources say the company is spending some $200 million for '09-model chassis upgrades and cosmetic tweaks--which seems odd for death-row models at a company so strapped for cash.

But Ford knows its recovery depends on coming up with hit products, so it's not skimping on replacement models. Among these, sources say, are new large rear-drive sedans based on either a modified Mustang platform or an architecture sourced from Ford Australia. The latter seems to have the inside track as more cost-effective, but whatever emerges would be built in North America, not Down Under. Timing is unclear, but we'd look for a model-year 2010 debut.