Consumer Reports: Fuel economy most important to car buyers

Mileages beats out reliability and safety among factors that car shoppers consider, survey says.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Fuel economy is at the top of the list of factors shoppers consider when looking at a new vehicle, according to a new survey by Consumer Reports.

When asked what factors they considered most important in a new car, the largest number of respondents – 27 percent – said “fuel economy.” That was slightly higher than the responses for “reliability,” which was the top consideration for 25 percent.

“Purchase price” was most important to 14 percent of shoppers and “safety features” were most important for just 12 percent of shoppers.

Incentives were top-most for only five percent of car shoppers.

CNN/Money