Thinking of buying a car? If an award-giving body is right, the best cars to buy are Volkswagen and Ford. And Toyota? Sorry, but the road doesn’t lead there.

According to the recent 2009 Total Value Awards, Volkswagen and Ford topped their Total Value Index (TVI) among more than 48,000 buyers of 2009 models from September last year to March this year.

The TVI was made based on assumptions regarding expected reliability, fuel economy, price, etc. vis-à-vis ownership experience. In other words, the true value of the vehicle is equated as the worth of the vehicle’s attributes against its costs. continue reading…