Every year, new owners are asked how much they enjoy their vehicles after 90 days of ownership, and the answers feed the APEAL study. The 2026 edition surveyed 78,514 owners, and the industry score rose seven points to 858 on a 1,000-point scale. Here are eleven vehicles that earned awards from those owners.
1. Porsche 911: Sports Car Sweetheart
The Porsche 911 earned the top ranking in the Premium Sporty Car category, and Porsche ranked as the highest premium brand at 896 points for the third straight year, reports CBT News.
Industry-wide, the 2026 APEAL score reached 858, up seven points. The brand’s 896-point result sits well above that average, though the figure belongs to Porsche as a whole rather than to the 911 alone. Porsche’s third straight year on top suggests the brand’s appeal is consistent, and the 911 is the model that carries that reputation into the Premium Sporty Car category.
2. Toyota RAV4: Compact SUV Champion
Toyota’s RAV4 was the highest ranked compact SUV in the 2026 APEAL study, as listed in an Autoguide roundup of appealing SUVs.
The study surveyed 78,514 new vehicle owners after 90 days of ownership, so the ranking reflects early impressions of a fresh purchase. It does not measure long-term reliability, which J.D. Power tracks in separate research. Buyers weighing a compact crossover can treat the result as an owner-satisfaction signal, though it is one measure among several.
3. Hyundai Palisade: Top Upper Midsize SUV
The Hyundai Palisade was the highest ranked upper midsize SUV, according to the same Autoguide SUV list.
The win is specific to the upper midsize segment, where owners scored it above direct competitors. Segment awards compare each vehicle only with its own size class, so the result says little about SUVs in other categories. Shoppers comparing family crossovers can treat that as one useful data point about early owner satisfaction, not a full verdict.
4. Cadillac Escalade: Large Premium Leader
Cadillac’s Escalade was the highest ranked large premium SUV, according to the Autoguide list of SUV winners.
Owners polled after 90 days rated it above its class rivals. The Escalade is one of three General Motors segment awards in the study, a tally shared with the Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Yukon in J.D. Power’s own release. The Autoguide list covers several vehicle classes, so the Escalade appears there next to other segment leaders from the same study.
5. Land Rover Defender: Midsize Premium Winner
The Land Rover Defender took the midsize premium SUV award as the highest ranked model, according to the Autoguide winners roundup.
It is one of four SUV segment winners named in that list, alongside the RAV4, Palisade and Escalade. The Defender adds a Land Rover entry to a group otherwise made up of Asian and American brands. The list gives each winner’s segment name, which helps readers see exactly where a vehicle earned its ranking.
6. Nissan Armada: Tied for First
Nissan’s Armada tied for first place in the Large SUV segment, according to a Nissan news release.
A tie means another model shared the top score, so the Armada did not win outright. Nissan announced the result alongside the Murano, giving the automaker two segment recognitions in the 2026 study. Nissan’s release is titled as naming the Armada and Murano segment winners, so the company presents the tie as a win.
7. Nissan Murano: Another Shared Crown
The Nissan Murano tied for first in the Midsize SUV segment, based on the same Nissan announcement.
As with the Armada, the tie means the Murano shared the top spot with a rival rather than finishing alone. Both Nissan results show that an APEAL segment crown can be split between two vehicles. Nissan’s news release names the Armada and Murano together, so the two results are usually presented as a pair.
8. Ram 1500: Stellantis’ Lone Award
The Ram 1500 was Stellantis’ lone segment award in the 2026 APEAL study, according to J.D. Power’s press release.
One award for a company with many brands is a thin haul next to General Motors’ three. The full-size pickup nonetheless carries the corporate banner in a study where the industry score rose seven points to 858. Even so, a segment award is the study’s basic unit of recognition, and each one reflects thousands of owners answering the same survey.
9. Ford Super Duty: Heavy-Duty Honor
The Ford Super Duty was one of Ford’s two 2026 APEAL segment awards, according to the J.D. Power study release.
The other Ford award went to the Mustang, so the company’s two trophies span a heavy-duty truck and a sports car. Both come from owners who had lived with their vehicles for only 90 days. The pairing also shows that the study honors trucks and sports cars in the same year, since each segment is judged on its own.
10. Mercedes-Benz C-Class: One Star Among Many
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was the brand’s only segment award in the 2026 study, per J.D. Power’s published results.
One segment award was the entire tally for Mercedes-Benz, so the C-Class carries the brand’s showing on its own. For context, the industry APEAL score across all brands was 858 out of a possible 1,000. That single award is still a mark of appeal, since each segment winner had to beat direct rivals in owner ratings.
11. Chevrolet Blazer: Part of GM’s Trio
The Chevrolet Blazer was one of General Motors’ three APEAL segment awards, alongside the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, according to J.D. Power’s award list.
That gives GM one award each across Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac. The total tops Ford’s two and Stellantis’ one in the same tally, though counting awards says nothing about how many segments each company entered. J.D. Power’s release organizes winners by parent company, which is how the GM, Ford, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz counts are reported.
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