Quality Planning — a company that validates policyholder info for auto insurers put together this list based on data gathered between August 2007 and September 2008, using a sample size of 1.7 million vehicles.

Click "next" or select any car to learn how it made the list.

[via AOL Autos]

Photo credit: Kipp Baker

Vehicle: 2009 GMC Sierra 1500
Place: #10 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 60% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: It's a big pickup truck. Unless you're outfitted with the entire JC Whitney off-road catalog, pickups are as good as invisible on the streets. Well, not invisible, more like moving blind spots blocking your view of traffic. Still, given the utility and apparently lower ticketing rate, the higher fuel consumption and parking woes might be offset.

Vehicle: 2009 Buick Lucerne
Place: #10 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 60% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: It's a Buick. More accurately, it's a part of the "Old Buick." Recently we've seen signs of life in GM's tri-shield brand with the Buick LaCrosse and Buick Regal, but the Lucerne is positioned staunchly in the "old-man driving 10 MPH under the speed limit in the fast lane" stereotype of Buick. This car isn't ticketed because its drivers don't break the law, well, they don't break speeding laws. Tickets for no turn signals and late turns across three lanes of traffic into Old Country Buffet are rare.

Vehicle: 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette
Place: #8 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 63% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Nothing says "I'm not worth your time officer" better than a minivan, especially a GM minivan sadly badged as an Oldsmobile. The Silhouette was GM's pity offering to Olds dealers with nothing interesting in the showroom and acted as a footnote in the last days of the brand. It's nothing if not completely invisible in the real world and the drivers are too busy trying not to be seen to go around breaking traffic laws.

Vehicle: 2007 Buick Rainier
Place: #8 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 63% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Platform prostitution at its finest, the Buick Rainier started life as the Chevy Trailblazer, which begat the Oldsmobile Bravada, which died with the brand, so it was rebadged as both the Saab 9-7x and Buick Rainier. A lesson in how not to manage a platform for success. The Rainier has not one but two invisibility shields: 1) it's an unremarkable looking SUV, and 2) it's a Buick. Might as well have that fancy cloaking technology the Predator used.

Vehicle: Mazda6
Place: #6
Percentage lower than average: 66% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Despite the Mazda 6's more sporting character compared to other mid-size family sedans, it's still a mid-size family sedan. There are more than enough hot-heads in pony cars and German prickmobiles to collect revenue from.

Vehicle: 2005 Buick Park Avenue
Place: #5
Percentage lower than average: 68% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Quite a preponderance of Buicks on this list isn't there? Of the cars on here, we've always felt the Buick Park Avenue got the short end of the stick. The final generation actually wore some pretty crisp styling but was always burdened by terrible old-fogey wheels and later boasted tacked-on ventiports. The supercharged 3800 V6 would scoot off the line but the floaty suspension and drowsy interior made the idea of breaking the law a non-issue. Plus, what cop wants to ticket the nice little grandma behind the wheel.

Vehicle: Chevrolet C1500, K1500, 2500HD, 3500HD
Place: #4
Percentage lower than average: 72% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Same reason as its GMC Sierra twin, it's a truck and thus nothing more than an large lump taking up space on the road. With the 6.0-liter V8 they can be pretty fast and they're surprisingly agile around a corner, but nobody buys a truck for the go. As to why the Chevy has such a remarkable difference in ticketing rate we haven't a clue, perhaps since GMC buyer paid more for theirs, they feel like they should drive it faster and park in goofy places.

Vehicle: Chevrolet Tahoe
Place: #3
Percentage lower than average: 79% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: If there was a way to make the Silverado more invisible to law enforcement, it's to close up the bed, add a pair of doors and call it the Tahoe. Even the name says law-abiding-white-bread-citizen. There's an interesting paradox here in that based on anecdotal evidence a great many Tahoes are driven with reckless abandon, weaving in and out of traffic as if they own the road. And yet, with their inevitably beige, black, or maroon paint jobs, Tahoes blend into the background like a chameleon.

Vehicle: Chevrolet Suburban
Place: #2
Percentage lower than average: 84% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Take everything about the Tahoe and add more girth. The big, bad, 'Burb has been sailing American roadways so long it's practically an institution. A last bastion for the family of eight which isn't interested in a full-size van, the Suburban is so big as to be imperceptible on a normal human scale, making it perfect for eluding the radar guns gaze. Their relative rarity these days helps out a lot too.

Vehicle: Jaguar XJ
Place: #1
Percentage lower than average: 89% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: The Jaguar XJ has a shape almost as old as the idea of the car. Until Ian Callum came along and boogered-up the design with the 2010 Jaguar XJ, the car was so ubiquitous, and favored by such old buyers, it's practically never ticketed. The colors are generally sedate and unassuming, British Racing Green is as crazy as it gets, none of those obscene reds and yellows that draw radar guns. The trick is beneath the 40 year old skin is the possibility of an all-aluminum automobile sporting a 400 HP supercharged V8. It's a perfect sleeper and the car least likely to get you ticketed.

Don't get us wrong, it's not weak-ass in power output, rather it's weak-ass that by putting a 550 HP LS crate supercharged engine under the hood, there's not a chance in hell it'll ever be built. And that's just sad because it'd be cool as hell to see a Raptor vs. Dodge Power Wagon vs. Silverado ZR2 match-up. Ah well, a man can dream, can't he?

Full release below:

Silverado ZR2 concept
At a glance, it's clear the Silverado ZR2 concept wasn't designed to haul flowers back from the nursery. With its widened body, tall stance and powerful LS supercharged engine, it is ready to hit the berms, dry washes and gullies of the Baja Peninsula.

The Silverado ZR2 is based on an extended cab/short box body. The custom bodywork includes carbon fiber fender flares that stretch outward to cover the 35-inch-tall Goodyear Wrangler off-road tires and widened stance. Much of the truck's body is made of carbon fiber, including the front fenders, extractor-style hood, rocker extensions and tailgate, which features large, debossed CHEVROLET lettering as a nod to Chevy trucks of the past.

The pickup box, which is protected with a spray-on liner, features a unique locking storage system mounted to the extruded aluminum Cargo Management System rails from Chevy Accessories.

Many of the carbon fiber parts, including the hood, are clear-coated, rather than painted, to show off the intricate weave pattern of the high-tech, lightweight material. The parts that aren't clear carbon fiber are painted Dune Metallic, a color that blends with the desert terrain. A large, more prominent grille is also part of the package and is a vision of what designers would like to see in a production or accessory part. It is very functional, feeding cool air to the 550-horsepower LS supercharged crate engine from GM Performance Parts.

The combination of 20-inch BBS RD wheels – reminiscent of historic Chevy truck wheel – and aggressive Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires connect to the chassis via BDS shocks and a four-inch lift kit to help negotiate those desert trails. The new front fascia dramatically improves approach angle and skid plates protect the chassis.

The interior features more carbon fiber details on the dash, along with black leather and suede-trimmed seats with contrasting stitching to those trail runs more comfortable.

"There's more to this concept than meets the eye," said Dewar. "Some of the components are being explored for possible inclusion in upcoming models."

As we've seen almost every month since the huge drop in fuel prices, the biggest sellers are the biggest vehicles — the Ford F-series and Chevy Silverado pickups. Heck, even at the foreign automakers, we're seeing mid-size sedans beating out small sedans with the Camry outselling the Corolla and the Accord outselling the Civic.

1.) Ford F-Series: 33,381
2.) Chevy Silverado: 31,463
3.) Toyota Camry: 31,325
4.) Toyota Corolla: 23,576
5.) Honda Accord: 22,597
6.) Honda Civic: 20,723
7.) Ford Fusion: 19,786
8.) Chevy Impala: 18,709
9.) Nissan Altima: 18,408
10.) Ford Escape: 16,391

[via Cars.com]

We just saw the following chart of Top 10 retail vehicle sales for October, 2008 showing the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado overtaking the Toyota Camry and Corolla. Looks like that drop in gas prices to under $2 per gallon due to a lack of economic growth have already made us forget about the summer pains of high gas prices. Back to the good ol' days of 2006 when 'merican automakers built the kinda vehicles 'mericans want to buy! Well, if they had access to credit. Yee-HAW! [via AIADA]

Reminding us of the massive Lincoln Continental and tiny MG Midget spotted parked next to each other, this time the stark contrast in size comes to us from our friend Mike Levine of PickupTrucks.com. He spotted this mighty Silverado 2500 HD with a pocket-sized Bantam pickup...in the Chevy's bed! The only thing that could possibly make this any better would be the pair strapped on the back of a flat-bed tow-truck, which in turn would be on the back of a flat-bed semi-truck. But this duo is fascinating enough. [More at: PickupTrucks.com]

Before 2009 the 6.2-liter V8 with 403 HP, 417 lb-ft of torque and a six-speed auto was only available in the Denali and the Escalade, but the Silverado and its GMC kissing cousin, the 2009 Sierra, both get to dine at the big boys' table this year. Mated to the fully-boxed frame, choice of three different cabins and three available bed sizes, the truck offers a lot of variability. Of course a smaller V6 and a pair of smaller V8s can be had, but why? The biggest V8 burbles beneath the Silverado's hood gloriously; under load it sounds like something between cherry bomb mufflers and a factory-installed Corsa exhaust. It's not just the sound though: the bite behind the bark is a force to be reckoned with. Coupled with the 3.42 rear axle and the standard six-speed automatic, the truck pulls like a Clydesdale. The new powertrain puts the Silverado right back on top of the game, running quick strip times and hauling our test trailer without even breaking a sweat.

Chevys have always been known as workhorse trucks happy to take abuse, but up until this latest redesign, they'd also been known for terrible interiors. While nobody will mistake the new Silverado interior for a Lexus, even two years in it still has a purposeful appeal we can appreciate. The seats are comfortable, all the controls fall easily to hand and the buttons feel solid. The cabin does what it's designed to do and nothing more. Plastics are high quality and fit and finish is solid, but again, this is definitely a truck designed for work, not for toting your golf bags to the country club. Absent are macho overtones beating you over the head with their rugged product design, which is refreshing in the modern truck market.

On a road course, the Chevy rides and handles like a truck — surprise! Bouncy but not uncomfortable, smooth over bumps and heaves thanks to the long wheelbase while a bit top-heavy around corners. Riding on big Bridgestone Dueler A/T's doesn't exactly help the track performance, but you get a surprising amount of grip from the blocky tread pattern, even if they're protesting the unfair treatment the whole time. Normal and trailer braking are strong but panic braking feels extra panicky thanks to the frenetic ABS modulation. The truck has a tendency towards oversteer, but a moderate steering ratio, relative light weight for a truck, and deft control via the traction control button makes things far more entertaining on the tarmac than you'd think.

The one area in which the Silverado is showing its age is in the race for crazy storage options. It's got a nice roomy bed with a standard bed mat, but the rail clamps don't move around without tools unless you spec up to the optional cargo management system ( a very cool option to super size up to), and there are no stash boxes under the floor or in the center console. The rear seats still win in the easy-to-fold-up category, as there isn't even a latch involved: just lift the seat bottom and you have a nice, flat load floor.

In short, the Silverado is probably the most honest interpretation of the term "truck" on the market right now. It's designed to move stuff, to give you everything you need and no fluff, something worth noting in a market stuffed with gimmicks and gadgets. We're not saying gadgets aren't fun, but to a certain segment of the truck-buying population, they're just extra stuff to break down on the road. For folks looking at a straight-up tough and simple pickup with massive towing power and a well-sorted six-speed auto, the Silverado will more than satisfy.

All of these are built using the "build your own" feature of the various automaker websites and reflect an estimated MSRP. We can't imagine anyone would pay this much for any of these cars as one way to get the price up is to ignore value packages. Honorable mention goes to all of our friends from Canada, who have to pay too much for any and every car.

10. 2008 Chevy Silverado 3500HD LTZ &ndash $97,011

Some people like their trucks and are willing to pay top dollar for them. Many of those people will pay $54,190 for a Silverado 3500HD LTZ, which is a lot of truck for the money. It's therefore impressive that one reader was able to add more than $42,000 in options. Duramax Diesel V8? Sure. Allison 6-Speed transmission? You'd have to. Power tilting sunroof? How could you live without it? Headrest DVD players? Would it be a truck without them?

9. Lincoln Town Car &ndash $56,020

On one hand, the Lincoln Town Car is the last of the V8 Lincoln sedans for a while and, though lacking in refinements, is a classic American luxury car. On the other hand, they've been giving these things away and asking for all that money on top of it is the height of ridiculous.

8. Smart Fortwo Cabriolet &ndash $28,928

While we like the idea of the Smart Fortwo Passion Cabriolet, it's a bit too much of a fashion accessory for the average Jalopnik writer. Additionally, the $18,500 base price for the supposedly loaded Passion seems a bit beyond our range and for that price we'd expect to be able to choose our interior and body panel colors... but that's a $10,000 premium. Nearly $30K for a car that seats two, doesn't go very fast and gets only moderate mileage is hard to fathom given the last 10 cars Murilee bought added up to about that.

7. Honda Accord Coupe &ndash $39,122

As mentioned, we built a 2008 Honda Accord for about $38,000 and were impressed. Our clever commenters were able to push the Honda Accord Coupe up to $39,122. While the new Accord is certainly a capable automobile, for that price you could have a decently well equipped G37 coupe.

6. Volvo C30 &ndash $46,792

There's nothing wrong with the Volvo C30, though we tend to prefer the cheaper and sportier European hatches like the GTI. At $46,792, it's more than twice the base price and $20K more than the well-equipped Version 2.0. Just to compare, you could have two VW GTI's for that price.

5. Mercedes C300 &ndash $57,944

The Mercedes C300 may be strong on looks, but it's still the cheapest option from Mercedes at $32,425. Throw in some options and you're spending as much for a C-Class as you would for an E-Class wagon. Nothing like spending all that cash for a sedan with a V6 that produces less than 230 horsepower. The Germans know value.

4. BMW 135i &ndash $52,550

There's a lot to like about the BMW 135i, including the 300 hp inline-six. Though it doesn't have a back seat big enough to carry anyone larger than a four-year-old comfortably, it's a decent performance deal. Then you start adding on options and you end up about $4,000 more than a Z4 M Coupe and very close to M3 territory.

3. Non-S Mini Cooper &ndash $55,535

If you thought the $50,000 BMW 135i was a steep price, imagine something slower and smaller without the Bimmer badging. We tried this a few times and you have to be clever to pul it off. If you don't accept any special packages and get everything individually you can jack the price up. Make sure to add lots of roof racks and attachable storage, as well as the JCW body kits. Just make sure you don't accidentally choose a Cooper S, because that'll make the $55K you spent on a 120-horsepower hatchback almost worthwhile.

2. Porsche Boxster &ndash $118,295

Just, wow. It's not only nearly three times the base price of a standard non RS Porsche Boxster, it's also the same price as a Posrche 911 GT3. The base Boxster has 245 horsepower, trots to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and has a top speed of 160 mph. By comparison, the 911 GT3 not only looks better, it has 415 horsepower, it'll trot to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 193 mph.

1. Porsche Cayenne &ndash $163,573

It's almost a toss-up as to what you think is the most outrageous price for a Porsche. We say almost, because $164K for a V6 Porsche SUV that's basically a VW Toureg is nearly criminal. That's not only only almost four times the base price of the $43,400 of the base Cayenne, it's nearly two Cayennes more expensive than the Cayenne Turbo. That includes the reasonable, $2,990 for the air suspension, and unreasonable, like the $690 trailer hitch ball. Our favorite may be the $1,880 to make the air vents match the exterior color. At that price, the Boxster is a bargain.

Congrats to GrandmaSideways for finding this horrific price and props for all the work it took to carefully select and unselect the right options to get the price up. Email us at Matt at Jalopnik with your address so we can get the prize to you. Thanks to everyone else who submitted, as well.

U.S. News & World Report Releases 2008 Car Rankings: Honda Still King, GM Rapidly Improving

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ — U.S. News & World Report today
announced its 2008 Car Rankings, available online at
RankingsAndReviews.com. The 2008 rankings cover the best and worst cars,
trucks and SUVs based on an analysis of consensus opinions from America's
top automotive experts.

New Car Hits

GM shows the greatest improvement from the 2007 to 2008 car rankings
with several new or redesigned vehicles ranking near the top of their
classes. The redesigned Chevy Malibu, all-new Buick Enclave, and redesigned
Cadillac CTS (winner of Motor Trend Car of the Year) fare well in the
rankings.

Experts laud the Malibu (ranked #6 out of 25 midsize cars) for its
driving dynamics, exterior styling and affordability. The new CTS (ranked
#4 out of 14 upscale cars) is praised as an American car that can finally
compete with the BMW and Lexus nameplates. Finally, experts generally agree
that Buick hit a home-run with its all-new Enclave (ranked #3 out of 23
midsize SUVs) based on classy styling and a superb ride. Joining the highly
ranked Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and Chevy Silverado 1500, these new
entrants help GM to achieve a good overall showing in the 2008 rankings.

The all-new Infiniti G37 and Mazda CX-9 also debut high in the
rankings, as do the newly remodeled Honda Accord, BMW 5-Series, and
Chrysler's minivan siblings the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand
Caravan.

New Car Misses

ome new cars miss the mark. In the same class as the Accord, the
all-new Dodge Avenger places last out of 25 cars. The all-new Nissan Rogue
is also a less-than-stellar performer, placing in the bottom half of the
compact SUV rankings. Surprisingly, the newly redesigned Toyota Highlander
is a merely decent performer among midsize SUVs. The 2007 Highlander was
ranked #1 in its class.

The 2008 Winners

A complete listing of all the car, truck and SUV rankings and
meta-reviews are available at: RankingsAndReviews.com. As of December 13,
2007, the #1 ranked automobiles in the most popular categories are:

Economy Cars: Honda Fit
Midsize Cars: Honda Accord
Upscale Small Cars: Volkswagen GTI
Upscale Midsize Cars: BMW 3-Series
Luxury Cars: BMW 5-Series
Compact SUVs: Honda CR-V
Midsize SUVs: Honda Pilot
Large SUVs: Chevrolet Tahoe
Luxury Midsize SUVs: Lexus RX 350
Full Size Pickups: Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Affordable Sports Cars: Mazda MX-5, Honda S2000, Mazda Speed3 (tied)

As with the 2007 rankings, Honda occupies more #1 ranking spots (7 in
total) than any other nameplate. Honda's Fit, Civic, and Civic Hybrid take
the top three spots on the Economy Cars list.

BMW retains the #1 ranking spot in the popular upscale and luxury car
categories. Among the very competitive upscale midsize cars, the BMW
3-Series remains the benchmark, but now has strong competition from the
Lexus ES and all-new Infiniti G37, each tied for the #2 ranking spot.

Japanese Hybrids Outrank New American Hybrids

For 2008 there are several new entries from GM and Ford in the rapidly
expanding Hybrid segment. The challengers (the new Saturn Aura and VUE
hybrids, Chevy Tahoe hybrid, and siblings Ford Escape / Mercury Mariner
hybrids) underperform the more established Toyota and Honda models. Experts
agree that these newcomers do not yet offer the combination of fuel economy
and driving performance exhibited by the likes of Toyota's Prius and Camry
hybrids.

About The 2008 Car Rankings Methodology

The 2008 rankings of cars, trucks, and SUVs were determined through
U.S. News & World Reports' consensus-based rankings methodology. The top
vehicles are those receiving the highest accolades determined by an
analysis of automotive experts' opinions, safety ratings, and reliability
statistics. [Source: US News & World Report]