Weekend Car Shopper: Cars for Greens and Teens

As car buyers go into the summer months pondering a new set of wheels, AOL Autos does the research on where to find the best July and August closeout deals and has the latest news on which brands offer the best quality.

Just in time for the spike in online car searches, J.D. Power and Associates has released its annual Initial Quality Study, which ranks brands and models based on surveying consumers during the first three months of ownership and the things they mark down as being great or not-so great. The big news for the 2013 ranking is how General Motors bested both Toyota and Honda. Check out the top ranked car in each of the major categories: compact sedan, mid-sized sedan, city car, etc.

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Have you been curious about clean diesel cars? Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes and BMW have long been offering clean diesel cars. VW designates its diesel cars with the "TDI" brand. Now Chevy and Mazda are getting into the game with diesel versions of the Chevy Cruze and Mazda6.

The image of diesels for most consumers ranges from confused to negative. But not only do they get excellent fuel economy (the VW Passat TDI gets well above 40 mpg on highway), but they provide great power and acceleration to the driver. And a University of Michigan study just released shows that a diesel owner can save thousands in overall car ownership costs over three to five years, even when diesel fuel costs more than regular unleaded gas most of the time. Check out the newest clean diesels coming to a showroom near you.

If you just can't get your head around buying a diesel but still want to buy green, then our friends at Kelly Blue Book have come up with their list of the Top 20 Best Green Cars of 2013. And AOL Autos throws in their picks for Worst Three Green Cars.

Shopping for new car for your teen either for high school or to go away to college with? AOL Autos editors, three of whom have children of their own, have picked the best choices for your teen driver to help keep them safe and give mom and dad some peace of mind. Spoiler alert: Neither the Chevy Camaro nor the Ford Mustang are on the list, kids.

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