As with last year, our readers agreed with us on the Most Significant Vehicle of the Year. But unlike last year, the voting was close! Nissan's 350Z barely edged out the Infiniti G35 (coupe and sedan) by 12 votes! Yes, it was close, but don't expect a six-week ordeal to get this sorted out. The Supreme Court (our editorial staff) has ruled and no ballot tampering investigations or proxy votes will be considered at this point. Of course, many people consider the G35 (especially the coupe) and the Nissan 350Z almost the same car, and in fact many votes were written as "Nissan 350Z/Infiniti G35 coupe" or something similar. These votes were thrown out since they effectively offset each other, but if some of you fence-sitters could have committed to the G35 we might have had an upset.

Oddly enough, third place was also separated by 12 votes (though total numbers were much lower), with Mazda's 6 eking past the Infiniti FX35/45 for a podium spot. Another strong contender was Honda's Element, with only 20 fewer votes than the FX. No matter how you slice it, everyone obviously likes Nissan's new "FM" platform and the cars residing on it.

Also repeated this year were plenty of votes for cars not eligible due to their 2004 model status. Examples included the Mazda RX-8, Cadillac XLR and Volkswagen Touareg. Remember, only 2003 models were eligible this time around. You folks can vote for the Mazda, Caddy and VW next time (assuming there aren't some 2005 models out by then that you like better and you, once again, jump the gun).

Although this category has seen a rash of newcomers in recent years, it appears as though consumers prefer to stick with what they know as Honda's Civic won out with a strong 24 percent of the total vote. Mazda's sharp-handling Protegé; pulled in 17 percent of the vote for a solid second while the redesigned Corolla wasn't too far behind with 15 percent. From there on back it was the Ford Focus (11 percent), Nissan Sentra (10 percent), Hyundai Elantra (8 percent) and Dodge Neon (8 percent). Bringing up the rear, it was the Toyota Echo, Chevrolet Cavalier, Suzuki Aerio and Kia Optima, all with 1 percent.

Consumers regarded the newly redesigned and highly refined Honda Accord as their top choice, giving it 19 percent of the vote. Close behind the Accord in the voting was the less practical but seriously fun-to-drive Mazda 6 at 18 percent, followed by our pick for Most Wanted, the Passat (14 percent), then the Subaru Impreza WRX (11 percent) and Nissan's Altima (8 percent) and Maxima (7 percent).

A powerful engine, sharp handling and sane pricing have apparently allowed Infiniti's G35 to earn widespread approval from entry-level luxury buyers. The G staged a small upset this year, knocking off last year's top pick in this category, the BMW 3 Series, by eight-tenths of a percentage point. Audi's well-rounded A4 lagged a good 10 points behind these two with 12 percent of the vote. So strong was the appeal of these three that no other sedan managed to escape the single digits, and only the Acura TL (8 percent) and Lexus IS 300 (7 percent) stood out from the pack.

Hail to the BMW 5 Series, a perpetual favorite among car enthusiasts and consumers alike. Consumers overwhelmingly agreed with our editors' choice of the 5 Series as best sedan under $45,000, by 54 percent of their vote. The Audi A6 was a distant second at 12 percent, followed by the Lexus GS 300 with 9 percent. Bringing up the rear were four domestic vehicles — the Cadillac DeVille scored 2 percent, while the Cadillac Seville and Lincoln's Town Car and Continental each secured a mere 1 percent of the consumer vote.

It's not just the more affordable BMWs that consumers are clamoring for; nearly one-fourth of respondents cast a vote for the high-tech and completely redesigned 7 Series. Just below the big Bimmer are a pair of Benzes, the S-Class and E-Class, taking second and third place. Audi's blistering RS 6 captured 13 percent of the vote followed by the decidedly luxurious Lexus LS 430. The Audi A8 took 8 percent of the vote while the Infiniti Q45 came in just below that. The bottom of the list is rounded out by the soon-to-be-replaced Jaguar XJ and another Lexus — the GS 430.

This category has been dominated by the Mazda Miata for years now so it should come as no surprise that once again it came in as your favorite with 26 percent of the total votes. Equally as old and nearly as popular, the Ford Mustang managed a strong second-place finish with 20 percent of the total. The third-place MR2 Spyder wasn't far behind with 17 percent, followed closely by the Volkswagen New Beetle cabriolet which managed a solid 14 percent. Rounding out the category were the Toyota Solara and Chrysler Sebring, both with 8 percent of the vote and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder with 7 percent.

In spite of its highly controversial styling, the avant-garde BMW Z4 edged out the high-strung Honda S2000 (our Editor's choice) with 42 percent of the votes to the Honda's 37 percent. An extremely stiff and responsive chassis, highly communicative steering, a willing and turbine-smooth inline six and those unique looks mark the Z4. Taking the bronze virtually by default in this admittedly sparse field was the Audi TT, with 21 percent of the vote.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't love the BMW 3 Series? We named it one of our Editors' Most Wanted convertibles and apparently consumers agree. The 3 Series snagged the top spot followed closely by the Porsche Boxster — BMW is running with a pretty good crowd. From there the margin grows considerably with the Corvette sliding into third, followed by the Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class. Surprisingly, the Audi A4 drew only 10 percent of our readers' votes with the recently resurrected Ford Thunderbird 2 percent behind that. A pair of Swedes, the Saab 9-3 and Volvo C70, round out the bottom.

Two top German carmakers battled it out to decide which was the best convertible over $45,000. The Porsche 911 emerged the winner by a narrow margin with 31 percent of the vote, edging out the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (includes the SL55) with 29 percent. The Jaguar XK-Series was in the middle of the pack with just 10 percent of the ballots. Duking it out for last place, the Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class, with 6 percent of the votes, passed the Panoz Esperante with only a 5 percent popularity rating.

The appeal of Honda's CR-V hasn't diminished since last year as it once again took first place with a solid 21 percent of the votes. Coming in a distant second was the Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute twins favored by our editors. Beyond that it was a virtual tie as the Honda Element (11 percent), Jeep Liberty (11 percent), Toyota RAV4 (10 percent) and Subaru Forester (10 percent) filled in the third through sixth spots. The soon-to-be-replaced Chevy Tracker and Suzuki Vitara brought up the rear with just 1 percent of the vote.

Plenty of room for people and cargo, a fold-flat third seat, respectable performance and excellent crash scores endeared the Acura MDX to our readers. Evidently, so did the Acura's upscale demeanor, as they seemed willing to pony up the extra bucks for the MDX over its Honda Pilot fraternal twin, which garnered our Editor's Most Wanted award. The MDX's win was convincing, amassing 21 percent of the vote to the second-place Nissan Murano's 14 percent. The Pilot made the top three with its 12 percent score. Rounding out the top five were the Toyota Runner with 9 percent and the Lexus RX 300 with 6 percent.

We at Edmunds.com love to drive, and we love to drive the X5. Evidently, consumers agree with us, as 41 percent voted for the X5, making it a top pick two years running. Our editorial staff gave Lincoln's Aviator the number two spot in this category, but our users prefer Volvo's family-friendly XC90, which earned 26 percent of the vote. Trailing the Volvo were the Aviator (13 percent), Audi's allroad quattro (11 percent) and the Mercedes-Benz M-Class (7 percent).

While we chose the Range Rover as our favorite SUV in this category, consumers had their sights set on a new SUV offering for 2003, the Porsche Cayenne. The Cayenne received 30 percent of the four-vehicle category vote, with the new Infiniti FX45 close on its heels with 27 percent. The Lexus GX 470 was just a few points behind with 22 percent of the popular vote, while our preferred Range Rover scored a close fourth rank with 21 percent.

Consumer voting for full-size SUVs exactly mirrors our recent SUV comparison test in terms of ranking. The plush and refined Toyota Sequoia grabbed top honors with nearly half of all votes. The domestics fell way behind with less than 20 percent. Curiously, the GMC Yukon had a 1 percent advantage over its very similar GM stablemates, the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. Voting for the recently redesigned Ford Expedition nearly mimicked the Tahoe/Suburban, so much so that they end up in a tie with 16 percent of the vote each. The soon-to-be-extinct Ford Excursion garnered only 3 percent.

Long-time favorite Toyota Land Cruiser/Lexus LX 470 flexed its muscles and took the top of the class by edging out the beefy newcomer Hummer H2. Nearly 31 percent of the votes for the best large SUV over $45,000 went to the Toyota while the rugged Hummer received 27 percent of the ballots that were cast. The Cadillac Escalade/Escalade ESV was a distant third. A very close race for last place was fought between the Lincoln Navigator — with 13 percent of the votes — and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class with 12 percent.

The Big Three may own the full-size segment, but Toyota is the clear choice in compact trucks — at least as far as this year's Most Wanted voters are concerned. With 39 percent of the vote, the Toyota Tacoma blew the rest of the field away. Nissan's Frontier was a distant second with 16 percent while the Dodge Dakota and Ford Explorer Sport Trac were third and fourth with 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively. The rest of the votes went to the Ford)/Mazda twins (8 percent), Subaru's Baja (7 percent) and GM's Chevrolet/GMC duo (5 percent).

With 30 percent of the "Yeas," the Tundra had a most convincing victory over the second-place Ford F-Series (which received 21 percent of the vote) and the third-place Dodge Ram (at 15 percent). It's déjà vu as these results mirrored those of last year's CMW. Although the Tundra may not have the prodigious hauling and towing capabilities of its American rivals, the Toyota's refinement and solid heritage were more than enough to once again win favor with our readers. The bling-bling set will be disappointed to see that the Cadillac Escalade EXT finished fourth (with 14 percent) and coming in fifth (with 12 percent) was our Editors' choice, the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra twins.

Last year the Odyssey grabbed 49 percent of the minivan vote, and it repeated its win in this category with exactly the same percentage for 2003. However, while second-place Toyota managed only 9 percent in the 2002 voting, it moved up to 14 percent this year (anticipation of the excellent redesign coming for 2004 perhaps?). That number ties the Sienna for second with the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Caravan, each of which scored 7 percent individually, but because they are considered a single model for scoring purposes they also get 14 percent of the vote. Mazda's MPV came in fourth with 8 percent; the Volkswagen EuroVan follows next with 6 percent, then Kia's Sedona with 4 percent and Ford's Windstar with 3 percent. The GM vans (both the Astro/Safari as one group and the Venture/Silhouette/Montana as another) got 1 percent each.

Sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same. Last year our readers picked the Honda Civic as their favorite economy coupe, and this year the Civic repeats its success with 55 percent of the total votes. Ford's Focus took a not-so-close second with 26 percent, but then there was a big drop-off before the Saturn Ion and Toyota Echo tied for third…with 4 percent each. The Hyundai Accent followed with 3 percent, leaving the Cavalier, Escort, Mirage and Sunfire to battle it out for last place — each of them received 2 percent of the vote.

When it comes to affordable fun-to-drive coupes Acura's RSX reigns supreme. With 24 percent of the total vote, the RSX beat the next closest competitor, the Mini Cooper, by a healthy 6 percent margin. Falling in just behind the Mini was Honda's sleek new Accord two-door that drew a solid 17 percent. A three-way tie for third had the Ford Mustang, Volkswagen Golf and Mercedes-Benz C-Class all coming in with 7 percent. The back of the pack included the Pontiac Grand Prix, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Honda Insight, all of which earned a measly 1 percent of the ballots cast.

Snagging more than one third (34 percent) of our readers' votes, the G35 coupe bested its chief rival (and our Editors' choice) the BMW 3 Series by 5 percent. And who are we to argue? With 280 horsepower, a six-speed manual gearbox in a well-balanced rear-drive chassis and an attractive design inside and out, the G35 deserves the praise being heaped upon it. Finishing up the top five spots were the G35's sporty cousin, the 350Z, with 24 percent, Audi's TT with 8 percent and the Acura CL with 5 percent.

European met all-American in the shoot-out between the Chevrolet Corvette and Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class for most popular coupe under $45,000. While the Corvette was a clear favorite during editorial voting, the Corvette and CLK were neck in neck in our consumer vote, with the Corvette edging out the CLK by 1 percent, scoring 46 percent to the CLK's 45 percent. Rounding out the voting tally in a far distant third place was the Swedish-born Volvo C70, earning 9 percent for itself.

It looks like the Porsche 911 still owns the hearts of performance coupe enthusiasts as it does our editors. The 911 garnered a whopping 63 percent of consumer votes. That's more than double the score of the next most popular car in this category, the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, which includes the CL55. Rounding out the bottom is the Jaguar XK-Series with 12 percent of the votes.

You need a vehicle than can haul plenty of cargo, but you don't have a lot