Owner satisfaction: exclusive survey: Owners tell us which cars they would buy again.(CARS)(Survey)

FOR THE FIFTH YEAR ill A TOW, the gas/electric Toyota Prius hybrid is the top car for owner satisfaction. That's the news from our latest Annual Car Owner Satisfaction Survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. Ninety-three percent of Prius owners who responded said they would definitely buy or lease one again. The Prius was closely followed by the Thevrolet Corvecce Z06 (92 percent) and the new Mini Cooper Clubman (91 percent).

Ac the other end of the spectrum, the V6, four-wheel drive version of the Jeep Commander SUV got the lowest score in the survey among 2009 models, with only 32 percent of its owners saying they would definitely buy one again. The bottom of the list is rounded out by the all-wheel-drive Thevrolec Equinox SUV (40 percent) and the Thevrolet Colorado and CMC Canyon 4WD pickup trucks (41 percent).

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This year's survey drew almost 425,000 responses from CONSUMER REPORTS and ConsumerReporcs.org subscribers, more than any previous owner-satisfaction survey. For a model to make our list, we muse have received ac least 100 responses from owners. The scores reflect the percentage of subscribers who answered "definitely yes" co the question, "Considering all factors (price, performance, reliability, comfort, enjoyment, etc.) would you get this car if you had ic co do all over again?" The Racings are based on responses concerning 2006 through 2009 model-year vehicles.

Cars that inspire passion

The survey results show that car owners are particularly enthusiastic about hybrids and sporty, fun-to-drive cars. Of the 27 models chat earned our top racing in owner satisfaction, all but a few are in those categories. Other hybrids include the Toyota Camry Hybrid (84 percent) and Honda Civic Hybrid (80 percent). Similarly, the fuel-efficient Honda Fic and new Smart ForTvvo microcar also made the list.

Almost 20 of the models on the Most Satisfying list are sporty or fun to drive. They include four versions of the Mini Cooper, three versions of the BMW 335i, and two Corvettes. Even the one SUV that got the top rating, the Nissan Murano, is responsive and relatively sporty for its class.