Press - Forbes

This is a good news/bad news, glass is half empty/half full type of situation. On the one hand, dealing with unscrupulous car dealers remains among the top consumer complaints, on the other hand a recent study reports that dealers are treating today's car shoppers better than ever on the showroom floor.

Especially if they're interested in buying a luxury-branded model.

Mercedes-Benz dealers can boast having the most satisfied shoppers in the auto industry according to the 2012 Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) U.S. Auto Industry Benchmarking Study conducted by Pied Piper Management Company in Monterey, Calif. Meanwhile, Acura, Infiniti and Lexus followed closely in a three-way tie for second place. Overall, twenty-four of thirty-four auto brands improved their prospect satisfaction scores from 2011 to 2012. Those at the bottom of the pack include Audi, Jeep, Kia, Porsche, Suzuki and Mitsubishi.

Toyota is among the best-loved car brands in America, according to our analysis, joining a couple of domestics brands--Ford and Chevrolet--in a race to the top.

To compile our list of America's Best Car Brands, we looked at data from Consumer Reports that rated each brand based on safety, quality, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation and environmental friendliness. We also considered scores from the 2010 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index U.S. Auto Industry Study, a national benchmarking study that uses mystery shoppers to measure and compare how consumers are treated at car dealerships.