Cars opened on June 9, 2006 to generally positive reviews. William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised it as "one of Pixar's most imaginative and thoroughly appealing movies ever"^[15] and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly called it "a work of American art as classic as it is modern."^[16]

Some critics expressed that Cars did not hold up to the standard of other Pixar films due to its lengthy story, especially after the acclaim received by The Incredibles, Pixar's previous film. "The movie is great to look at and a lot of fun," wrote critic Roger Ebert, "but somehow lacks the extra push of the other Pixar films."^[17] Laura Clifford of website Reeling Reviews wrote that the film's "only real drawback is its failure to inspire awe with its visuals and to thoroughly transport with its storytelling.^[18]

Rotten Tomatoes gave Cars a fresh 74% (with an average of 6.9),^[19] yet no other Pixar film, until the release of Cars 2, has ever scored less than 91%, but it still received a "Certified Fresh" rating, and it earned a 73/100 on Metacritic, both the second lowest attributed to a Pixar film.^[20]