this is not the first time that two brands.....one domestic/one foreign out of the same plant have scored this way.......it was chronic during the Prizm years......also with Eclipse and DCX counterparts.

Here's the thing......only people who subscribe to the magazine are polled. The results are based on those who respond. ...not too sure that's scientific.

The sad part is that many see C/R as 'the bible'..........

 

Consumer Reports is the worst form of data ever. It's all self reported and what one person says is a problem, another sees as a quirk. Complete and utter BS.

 

I saw this the other day and I was wondering about how they get their info. Seems increadibly biased to me. I really don't understand how the domestics can compete with this kind of crap. My 99 has had no problems (save a few from when it was stolen) it has 105k miles on it and regularly gets 28mpg on trips. My fiances Honda Accord never cracks the 30mpg mark but everyone assumes that I get terrible gas mileage. It really ticks me off when people assume their truck gets better gas mileage than my car or that Hopes car is more reliable than mine. Rant off.

 

Reliability is one of the least important things to me in a car, even if GM was rated #1 and Toyota was #100. Why? Because most cars/trucks these days are pretty dang reliable. It's like comparing 95% to 90%. A small difference that doesn't matter to me. Many other factors go into a car decision for me. There has always been something weird about consumer reports auto reviews in my opinion.

Dan

 

Scott,

Tell me about people using CR as a bible I lose more deals because the cars I sell "just don't do that well in Consumer Reports." What's my standard response?

"Don't take your car advice from the same magazine that rates toasters." Sometimes it works...a lot of times it doesn't

 

A couple of things to consider:

#1: CR only compiles information from their subsriber base. You automatically disclude a large percentage of the automotive public. Perhaps you don't have the extra income to subscribe to magazines -- so you bought yourself a very affordable Chevy Aveo. You'd never get polled. Automatically, you've filtered your results to (1) those with the discressionary income to be magazine buyers, (2) those that are interested in your magazine in the first place.

Suppose, just suppose that you like Toyota's, your favorite flavor is vanilla, and your favorate color is white. Your idea of excitement is staying up to watch the 11 o'clock news instead of the one at 10:30. You spend $30k on your brand new Camry and you buy consumer reports. In the back of your mind, one of the reasons you like CR is that they like the things you like -- it reaffirms your beliefs. What kind of an opinion are you going to send in on your rating card? Thought so. Or what about me? I'd never subscribe because I know it's ratings are a pile and I think the entire magazine is crap? They'd never hear about my two GM vehicles ('04 Malibu 2.2l, '03 Suburban 5.3l)that have been absolutely flawness throughout their first two years in my ownership.

#2: CR compiles information on what they collect on a voluntary basis. If you didn't take the time to answer the phone or fill out the reply card, then your voice is unheard. You've now selectively filtered your audience down to groups of people that are willing to take the time to talk/reply because they feel so strongly about their purchased product. If you are busy (work 2 jobs, or have kids in sports), or just pitch anything-that-isn't a bill, or hang up on the idiot that called you at suppertime and mispronounced your name, your opinion is unheard.

#3 (and final thought): Some people have an agenda. If you like granola, sleep in a tree, and singlehandedly try to save the planet each and every day, you'd probably buy a Toyota Prius. The car could check out on you in freeway traffic, get 50% less gas mileage than advertised and crawl into your house at night to take a crap on your living room carpet & you'd still think that everyone should own one: solely because it emits less emissions. How likely is such a person to give negative evaluations of the Prius? (and where were they when the EV-1 was being sold!?)


CR is scientifically worthless.

 

You can not draw any valid conclusions from CR data because their study design is flawed.

The end.

 

Best post so far. This should be a disclaimer at the beginning of all of CR's reliability reviews.

 

Consumer Reports = biased ratings. always have, always will. They have never liked the Corvette calling it a large heavy sports car with a jarring ride. I doubt many people that own Corvettes subscribe to CR, so where do they get there information?

 

I wouldn't say CR is "biased" against domestics per say, but that their studies are just scientifically scewed and totally irrelevant to the actual truth.

Some things I can buy about foreign vs domestics, but this one definitely takes the cake. Somebody ought to make a video about CR instead of wasting their time on Walmart...

 

I noticed that a lot of their reliability data is irregular. Some cases show, say a transmission to be very good one year, terrible the next, then excellent the next...to wishy-washy...and unreliable to me.
They've always seemed biased toward Asian imports, even since the 1980's.

 

I agree. Thats probably why I can't remember the last time I glanced in a consumer reports (not just for cars, for anything).

 

CR is GREAT for some reviews, but it doesn't seem that cars is their strong suit, especially given their extremely short reviews of each car.

They are great for items that you can't go and evaluate yourself, like toilets , furnaces, air conditioners, whirpool baths, faucets... Some of those items you can't buy, and just return if you don't like it. That is where CR shines.

Oh well... life goes on. Long live the US automaker.

Dan

 

Here's the thing.

* when an import breaks down. It's seen as a minor thing and a rare exception, and people will still swear by its reliability.

* when a domestic breaks down. It's a "i knew this was coming" type deal and seen as a common occurance, and people swear they'll never buy another domestic.

So perceptions does play into this when you a car like the Matrix makes it on to the list and a domestic twin like the Vibe doesn't.

 

At least the V6 Mustang was voted "Least reliable sporty car". A few people at work are having trouble with the fuel gauges and keep running out of gas.