Joe K. 96 Zeee!!

Say what you want about CR, but a lot of people treat it as reliable. I find it odd that after 9 years this is the first time that the Asian brands swept the top 10. Domestic cars are more comptetive than ever now.

Depressing post...I know. It's news though and on the front page of MSNBC.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11621992/

mastrdrver

What did you expect? Somehow the LX cars from Chrysler have poor ratings, but Mercedes, the last E class that the LX sources some underpinnings, has just about the opposite ratings. Figure that one out.

morb|d

This is getting out of hand. ALL of the U.S. manufacturers (big and small) need to step in and call BS on this BS. This is EXACTLY why GM is losing sales. People who don't know squat about cars read this drivel and treat it as the law. In fact they don't even read it AT ALL! I cracked an issue (which made me ill but I forced myself) only to see all those red and black circles lined up all nicely in rows. It was mezmorizing. The people subscribing to this garbage are whiped.

RussStang

I am not really all that suprised at the results. Did you guys expect any different with Consumer Reports. It is the same way ever year.

I guess my 4th gen is due to break down any day now, huh?


*Edit- I read through the article, and I am suprised to see them say Porsche was one of the lowest rated car companies, where as (I think) JD Power has them rated very high. I just take all of this crap with a grain of salt anyway. My Camaro is still running strong, and I run the thing ragged.

gtman316

I can't see domestic manufacturers going anywhere in the future if stupid crap like this keeps getting published. The general public believes everything they read in magazines, but when you try to tell that domestics today are just as good as imports, and when they ask you where you got this info, and you say from a message board, they just laugh at you and try to call you the dumb one.

Z28Wilson

This is nothing new with CR, they always seem to reflect the bandwagon opinion. People really need to realize that there are flaws with all of these quality surveys, JD Power, CR, whatever. The flaw with CR is that they are relying on feedback from the consumer...people who have had good experiences with domestic cars usually don't respond to the surveys, and those who may have bad experiences with foreign makes also may not take the time to respond, or are in denial about it. Also, what or who defines a "quality fault" anyway? It was widely publicized that CR rated the Hummer H2 "lower quality" in part because of its "poor gas milage". Duhhh, whaaaa?

Going by sheer statistics, the quality "gap" between the number 1 ranked car and the number 11 car on CR's list is miniscule...and the guy who buys the #11 car, say from GM, may have years of trouble free ownership while the guy that buys the #1 car because of some survey he takes as gospel may develop a few problems. That is where CR is a bit reckless IMO, they take themsleves and their surveys way too seriously...I think they have a responsibility to point out that the overall quality gap is TINY, save for a few brands....

SNEAKY NEIL

Don't forget CNN too. Not surprising either, knowing CNN.

Consumer reports is such a joke, but perception is reality.

Joe K. 96 Zeee!!

Here's a link to the CR picks... http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c.../top-picks.htm

It's been well documented here in the past the flaws with the CR rating system. It's not playing well in the news at all. Just this morning on CNN they surmized that GM was in a world of hurt because they didn't win the SUV or Pickup category. Well the pickup is the Ridgeline and the SUV is the Toyota Highlander.

WERM

Even if I don't necessarily disagree with the results, I'm surprised so many people still put so much weight in the rankings. It's not like the 80's where a "bad" car would lose an engine or literally fall apart after 30,000 miles. Now, even the lowest ranked cars will run for well over 100,000 miles without major mechanical problems...and most people don't even keep their cars that long anyway.

Omegalock

But people still think this is the 80s. That's the problem.

Omegalock

This made me laugh.

Wow. So if you actually need...you know... a truck...buy something else.

Robert_Nashville

I suppose we should all just kill the messenger because we don't like the message.

I am fairly confident when I say that if all the top ten vehicles were from GM (or perhaps from Ford) no one here would be attacking Consumer Reports for their bias or imprecise measuring techniques.

Believe me when I say that the standards for measuring “reliability” or “customer satisfaction”; while far from perfect or fool-proof, are not nearly so hap-hazard or subjective as some on this board would apparently like to believe.

Apparently, some of you would suggest that the domestics should only "accept" results that make them look good and imports bad...yeah...that's the way to get back market-share isnt' it!!!

slt

ugghh, They've always been a bunch of Japanese sackriders. I remember back in the day when they would rate the prizm as bad but the corrola as top notch, and they came off the same assembly line.

ProudPony

NBC nightly news interviewed the guy who put the report together - some European fellow (honest to gosh he was) named David Chapian(sp?).

He claimed the reason the imports did so well was because of "the little things... the details". The example they gave was a Lexus that employed a rear-viewing camera, a dash screen, and a projected path showing which way the car was going as you backed up. It allows you to parallel park without turning around to actually look where you are going, or using the side mirrors. (BFD. ).

The guy went on to say that "the typical 8-year-old Honda has as many faults as a 3-4 year old Ford or GM".
I went ballistic, up off the couch!
WTF are you comparing here dipsh1+... TODAYS MODELS, or 4 to 8 year old ones!!!
This report was to be based on TODAYS offerings!!!

Come back to me in 8 years with a Ridgerunt that has been used and abused like the typical Ranger or S10 has been, and let's just see what you have left...

I am utterly dismayed that these clowns can pick a Focus to be a top pick (not top 10, but #1 mind you) in one study, and not even get an honorable mention in the very next one just a few months later.

Here is a link to the MSNBC podcast of their segment for those of you who missed it last night (it's only linked for a few days at MSNBC)...
http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=56...ab97d5eaf&f=00
Notice the VERY prevalent European accent of the Consumer Reports spokesman. I'm sure all Europeans are big fans of American cars at heart...

As previously stated... MY problem with this type of report is that people who know nothing about cars swear by reports like this. It really is the Trojan Horse syndrome.

Chrome383Z

Car Reviews (Opinions) are like Toilet Paper. You wipe your **** with it and throw it away...

Consumer Reports are good at appliances, where they compare specifications, etc... On vehicles they do let alot of Opinion in which may or may NOT be shared by their viewers. I think most people see this when they read Reviews on cars. I always take a car review with a grain of salt.

If it's from Consumer Reports, typical import bias; but their are ones with Domestic bias as well. Also, if someone owns Honda's, do you think they are going to bash a car Brand that they have in their driveway? No... So again, Reviews/Opinions aren't worth anything except a good laugh from time to time.

I wouldn't get overly concerned about it.