I just got my Consumer Reports
 

Here is what they had to say about the Blue Tec.:)

Day of the Diesel
"The new clean-diesel Mercedes-Benz E320 Blue Tec scored among the best luxury cars we've tested while delivering an excellent 29 mpg overall. That's 8 mpg better that its gas sibling, the E350."

So they don't always trash MB.

They still know a lot more about toaster ovens than cars. :rolleyes:

Thirty years ago, Consumer Reports rated the Dodge Aspen much higher than the Plymouth Volare. Except for the names and minor trim differences, they were the same car!!!

Do you own a lot of toasters?

I sure would hate to be judged on one thing I did 30 years ago.:rolleyes:

CR states in their ads that they accept no advertising. While this is technically true, their whole publication is nothing but.

Most of the car reports are compiled from voluntary member submissions. This usually means that only those who are exceptionally happy or unhappy with their cars reply at all. Also, any bias present in the magazine may indeed bias the readers, which then bias the submissions.

Just in case you can't tell, I don't think that CR's recommendations are worth the paper that they're printed on.

You're right. I just remember it because I had a Plymouth Volare at the time. Fortunately, it was a lot more reliable than CR predicted.

Ten years later, I had a Jeep Cherokee which CR slammed pretty hard. Interestingly, most of the "defects" that they were spun up about were essentially dealer prep items. They had little to do with the actual design of the vehicle.

Neat discussion.

Funny timing too, I just posted about this very issue on another forum on Friday:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=395571

Here's what I posted, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts:

Over on a local arts & music forum, a guy was asking for advice about buying a new car. Many chimed in to talk about their experiences, and I tried to offer helpful advice.

In the ongoing conversation, I noticed that many people go to resources like Consumer Reports for advice on buying cars, and take those reviews seriously.

I’ve always felt that Consumer Reports (and other similar publications’) reviews are great for things like microwaves and electric toothbrushes, but they fall flat on their faces when it comes to reviewing cars. They seem to approach buying a car the same way they approach buying a toaster: as though it’s just another consumer product that we cycle every 5 years. In fairness, that really is how many people buy and own cars… what’s the average time people keep a new car? Something like seven years, if I recall correctly. So for those buyers who lease/buy a new car every few years, maybe these reviews are ideal.

But what about the people who want to own a car for 10+ years? I think these reviews can really lead them astray.

Here’s an example that was posted in the thread that sparked my observations:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1204304847.jpg
(Ratings: Predicted Reliability, Owner Satisfaction, Accident Avoidance, Crash Protection, and Overall MPG)

Right off the bat, I’m surprised to see the Kia rank so much higher than the Yaris. (It’s even more expensive!) In all sections except “accident avoidance” and fuel mileage, the Kia is rated as “N/A”. Now, many of you know what a stellar record CR has with testing “accident avoidance”. Both Suzuki and Isuzu successfully sued them for false statements, and I vaguely recall something similar with the Dodge Omni. But I digress. With these two lone ratings, the Kia scores better than the Yaris.

To me, this is baffling. It seems to me like all the categories are equally weighted. This means things like options and “owner satisfaction” (whatever that means) could allow a car like the like a Kia Rio (which is… well, crappy) to get a better review than a Yaris (which is… well, a Toyota). As “car guys”, if someone wanted to buy a car to keep for 10+ years, would you recommend a Kia Rio over a Toyota Corrola? I don’t think so. Our common experience tells us that the Kia is a piece of crap that’ll probably be fine for 5 years but will live day-by-day after that. The Toyota will live for as long as you keep the rust worm away, provided you give it a fresh timing belt every few years. To that end, it would seem that quality and reliability should trump options… and perhaps even mpg and purchase price.

But then where do car buyers get info about quality? JD Powers Initial Quality surveys?http://www.truedelta.com/blog/images/IQS2007.jpg

I actually like seeing these surveys, mostly because I have some nasty biases they reinforce. That aside, I’m not sure how useful they are. For one thing, by rating the manufacturers instead of the individual models, it doesn’t arm consumers with any information that is directly related to a particular car they’re interested in. Furthermore, this meas that if a manufacturer has some niggly issues with a new model, it can affect their overall rating. Look at Mazda. What did they do wrong in ’07… put a bad makeup mirror in all the Miatas?

In the Initial Quality survey, the cars are surveyed over their first 90 days. What are people going back to the dealer for in the first 90 days? I’d imagine it’s niggly issues like fit & finish, electrical gremlins (*cough* VW) and figuring out the radio presets. I guess it gives an indication of how the cars are screwed together, but it’s not like it will predict whether a model will be prone to projectile vomitting its transmission at 100k.

Furthermore, if there ARE serious issues in those first 90 days, are they all considered equal in these surveys? If a stops in after work for a headlight bulb, is it counted the same as a car that comes in on a flatbed with its pistons hanging out the oilpan?

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I’ve always found this stuff interesting and I’m curious to know what you guys think about this stuff.

If I was going to put it as a question, I guess it would be this:

Do you think there are GOOD surveys or reviews out there? If a family member or friend was looking to buy a new car, and asked you for some helpful resources, what would you recommend?

On another forum I used to peruse, there was an older engineer who had worked for several OEM's. He brought up the Dodge/Plymouth Neon and how they were the same car, built on the same assembly lines, in the same shifts, in two different factories. The Plymouths had a much higher warranty return rate than the Dodges. He believed this was due to the differences in the buyers. Older cynical buyers bought the Dodges, expecting cheap domestic crap and not bothering to warranty the small stuff. Younger, more idealistic people with more free time were buying the Plymouths, and bringing them back for more minor issues. He also said the Mexican-built Neons had fewer issues than the U.S. ones.

He also explained the rationale behind fake oil pressure and temperature gauges found on so many vehicles these days. Basically ignorant customers.

LOL, nope just pointing out that CR is worthless for cars.

I found that once - a "re-linearlization" DIY on a Mazda Miata website - first I laughed out loud...then I felt sad-what kind of sheep have we become ?.

(the DIY involved re-soldering resistors on the cluster)


Oh well, maybe thats impetus to go back to school and learn enough EE to either re-resistor or re-program my cluster to read "correctly". Too bad I got rid of my "no computer" car.

-John

In 1978, CR tested a new W123 Mercedes Benz 300D NA and said it was the best car they had ever tested in the entire history of their tests!!

Looks like they were right that time.

So there.

I can hear the 123 folks choking now.:D

That's scary, but I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

Or the 123's superiority to all things in the history of the world is so obvious, even CR could comprehend it's greatness. That's my theory. :D

Maybe back then they had some testing specialists who were clever enough to observe the whole "return line" thingy that diesels do.