My take on Consumer Reports as an ex-subscriber is that they tend to be a bit on the geriatric side of the marketplace. I suggest that the subscriber base (i. e. the people filling out the surveys) are more likely to be driving Buick Roadmasters than CLKs. That being said, I would wager that the number of surveys returned on Oldsmobile Park Avenues is 20-fold or more than that of the ML. Contrast this with the methods used by J.D. Power and Associates http://www.jdpower.com/global/faq/index.asp#question04 .