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if you re talking about toasters or cameras, or other non automotive consumer items, consumer reports is fine. when it comes to automobiles though, they suck big time. you would be far better served by researching any automotive purchase using enthusiast magazines like car and driver, motor trend, and road and track, or watching motor week on PBS or velocity instead.
The CR mechanical reliability data is by far the best data set out there. JD Powers is pretty useless. You get first year owners complaining that they don't understand how to use the electronics and other similar things that have nothing to do with long-term mechanical reliability. They don't even collect anything for cars more than 3 years old so pretty much anything in their data set is a car under warranty.
I don't pay much attention to their reviews or the new cars they recommend. Their evaluation criteria are different from mine.
If you're the type who trades a car every 2 or 3 years, CR is fairly useless. Any mechanical problems with the car are going to be a minor annoyance covered by the warranty, not a financial debacle. I tend to keep cars for at least 7/100K and have put 160K+, 140K+, and 120K+ miles on cars I've owned. I'm taking considerable risk on the reliability of the car with that kind of car ownership style so that reliability data is important to me.
I don't buy used cars but I'd think it would be even more important then. If you're buying a 4 or 5 year old used car, there are lots of cars that should be avoided. CR is just one data point for that kind of buyer but it's real world data and not just anecdotal stories.
Most fora and pubs will (at least appear to...) have a bias toward certain makes and models. It makes sense. They regularly use the same criteria, tests, comparisons, etc. from year to year, sometimes with gradual refinement/modification. One would expect similar results over time. It goes to show their consistency. If their is a sudden change, it can usually be explained.
Some car mags rate the 'top 10' etc. or 'best buys' or preferred models etc. Many makes and even models reappear often over the years. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It's the nature of the process.
It's up to the knowledgeable reader/buyer to understand this and how it relates to his/her own personal interests. If they find one or two that fulfill their interests and choose to ignore others...so be it. Some folks actually read 'em all...(because all often bring something of value in the 'big picture' if understood)...even individual's anecdotes on C-D.
if you re talking about toasters or cameras, or other non automotive consumer items, consumer reports is fine....
No, they're not. I've been a professional photographer for the past 20 years and was a newspaper editor/publisher before that (and bought cameras for our news staff). Their reports on cameras are absolutely laughable! Really. Worthless.
I put very little stock in the value of any of their reports. I might listen to what a 10-year-old kid has to say about his dad's car, but I wouldn't put much weight to his opinion. I feel the same about what Consumer Reports has to say. I might read it if I come across it at the doctor's office, but I'm not likely to make a choice based upon it.
For automotive information, I ONLY trust their repair history data, and only as a starting point to dig deeper. Their opinions of cars are extremely biased. I remember they bashed every small truck made (this was in the 80s and 90s) because they had "a too-firm ride." Well, DUH, it is a truck. The car reviews gushed over cushy (mushy) suspensions. Big thumbs down to CR for being fat old farts who just want rolling sofas.
Then there was the fraudulent testing and hatchet job on Samurais. No, CR cannot be trusted.
I don't know. Anytime I watch one of their video reviews, it's always a person in what appears to be their 30's doing the driving and talking.
I'm sure I've looked at one Sometime in the past 3 decades since living high school, but I couldn't tell you when or for what (most likely out of boredom while waiting in a Drs office).
I vastly prefer to do my own research.
I consider CR part of the research process. Are you implying you go to the dealer lots and disassemble the cars or something?
There is so much information on the Internet (yes much of it is BS) one can easily check out reliability, pricing, etc. of anything. CR may have outlived its usefulness.
CR is still the gold standard for reliability data IMO. The internet is more valuable for researching particular maintenance problems related to specific vehicles.
CR's never really been strong in the pricing arena. That was traditionally Edmunds domain, even in the pre-internet age, with those quarterly booklets they sold off news stands. Now, you just go to Autotrader, pick a year and model, and a radius around your home, and look at the prices.
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