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Consumer Reports Top 11 Worst Cars of 09

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#43 ·
As others have sayed, the CR review is flawed because they don't take into account off-road ability. Any vehicle that excells at off road use is going to comprimise in other areas to some extent. These other areas are what CR evaluates, resulting in poor scores for off roading vehicles.

CR is flawed, thats all there is to it.
 
#44 · (Edited)
Consumer Reports just tries to attract negative attention to consumer products

First off...I will state that this article pisses the living crap out of me. Consumer Reports is comparing apples, to oranges, to grapes, to bananas, to pears, to kiwis. HECK...they are superficially looking at every vehicle's comfort, mpg, road noise, etc. Their comparison techniques pit luxury sedans against bottom of the line economy sedans, off-road vehicles to on-road parking lot cruisers, and all other polar opposite comparisons. It disgusts me when I read a statement like this:

"The Yaris is the smallest and least expensive car Toyota sells in the United States. It actually ranks at the top of the list in both reliability and low cost of ownership, but those factors are not included in Consumer Reports' basic vehicle score."

ARE THEY JOKING? This statement WREAKS of incompetence. So what is included in the vehicle score? Comfort? Features? Fit and finish? MPG? Road Noise? The Toyota Yaris is a sub-compact sedan with an almost all plastic interior that gets best-in-class MPG. It was NOT manufactured to be the most comfortable car out there and minimize road noise. It was Toyota's answer to a gas price crunch and the vehicle has been quite successful. One of my ex co-workers has a Yaris Sedan and it is more comfortable than my Honda Civic Coupe!

I will briefly describe a Consumer Reports BLUNDER which is a perfect example of why they are an inferior inadequate magazine and that they are solely in the business to bash and attract negative attention to consumer products from all companies. They think they can play the role of the government entity CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) but in reality they are just a pathetic magazine. Here is the story:

I used to be an engineer with a Car Seat company that was discussed in this retracted Consumer Reports article where they did some negligent testing and then published the results without even double checking their findings. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the testing was completely botched and they tested outside of Federal Specifications and way over-stepped their authority of determining what is safe or not (testing at 70mph side impact which is not even a valid Federal test). I am not aware of any libel lawsuits, but I am sure that Consumer Reports is being careful not to step on anyone's toes in the Juvenile Products Industry for a while.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/us/19seat.html?fta=y


I hope something like this backfires on Consumer Reports with the Auto Industry. Maybe then they will wake up and realize they have been in bed with the Japs, producing biased, botched, and inadequate amateur reviews for decades
 
#45 ·
I really like all the features Patriot has and thats what is important. If I didn't like the Pat I would have sold it, the Pat got me any where I needed to go this past winter, bring on that imported s***, I know it will not last here in Canadian winter. The last comment I have is if you like it drive it! The hell with consumer reports!
 
#46 ·
I useto work i nthe now gone Ciorcuit City selling TV's. Everytime I Swe someone walk in with a CR, I'd walk the other way and let the rookies deal with them. At that time CR reported that the best TV for the moeny was JVC. I will admit, JVC paid the highestcomission. However JVC had the highest return rate. It was at the time company wide averageing about 30% In my store it was closer to about 35%. Peopel would come in with the CR and demand a TV that was out ofproduction as TV had at the time roughly a 14 month production life, so by the time the CR issue wiould come out revieing the mdoel they had tested a year, that model was no longer avaialble. Custumers would be pissed by this fact.

The main cause of issues with CR reviews are they are ad revenue sponsored in that their sales are bankrolled by the companies that they review, and no one wants to bite the hand that feeds them. This problem is further compounded by the corporate laws in the states that makes disparagement illegal. (Nice thing about the UK press, is that they can call a car or TV a piece of crap, and not get sued over it.)

In the end CR will never give Chrysler a decent review becasue they just don't pay them enough to. The other issue is in their tests themselves in which CR believes because KIA can build a 15k economy box in low labor countries that the domestics should be expected to do the same. I won't even get in to their anti-union politics on the company level. But even Jeep built a Patriot that can get 50mpg, run the quarter in 10 seconds, and sell for under 15k, CR will never give it a favorable review. People listen to CR and base what they buy on it.

People want to buy American and save the US automobile industry, then demand fair and equal reviewing of cars sold in this country, and not the typical, "Pay for Review" mentality the American automotive press has going.
 
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#47 ·
I drove a Yaris and was really impressed with it. Quite, great ride, seating. I don't know what CR is talking about. I only passed on it because it was higher than the Patriot and it was just too small for my needs.
 
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#48 ·
dski said:
The last comment I have is if you like it drive it! The hell with consumer reports!
Click to expand...

I am sure that everyone agrees with your comment, the unfortunate part is that there are many car buyers out there looking for reliable transportation, maybe a 4x4. They will get screwed by CR & pass up on the Patriot. :mad:
 
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#49 ·
Consumer Reports is as useless as tits on a bull.

when a magazine blindly gives Toyota a thumbs up for reliability and their trucks can't even load up a atv or keep the tail gate from breaking, or keep an FJ from tearing itself apart under the hood...heck, look at nissan with the GTR, it has a nice little warranty invalid switch inside the car
 
#50 ·
So we agree this is useless and in fact harmful information. How can we get them to stop? We can't. All I can think is to attempt to associate their credibility with publications like National Inquirer and The Onion. The Jeep reviews are pretty funny if you read them as humor.
 
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#51 ·
Best thing to do is go to all the "Auto Owner Review" web sites, like aol, yahoo, edmunds, epinions & put in your 2 cents on your Patriot to counter-act all the other negative publications.
 
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#52 ·
The Yaris forged the stream after AAA showed for the tow. But we still love the high MPG and nifty handling.
CNN
What a drug frenzy this writer was on.
I wonder what would I drive if I owned Mobil Oil?
 
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#54 · (Edited)
Westville, another source with credentials. My Xscape isn't that "refined" as far as the ride and handling go, but the thing is fun with a 5-speed.....and gets 28.7 MPG on the road, 25 in the dirt. It is like driving a sofa compared to the wife's Pat, but it is stodgier on gas. Is that a word?

Wish I had a FDII over the Xscape, but they don't send them to SoFLA.
 
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