Consumer Reports...Yay or nay?

[BulletTime]

I recently looked at a current Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide at the magazine stand. In a nutshell, they said to avoid Vettes from '98 to '03, with the exception of the '99 model year. I don't remember the details, but it had to do with overall reliability, which they stated was below average. Additionally, they were unimpressed with the Vette's "fit and finish". I think they're ridiculous. What does everyone else think?

 

[warren s]

I never really liked them for car reviews, they tend to moralize to much. If I want lots of horsepower and dont care about fuel consumption thats my choice.

For toasters and blenders its a good source on information.

 

[Bioscache2]

I never really liked them for car reviews, they tend to moralize to much. If I want lots of horsepower and dont care about fuel consumption thats my choice.

For toasters and blenders its a good source on information.

I agree they only work if you have a great deal of choices and need help deciding among them. If you want a vette then you want a vette. Besides if you really want the advise of magazines look at the car magazines. They specialize in cars and rave about the vette. Consumer Reports specializes in nothing and they don't like it. As far as years the best advice I found is buy as new as you can afford.

Lastly to prove consumer reports lack of knowledge in the area, if anything you should try to avoid the 97 only because the first model yearof any car can be mishap prone while the bugs are worked out.

 

[MsSchroder]

I never really liked them for car reviews, they tend to moralize to much.

Exactly what he said.
I don't even trust their vacuum cleaner ratings. (Another story there.)

 

[MoeJr]

I have the buyers guide that CR just put out. The reason there was no 97 to rate is they didn't have enough respondants with a 97 Vette to make a fair assessment. CR is a good guide and have always found it to be a help. People don't buy Vettes cause they want a very reliable car. They buy a Vette cause it is a Vette. Truth is Vettes are not that reliable and it has not gotten better as the years go on. But we still love them.

 

[Patrick]

I never really liked them for car reviews, they tend to moralize to much. If I want lots of horsepower and dont care about fuel consumption thats my choice.

For toasters and blenders its a good source on information.

Ain't that the truth!
For years, Consumer Reports has had a noted bias against sports cars. Consider that by and large, their readers are people who want "safe" cars to carry the family. Hence, their ratings are biased towards family-oriented mini-vans and sedans.

It isn't just the Corvette they have a marked objection to- sports cars generally, and two seaters in particular, are generally not rated well in Consumer Reports.

I am more sympathetic to their advice on appliances or electronics. But if I had listened to Consumer Reports on cars, I would never had purchased a Corvette (let alone two!)


-Patrick

 

[Bioscache2]

I have the buyers guide that CR just put out. The reason there was no 97 to rate is they didn't have enough respondants with a 97 Vette to make a fair assessment. CR is a good guide and have always found it to be a help. People don't buy Vettes cause they want a very reliable car. They buy a Vette cause it is a Vette. Truth is Vettes are not that reliable and it has not gotten better as the years go on. But we still love them.

They're not bad when they actually do research but counting on consumers to return reports is very inaccurate. Without getting too detailed it has to do with the bias of the polled. You have to look at the pool of those who return the poll. More often then not you will find it is less then diverse and then you have to compare that pool with the average buyer of the vehicle, which again is not diverse. You could easily find trends within vette owners just by hanging around this site. The differences between these two pools of people is what makes reports by consumers paint a very one sided picture. These polls have to be backed up with empirical research which they don't do on all cars just because its impractical considering the number that exist for each year.

 

[jcs712]

My father inlaw always gives me a yearly subscription to CR for Christmas. I treat it as just another source of information and I really do not take everthing they say to heart. In the past, I have bought some of their recommended items such as vacuum cleaners etc and been disappointed. They tend to look at everthing from a practical standpoint in terms of reliability and cost. As for the Vette, I think a magazine such as CR tends to miss the point of what the Vette was really designed to do. I also agree that their used car ratings are flawed due to the fact that the sample sizes on the number of respondent surveys tends to be low in my opinion. I know when I get their survey, I toss it in the trash.

 

[vettepilot]

They're not bad when they actually do research but counting on consumers to return reports is very inaccurate. Without getting too detailed it has to do with the bias of the polled. You have to look at the pool of those who return the poll. More often then not you will find it is less then diverse and then you have to compare that pool with the average buyer of the vehicle, which again is not diverse. You could easily find trends within vette owners just by hanging around this site. The differences between these two pools of people is what makes reports by consumers paint a very one sided picture. These polls have to be backed up with empirical research which they don't do on all cars just because its impractical considering the number that exist for each year.

Exactly on point there. When you think about it, most of the people that respond to polls are those who are dissatisfied with a given product. Satisfied customers are usually not going to go out of their way to tell somebody how well their product performs, so that skews the poll responses right from the get go. Additionally, the average CR subscriber is looking for a family car that provides a shell of protection and ecomomy not gut wrenching torque, tenacious handling, and great looks. CR knows this and leans toward their direction when considering how to rate vehicles.

vettepilot

 

[srthom13]

Usually good for mini-vans, electronics and appliances but for true American sports cars CR is NG. Steve