Consumer Reports -- Best Cars of 2004

[N8Magic]

Link

OMG, a VW made the list! With good reliability ratings even! :Q:Q:Q

 

[BigSmooth]

Ok, the Passat I can easily believe, but look at this.

The Golf and Jetta, considered by many to be among the least reliable cars on the market, are "top picks" in the small sedan category over cars like the Corolla? They specifically list the TDI versions so they must be less problematic than the gas-powered versions, but still. To me, that's a lot more surprising than the Passat.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I've never been too thrilled with Consumer Reports. They seem to give cars that were made by the same company but sold as different brands widely different scores...and they did a head to head with a V6 Camero and V8 Firebird that was titled "Camero vs. Firebird". WTF is up with that?

 

[Rent]

repost

 

[Panakk]

I wonder what the rated the Ford Explorers

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
I've never been too thrilled with Consumer Reports. They seem to give cars that were made by the same company but sold as different brands widely different scores...and they did a head to head with a V6 Camero and V8 Firebird that was titled "Camero vs. Firebird". WTF is up with that?

If you're addressing reliability, the issue their is that they aren't giving scores. They're tallying up whatever information they get from the readers who submit to the ratings. If 50/100 readers report that their Dodge Caravan have transmission problems, but only 25/100 readers report that their Plymouth Voyager has transmission problems, what is CR to do? Fudge the numbers somehow to make it work out? They could combine the two brands into a reliability rating for Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager (which are basically the same thing), but then you are getting into a gray area when you look at models that are based on the same platform with the same drivetrains, but have many other configuration differences.

So the blame doesn't lie solely on CR. They're just reporting based on the information they have.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I suspect folks that buy VW TDI's have more realistic expectations of their vehicles, and rate them a little higher because they're high on soot fumes

I'm a longtime VW diesel whore, on my 2nd one & plan to own one as long as they're legal.

 

[spidey07]

go TL!

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Triumph: the problem with that method is that the user has a LOT to do with the reliability, and that fact is never mentioned. It's like blaming excessive rear tire wear on the SRT-10 Ram's design rather than owners going out and smoking the hides on purpose. They act like thier method is 100% unbiased, yet the entire data collection is taken from a biased group.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Triumph: the problem with that method is that the user has a LOT to do with the reliability, and that fact is never mentioned. It's like blaming excessive rear tire wear on the SRT-10 Ram's design rather than owners going out and smoking the hides on purpose. They act like thier method is 100% unbiased, yet the entire data collection is taken from a biased group.

There is possibilty for bias in any way you measure reliability. There are several methods of reducing bias as well. One method is to poll more people - the more people included the less impact you'll have from one person blaming the car instead of the driver. CR polls far more people than any other source. A second method CR uses to reduce bias is that small problems that are likely to be biased (such as excessive tire wear) do NOT count in the ratings.

Is it perfect? No. But it is better than any other source of reliability we have.