- Nov 17, 2019
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Big Beautiful Boners?
BBB = An unreliable way to tell if you can trust a business.
The only actual vehicle ratings/awards you can really trust come from Consumer Reports. (zero advertising)
OTOH it's not the worst idea to read Car & Driver once in awhile too!
(for a commercial mag they're relatively objective)
Consumer Reports is far too short breathed with their methods and results. They need to learn the internet doesn't have a character limit. But some of their results, especially mileage seem completely off and they provide no explanation.BBB = An unreliable way to tell if you can trust a business.
And the only actual vehicle ratings/awards you can really trust come from Consumer Reports. (zero advertising)
OTOH it's not the worst idea to read Car & Driver once in awhile too!
(for a commercial mag they're relatively objective)
Consumer Reports is far too short breathed with their methods and results. They need to learn the internet doesn't have a character limit. But some of their results, especially mileage seem completely off and they provide no explanation.
Really computer review sites have ruined me on all other reviews.
I'd think there would be more budget impact from doing the testing than writing up a decent report. At least that has always been my experience with testing, especially when something like a car you could boilerplate a ton of it.I agree about the online content ... not even close to worth it for a full subscription. I will occasionally sign up for a month if they have a full review I need to read but that's about it.
Funny I'm such a nerd I can recall reading my father's CU magazines for fun when I was a kid. Those reviews were a on another level detail-wise compared to today.
However this is at least partially due to the no-advertising of any kind accepted thing. The budget is limited.
I'd think there would be more budget impact from doing the testing than writing up a decent report. At least that has always been my experience with testing, especially when something like a car you could boilerplate a ton of it.
I remember reading an article about outdoor paint, they had a page or so talking about the test, then just ranked everything "Poor" "Good" "Better" "Best" with no explanation as to why. Ran a test for years, but then couldn't actually be bothered to provide any detail.
FYI, you can access CR for free from most libraries, at least every library I've been a member of.
Yeah, that's my point, seems like they are pinching pennies on the most important part (providing the data). I don't really think the short write ups are a budget thing, I think they just think their readers trust them and just want the results. I find this pretty unsatisfying though.They have to buy everything they test retail to make sure it's an honest example of the product being tested.
With auto's in particular this can add up quickly, as can maintaining a large fully insured testing facility.