List of Consumer Reports Automobile Tests
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most months, Consumer Reports tests competing cars and ranks them by class.
[edit] Reliability
An unusual feature is that they survey their customers for reliability of their cars, which often impacts the resale value of cars. Their annual buying guide and summary book give ratings for all cars, all recent years, all engines, for many systems. In general, cars with high reputations such as Honda and Toyota tend to have lots of "red dots" which means the fewest problems. Black dots are the worst, while an open circle is average, or moderate. Most car magazaines don't have similar surveys or ratings. These are averages, however. An owner might buy an 2004 Mazda MPV and experience zero problems out to 55,000 mile [1]
[edit] Automobile Magazines
Compared to magazines like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, they do not accept advertising, or put much emphasis on style or driving excitement. Historically, they have given high rating to cars as diverse as the Ford Taurus, Dodge Intrepid, Dodge Caravan (over the 1996 Odyssey), AMC Gremlin, and Plymouth Valiant. Cars which do well as new cars may not be recommended if their reliability is less than average or unknown.
Cars ranked in descending finishing order (score)
- September 2006: "Handy Hatches" Mazda3(79), Audi A3(76), Saab 9-2X(61), Dodge CaliberAWD (51), Dodge Caliber SXT FWD (49)
- September 2006: Honda Odyssey EX (91), Toyota Sienna XLE (89), Kia Sedona (78), Nissan Quest (70), Dodge Grand Caravan SXT (59) Ford Freestar SEL (58)
- September 2006:
- 1992: "Five Small Sedans" Honda Civic EX "exceptionally reliable", Saturn SL2 "rear seat uncomfortable, reliability excellent", Ford Escort LX-E "stiff ride, repair average", Nissan Sentra GXE "good ride, small rear seat", Hyundai Elantra GLS "noisy, thirsty, felt flat".[2]
- 1992: "Four Midsize Sedans" Toyota Camry XLE V6 $22,007, I4, $16,619, Ford Taurus, Honda Accord EX"with Toyota most reliable cars, competed for best compact sedan for years", Chrysler LeBaron LX (upscale Dodge Shadow Plymouth Acclaim) "adequate, but not good enough, reliability from average to much worse", $18,141. "look no farther than Camry, Taurus, and Accord"[3]
