I'm pretty much a believer in CR. I find that they are usually pretty well dead-on. BUT, I have a problem with their review of the Mini- they give it poor reviews for ride, trunk space, and rear seat space REVIEWING A CONVERTIBLE!!

 

I've had a subscription to CR for more than a decade. What I get from them is not "which exact model is the best to buy", but more like, "what the list of features/issues etc I should think about as I make my purchase decision". In your example, I might have learned that it was POSSIBLE for a fridge to have reversible hinges, and then worked that feature into my consideration.

They are also good for determining the overall reliability of brands, e.g., Whirlpools need more repairs than Maytags, on average.

I allow them to veto a model I'm considering if they determine a product is just no good or dangerous. (e.g. baby gates that cause deaths)

That said, I can't understand why they review things qualitatively at all, like wines. How can I believe their tastes are like mine?

To pull these ramblings together: when I was considering a MINI I read CR, knowing they could tell me about reliability, but not about taste. From their (earlier) write up, I concluded "MINIs are as reliable as other European brands (I knew what that meant being a VW owner), there are no show-stopping issues (e.g. every third car does not catch fire) and there is no accounting for taste."

 

Oh, I now feel so good that a rag now thinks I made a good choice

 

Gives you the "warm fuzzies", doesn't it? :smile:

 

I've had a subscription to CR at my office for years. Last week, the mailman delivered my mail and on the top of the pile was an envelope with a P.O. box return address, and next to my name in big block letters was handstamped: FINAL NOTICE !

Now, I can only imagine what the mailman was thinking if he saw this, but if it was me, I would be thinking 'this guy can't pay his bills'...and so would anyone in the post office who saw it or any of my patients walking by my desk in my office who saw it.........the envelope contained a message for me from Consumer Reports letting me know that this is the final notice that I will receive letting me know that I am eligible for a discounted rate for a gift subscription!! WTF!!

I intend to send it back to them with a nasty note....but on the outside of my envelope to them, I am not sure what I should write.....I was thinking of something like 'CR's deceptive marketing practices' , ....any other ideas of what I could put on the envelope?

 

You're not a psychiatrist, are you?

 

I have been told by someone I know in the appliance business that even though CR does not take ad money they do accept donations from various manufacturers and that this does in fact create a bias. Again this is what I have been told by an aquaintence in the aplliance business I really do not know thier souce for this or how true it is.

I have been a subscriber to CR for many years. Oddly enough I just let my long time subscription expire due to several factors including what I have been told about the donations, the problem with so many reviews being outdated by the time they are published and the fact that so many things I would like reviewed don't ever get reviewed like office copiers, etc.

On the other hand I agree that CR is worthy of a look when I am buying something for which I know nothing. Its better than nothing. But I have also found that other sources are available and many times even more useful. One good source is Consumersearch.com where they review all of the reviews of a particular product. Otherwise I like sources where you can read actual user comments like consumers checkbook and cnet and even circuitcity.com.

 

to JDMARINO.....nope, not a psychiatrist, but that does not mean I do not need one

 

CR = Group therapy for morons.

If they recommend it, I stay away. Life is all about taking risks, not playing it safe.

 

Oooo...this hits a nerve w/ me. I work with scientists/data every day and I can tell you, based on what I see, you are 100% correct!!! Excellent insight! Science is a valuable pursuit, but is but one facet of wildly complex and variable realities. Word to the wise.

 

I disagree, although I don't think CR is the spawn of Satan.

To say anyone or anything is unbiased is too sweeping of a generalization. They get money for what they do, and that money comes from places that have influence. Ad money is only one source of income... who pays for all those pretty pictures?

As far as the formula goes... here's where your bias enters in. The "formula" doesn't apply evenly over all the vehicles. A quick for instance is how the back seat of the MINI is painted in a negative light as is the rear seat of an Audi A4. Both are small. However the down side to the MINI backseat is leg room only, while the A4 backseat stinks all the way around. There is no breakdown of what exactly the problem is, just that CR thinks there is a problem. I wonder, if they did all the work why don't they print all of the opinion? I believe the formula is: pre-formed opinion + engine specs + road course handling + opinion on body styling = X. See the problem is they don't show how they really came to their opinion, only partially.

Don't forget that the intended market for CR is American Consumers, the last time I looked most Americans liked big vehicles with lots of cupholders. To Americans "Quality" tends to be SUVs bigger than most studio apartments. CR is trying to weed out the worst of the big vehicles and see what big options the small vehicles have. Our little car doesn't factor into that formula at all. So our idea of "quality" is not necessarily reflected in CR. They are trying to review for the lowest common denominator, to have a bigger audience, to sell more copies.

While I'm in the lowest common denominator when it comes to appliances, I'm not when it comes to cars.

 

It's funny, the first thing I went to when researching small cars that get good gas mileage was Consumer Reports... and there on the page, with the hybrids, was the MINI cooper. I saw 30mpg and thought "that's the best looking car there AND it gets good mileage..."

Previous to the MINI I considered the Mazda Miata; I wanted SMALL. I'm so pleased with the MINI it's embarassing to even mention that I thought of another vehicle. That's almost akin to cheating on my wife. Not gonna do it.

CR's okay in my book.

Dave

 

I feel good that CR is now recommending the MINI. I find the mag useful and enjoy reading the statistics they gather on cars (width, length, height, weight, engines, etc), as well as their ratings in the different categories, such as steering/handling, which the MINI gets the highest mark. I understand that the reader must put things in perspective. For example, storage (trunk) space in a sports car is going to get a lower rating than a family car. The MINI does well (for me) in that category as it's a hatchback. And I do look at their reliability ratings. But when they did not recommend the MINI I knew they would come around. Now they have!

 

so what are the CR "dot" ratings now? Solid red dots for customer satisfaction and resale value (like last time) and neutral dot for reliability? (last time it was half-black, an improvement over the previous solid black.) Jimbo

 

IMHO, CR IS biased to a certain extent. They have gotten too comfortable in recommending Hondas and Toyotas. For example, in a recent article they compared small SUV's. They claimed that the Nissan Pathfinder easily climbed their rock test hill. When reporting the Honda CRV they never mentioned whether they even tried to climb the rock hill. Why, because they would have to report a negative aspect about the Honda. Instead they say the Honda is suitable for "mild off roading". To me this stinks of bias. I have also seen in the past where they have compared 2 vehicles that are essentially built side by side, e.g. Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe. The Toyota gets a more favorable reveiw. Why?

 

Climbing any offroad hills? Make it a Jeep Wrangler.

 

anyone ever wonder why their product line for review is so small?

Needless to say, i cancelled my subscription this year, after being with them for 4 years... There is just better information on the net these days. sorry.