Apology accepted!

 

Ok, you've succeeded. I am now speechless.

 

Not to judge CR's fine point of character, but this is the "non profit" organization that cheered and clapped when after many failed attempts, they finally got the Suzuki Samurai up on 2 wheels. Remember that "scandal ?"

So I must therefore conclude:

(1) It's not cool that these idiots finally put the MINI on the list

(2) I still think they are scandolous and biased and I will never trust their ratings. Putting a MINI on their "most reliable" list does not make them a viable source.

 

Skip and Ma78.....you guys are hilarious! Thanks for the comic relief! Mind if I have a Diet Coke with y'all?

 

Diet Coke is for jerks, and I have yet to see any hard numbers to prove otherwise.

 

A lot longer then 1 year chows4us. A year and maybe 12k miles on a car is not near long enough to determine it's relibility. Give it 4 or 5 years then your in the ballpark. Most problems on a car start to show much later then the first year.

 

However imperfect they may be, Consumer Reports' reliability ratings are the best available, period.

I've spent a few hours every year for over 30 years poring over their reliability data and comparing their reports of problems or lack of same to my experiences and the experiences of my family members with the cars we've owned starting when I was a teenager back in the '70s. And every year, without exception, the problem areas cited by CR survey participants for a particular model have almost precisely mirrored the problem areas I've had or my family members have had with that same model.

(And yes, I'm quite aware that makes me entirely average. *takes a bow*)

The fact that their results have tracked with my own so unfailingly for so long is why I think the enthusiast car magazines (bunches of which I've been subscribing to and reading since I was a kid, and enjoying a hell of a lot more than CR, you betcha) are just plain silly when they malign CR merely to gain street cred, which they habitually do.

When I'm thinking about buying a car, I gather information from every credible source I can find, and that includes CR. I don't place a whole lot of stock in their test reports (apart from their fuel economy results, that is), since they're not an enthusiast publication and still evaluate cars too much like they're mere appliances (although they've gotten a lot better in this regard in recent years) -- but I do put a lot of stock in their reliability reports because they've proven their accuracy and value to me for over three decades.

Just to disregard everything CR brings to the table simply because their test reports don't read like Car and Driver et al is to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Anyhow, that's my experience with Consumer Reports, and my opinion. YMMV, certainly, but I think a lot of people compulsively trash CR almost as a knee-jerk reaction simply because it's the hip thing to do among enthusiasts rather than evaluate CR on its merits...not, of course, that anyone here has done that.

Regarding Consumer Reports' overall reliability ratings for the various MINI models for the 2006 model year, since some of you were wondering about that, they look like this:

MC: Approximately 27% Better Than Average Reliability
MCS: Approximately 10% Worse Than Average Reliability
MCC: Approximately 21% Worse Than Average Reliability
MCSC: Approximately 44% Worse Than Average Reliability

CR's breakdown of reliability data for each model year that shows specific trouble spots (and trouble-free areas) is a lot more valuable than those generalized ratings I just listed, but that's too much data for me to try to relate here -- you'd have to go to the source if you're interested. And if most people here haven't experienced any problems with their 2006 and are wondering why those generalized ratings I posted may be worse than expected, I'd say it just goes to show you how reliable the average new car is these days.

 

Maybe the reliability rankings build upon each year of the model... Since the changes have been made in the 05-06 models that improve it's overall build, the projected reliability goes up... I mean, the majority of the cars in the CR are 2007 models - the little note at the bottom says that they are 2007 unless noted... This must be somewhat the way it is done, since how can you have reliability of a car that's only been out a few months or not even at all yet!

My guess is that they build upon the previous year's reliability projection with changes made to the next model year...

 

I was just trying to point out that I doubt only angry car owners would fill the surveys out because in order to complete a survey you have to be willing to tell them about your blender, your computer, your TV, & many other categories. It takes a bit of time & you can't just jump in a beyotch about a car & be done. Also, if I remember correctly, I have only filled out the Auto portion of the survey twice. Once in 1996 & again in 2005 (the years I bought a new car). They only ask new car owners about their autos in the year the car was released. I dunno how they compile the worst used car ratings because I don't remember them ever asking about used autos or anything auto except new ones in the year they were bought (but I am getting old & my mind is not what it used to be )

Oh well you guys can go back to making up & being friendly & such now

 

Bamatt makes a good point. I still want to see the survey myself.

 

They used to mail the surveys out back in the old days but the last 2 or so I have gotten have been via email to complete online. Next time I get one I will pay special attention to the auto questions & report back

 

You rock. Thanks.

 

My confession:

Chows and I had stolen tens of thousands of these surveys from 2002 to 2004 and filled them all out as "worse than average" for all of the Mini Coopers.

In 2005, Consumer Reports wised up to our scheme to make C4 and hence the Mini look bad and changed the format, thereby not allowing us to skew the results of their questionnaires in 2005 and 2006.

Whew.....I feel better with that off of my conscience.

 

And I thought you had turned a new leaf/page

You know ... it was so easy just hitting the "print" with 10,000 copies button but it did chew up the ink

 

I'm just a firm believer that if you take care of your cars, they'll last. Sometimes there are cars out here that are just crappy **cough cough YUGO **. Everybody used to say "Oh, Suzuki Sidekicks are crap." "Oh that's the Suzuki Sidekick. It's a big piece of junk." My Suzuki Sidekick is 10 years old with 93,000 miles on the clock and after beating the heck out of it(weekends out on the range down at Fort Bragg), it's still on it's original clutch. After only having to change the oil, tires, brakes, etc. I have to say it's been the best vehicle I have ever owned and I've owned quite a few cars in my lifetime. This is why I don't go along with CR. I'm sorry, but CR is very biased.