You need a new daily driver, your budget is $24,000...

[Archie F. Swin]

You can buy a new or used vehicle. What would you buy and why?

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by kepp

The problem (as I see it) with those consumer services is that you can't be sure what is, and isn't, influencing them. Consumer Reports is primarily a hard-print magazine that is dependent on advertising.

"Hey, we hear you're working on your mid-sized sedan reliability report for next month's issue. We'd like to really ramp up our advertising for it...wink, wink." /Buick

Consumer Reports doesn't have any advertising.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

Consumer Reports doesn't have any advertising.

Dammit! I thought I finally had a valid point.

[hometeam]

Consumer Reports doesn't advertise, but they do have a subscriber base. A subscriber base that they pander too, who only want to see Hondas and Toyotas as top billing, who are cheap as ****, and who are the ones who provide consumer reports with anecdotal content to fit the narrative that they have already established.

AKA, a circlejerk. Its a bunch of pretentious dickwads jerking each other off about how smart they are, even if they have to lie/manipulate/obscure/forget data to come to that conclusion.

So yes, Consumer Reports is as full of shit as the guy taking advertising money and writing articles to promote sponsors, maybe even more so since they tend to believe somehow they are morally superior for being a crowdfunded version of the same thing~

[Whoarethechefs]

My next vehicle purchase will be an Elio, I love my Taco TRD, but getting 70 mpg+ on my daily commute sounds spiffy.
I will prolly have to wait till 2016 to get one though, I havn't reserved one, so as of today I'm at the end of a 37,000 person queue thats keeps growing.

http://www.eliomotors.com/

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by hometeam

Consumer Reports doesn't advertise, but they do have a subscriber base. A subscriber base that they pander too, who only want to see Hondas and Toyotas as top billing, who are cheap as ****, and who are the ones who provide consumer reports with anecdotal content to fit the narrative that they have already established.

AKA, a circlejerk. Its a bunch of pretentious dickwads jerking each other off about how smart they are, even if they have to lie/manipulate/obscure/forget data to come to that conclusion.

So yes, Consumer Reports is as full of shit as the guy taking advertising money and writing articles to promote sponsors, maybe even more so since they tend to believe somehow they are morally superior for being a crowdfunded version of the same thing~

I remember reading CR back around 2001 right after my dad bought a new Chevy Prizm. I was curious what CR had to say about Dad's new car. They gave it an "average" rating. In the same issue, they gave the Toyota Corolla the top rating.

The thing is the cars are identical mechanically. They were built on the same line and only had minor trim differences. I own the car now and the engine parts are stamped "Toyota".

The Prizm is a Corolla. So why was it rated average while the Toyota version got top ratings?

[EPodolak]

Hometeam, I've recently read CR recommendations for used cars, and they are pretty much in line with the reliability list you posted (?)

I've had pretty good luck finding reliable cars the last couple of decades. Now that I'm shopping again it would be nice to be able to trust some resource. Any thoughts about JD Power ratings?

[ChiefGator]

Originally Posted by Frosty

My Bug had this issue of not wanting to start because of the 6 volt battery. I became really good at push starting it and learning to always park on a hill.

At home, I always parked at the top of the driveway because it sloped down to the garage. I would get in in the morning and let it start rolling. I then would pop it into gear to start it and then slam on the brakes to keep from crashing into the garage. If it didn't catch, I would have to push it back up the driveway and try again.

I was frequently late to school because of that thing.

I had a '73, so not quite the same thing, but installing a second relay in the ignition circuitry fixed an issue that the starter was not getting enough voltage to engage. The old clicking, clicking experience, but no attempt to actual start. The poor design of running all the starting voltage up to the ignition switch was usually the cause.