Worst Used Cars - C&R

[nastang87xx]

Consumer reports also called the MX5 the most reliable in the Sports Car category. They must not realize that people are popping 2nd gear left and right. Multiple times over. And Mazda knows about it. This isn't an MT82 like situation from 5 years ago, no this is straight up the manufacturer is going "...well shit."

And they called the Honda Ridgeline a "Compact Truck". What the fawk is a "Compact Truck"? Incompetent turds.

Sponsored

 

[ernest t]

You ought to hear the teeth gnashing on the Corvette forum. It scored low too. I think CR's bias toward "value" skews ratings of sports cars and sport coupes.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

When your the top dog. Everybody's always trying to knock you down!:first:

 

[cbrookre]

the convertible top in mine has been great so far, goes up and down very quickly and is easy for even my 9yo to latch and unlatch. Would be interesting to hear what else was a "reliability" problem, mine only had a minor hole in one of the seats which was a stitching problem, and was fixed within an hour and has had the water pump and AC compressor replaced, again under warranty and in a reasonable time.

 

[Hashbrownn]

I've had some issues with my mustang but they've all been fixed under warranty right away.
All thes issues happened within my first year of the car ownership.

1. My driveshaft was replaced, car would shake between 2500-3000RPM due to bad driveshaft bearing.
2. My hood and trunk was re-aligned.
3. My puddle light was replaced, light went from pony to armadillo.
4. Driver side door/window gasket was replaced. One of the plastic tabs broke.
5. My dash trim around the vent/gauges would rattle during winter temperatures. Fixed right away.

I guess taking the car into the dealership for warranty work goes against the "reliability"

 

[Ebm]

.

Consumer reports also called the MX5 the most reliable in the Sports Car category. They must not realize that people are popping 2nd gear left and right. Multiple times over. And Mazda knows about it. This isn't an MT82 like situation from 5 years ago, no this is straight up the manufacturer is going "...well shit."

And they called the Honda Ridgeline a "Compact Truck". What the fawk is a "Compact Truck"? Incompetent turds.

 

[clicklogical]

I love some of the use of language, re: the convertible top. The latch is "annoying"? It works 100% of the time, it takes < 3s to secure/release (the latch itself) - it may not be as _convenient_ as a fully automated latch that would allow for remote top operation, but it's not annoying unless it goes wooOOooOOOooooo while you're driving around :lol:

I actually hate the new latch. The dual latches on my 07 were so much easier and smoother. The new latch can be great when on perfectly level ground, but if there is any twist in the chassis when bringing up the top, I find the latch sometimes just barely makes contact. Sometimes have to really pull down and use both hands. Hmmm.... now that I am thinking about this, maybe I should check the top alignment. I may need to adjust it....

 

[Rambl3r]

We found the slick six speed to be especially satisfying

Now I know they're full of shit. I love my MT82 but slick it is not

 

[Genxer]

It's funny one of the positives they mention, is a common complaint point (the shifter in the manual)

Yeah, the back seats are tight, it's a freakin' coupe. It also won't haul a refrigerator and it doesn't get 40MPG ...

I love some of the use of language, re: the convertible top. The latch is "annoying"? It works 100% of the time, it takes < 3s to secure/release (the latch itself) - it may not be as _convenient_ as a fully automated latch that would allow for remote top operation, but it's not annoying unless it goes wooOOooOOOooooo while you're driving around :lol:

^Agree. Sounds like they are just making things up and have never put their hands on the actual car. I've not heard great things about Consumer Reports anyway. There's well enough data on the internet to easily find out where the real world positives and negatives lie for any car.

 

[EcoSwag1990]

Sad.

 

[rob_s]

Would be interesting to hear what else was a "reliability" problem...

My guess is the reliability of cash going from Ford to CR was a problem for CR

 

[BmacIL]

Also, looking at the test results, they clearly did not use a PP car.

 

[fast88fox]

I gave up reading CR in the early 90's. The final straw was a review I saw for a BMW that had all kinds of initial quality issues like body panel gaps and buttons that fell off and even a few engine problems. They rated it very good. On the other hand the american car it was rated against had like one small issue with something that i can't remember and it was rated a piece of sh*t and unreliable. I gave up after reading that bias for the last time. Unless they have gotten better over the years anything German or Japanese was great and anything American was a POS no matter what was wrong or right with them! Plus they would compare a 80k BMW to a 40k Lincoln and wonder why the Lincoln did not have all the same options.

 

[speedfrk]

Let's not be a bunch of Mustang Fanbois... My car is reliable in that it starts and runs fine but nowhere near the quality of my Honda. Let's see- 3 driveshafts, 2 pinion flanges (vibration still not fixed- 67 page thread on this issue alone), rattles in the dash and rear quarter panel, my AC still works but there is about 1 person a day with failed evaporators in the repair/recall forum- this will be a huge problem as cars get miles on them. Rear end makes a bad groaning noise when it is cold (Ford says it's normal). This is not a car to inspire confidence. CR bases their reliability rating on customer complaints. So in my case and my 8 trips to the dealer just on the driveshaft, I would give them a failing grade.

 

[Trackaholic]

Some nice things about CR:
1. No advertising dollars from MFGs, so no bias from that.
2. Very focused on every day livability (so it fills gaps that traditional car mags don't cover)
3. Reliability data comes straight from owners

Some bad things about CR:
1. Very focused on every day livability
2. Reliability data comes straight from owners (so owner's perception and bias comes into play)
3. Reliability information is not usually separated into annoyances (sync issues for example took Ford from one of the most reliable to one of the least reliable brands) and show stoppers (my Voodoo engine just puked oil all over the street - this is just an example - my engine is still OK (but it does burn oil pretty quickly)).

Like any media, they are one perspective that is useful as a data point, but which should be considered along with many other sources.

-T

Sponsored