Consumer Reports Bottom 11 of 2008; Bad for Chrysler
Last week we brought you Consumer Reports’ Top Picks of 2008. Now, we’re letting you in on the worst 11. Chrysler takes a huge hit from Consumer Reports with four out of the bottom 11 belonging to the struggling automaker.
The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited bottoms out on the list, along with the Hummer H3. Both were cited for poor fuel economy and poor reliability. However, keep in mind that Consumer Reports does not take into the off-road ability of the vehicles. The Wrangler and Hummer are both championed as off-road vehicles, so, (maybe?) they didn’t get a fair shake.
The Jeep Liberty Sport also fell victim to the fuel economy bias, receiving the third lowest rating. Consumer Reports also didn’t give any love to the Chevy Aveo. Its main gripes were the Aveo’s poor acceleration and wretched handling. In the subcompact range, Toyota’s Yaris was cited for inadequate acceleration and handling as well.
The remaining six are as follows: Dodge Nitro SLT, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Suzuki Forenza, Jeep Patriot Limited, Chevrolet TrailBlazer LT, Mercury Grand Marquis.
+ CNN Money: 11 Worst Cars – Consumer Reports
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Comments
andrew
i hate lists like these. there is never any context around it and people take them as absolutes (and understandably so). CR should clearly spell out the methodology and biases, and caveat the results as such.
to your point, the wrangler is a great off-roader, although a very impractical daily driver in more ways than one.
JN
It's consumer reports. Of course they didn't get a fair shake. In the 90's they rated the Ford Ranger and Mazda B-series differently when they were built on the same assembly line by the same people.
Richard H
CR is a JOKE! If you belive the trash they spew, you are a real idiot!!
Howard
Consumer Reports ratings are as inaccurate as the day is long. There is no point in analyzing their non-existant methodology.
Cicero
CR does not take into account many factors for what makes a good car, like the enthusiasts, the off roader enjoyment and other things, though I would like the Wrangler to have a diesel
davido
CR has it's priorities, fine. But when six of the "bottom" cars are designed to go off-road and that isn't taken into account then it's standards are totally out of sync with the target markets for these cars. I suspect that Ferrari would fair poorly too. After all they build gas-guzzling supercars that are not likely to be as reliable as an Accord. So what?
I still remember CR making a big splash in the 80's. I mean leading the nightly news stuff. They called the Dodge Omni "unsafe." It seems they took one out, drove it at highway speeds on their test site, then jerked the steering wheel hard and took their hands off. The car kept swerving back and forth instead of gradually returning to a straight path, thereby proving that if a driver did that on the highway it would be unsafe.
Now, I didn't drive an Omni but I remember thinking, thanks CR! If I've ever been tempted to snap the wheel right or left at 75mph and take my hands off, you've cured me!!
hwyhobo
CR is a data point for reliability, nothing else. I've driven recent Camrys, and I would rather take public transportation, thank you. However, if there are two cars I like, and one is in the top ten reliability list, and the other in the bottom ten, then yes, they will influence my decision.
hwyhobo
Sorry, wrong thread.
Ducati Minor
CR's assessments are based on subscriber surveys. This is a disputable method of gathering data. CR does, however, list driver satisfaction. Sadly, CR's version of fun had the Ford Focus ST ranking high,
Question of the Day: Do You Value Consumer Reports Ratings,
[...] Consumer Reports is out to champion what it thinks are the best autos of 2008, and, of course, the worst. For many, these ratings will be the holy book of car shopping. But, for others Consumer Reports [...]
Steve K.
I love my Trailblazer 4x4.
Their criteria is so out of sync with real world driving that their picks have little effect on what I buy.
Jim
If you're looking for a kid hauler, sedan, coupe or any type of mainstream daily driver, CR does a good job of comparing basic vehicles. Take their category ratings and adjust the importance base on your own priorities.
That being said any vehicle that approaches a performance extreme will fair poorly with CR, so excepting reliability and maintenance rankings you should probably ignore CR if you're interested in vehicles like Jeeps or Ferraris
Years ago, Car & Driver(?) did a send up of CR auto testing procedures with an F1 car as the subject vehicle.
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Luke
Agreed, Consumers reports is worth a good chuckle, but usually nothing good. The worse place to get reliable information. Better off joining a forum or something to get information from (the thousands) of people driving them.
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