US Consumer Reports list worst / best cars, some are in Oz already!

[Ausmartin1]

List of the worst:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/driveo...-cars/4192281/

"Besides Armada, Nissan also gets another worst with the Altima sedan with a 3.5-liter engine in the midsize car category. All of the lowest of the low were culled from among 200 different models.

Consumer Reports' point is that a cheap car isn't necessarily a good value. It notes that a Nissan Versa costs about $1,500 less than rival subcompact Honda Fit. But the Fit "fun to drive, cheaper to own, more reliable and provides almost twice the value," says Automotive Editor Rik Paul in a statement.

And Versa is not even the worst value for a subcompact car. That (dis)honor goes to the Volkswagen Beetle with a 2.5-liter engine.

Here's the list of the worst by category:

•Compact /Subcompact Cars: Volkswagen Beetle with a 2.5-liter engine

•Midsized Cars: Nissan Altima 3.5 SL

•Large Cars: Ford Taurus Limited

•Luxury Cars: BMW 750Li

•Sports Cars/Convertibles: Chevrolet Camaro convertible 2SS with a V-8

•Wagons/Minivans: Chrysler Town & Country Touring-L

•Small SUVs: Ford Escape SE with a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine

•Midsized SUVs: Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

•Luxury/Large SUVs: Nissan Armada Platinum

•Pickups: Ford F-250 Lariat with a 6.7-liter V-8"


BEST:
"If you're looking for the car that is considered the best overall value among all models out there, Consumer Reports magazine says look no farther than the Toyota Prius, the popular hybrid car.

And at the other end of the spectrum, if you want to squander all your dollars, you can't do a better job of flushing them away than by buying the Nissan Armada, a giant SUV, says CR as part of its annual Best New-Car Value analysis.

For Prius, it's a second straight win on the CR best-value list, having unseated the Honda Fit from the title it held for four straight years. The magazine lauds it as having the right combination of performance, reliability and low estimated five-year ownership costs at 47 cents per mile.

"Prius' 44 (miles per gallon) overall is the best fuel economy of any non-plug-in car that Consumer Reports has tested," said Consumer Reports Automotive Editor Rik Paul in a statement. "Though it's not particularly cheap to buy, the Prius' depreciation is so low that it costs less to own over the first five years than its initial (price). We call that a bargain."

The consumer magazine says there is not a lot to love about Armada. It only gets 13 mpg overall, scored poorly in Consumer Reports ' annual reliability survey and forces its owners to shell out $1.20 per mile to operate, according to CR's analysis.

As for brands, Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus emerged the big winners. They had the top models in three of the 10 categories. Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited scored highest among large cars and Lexus ES 300h was top luxury car.

Vehicles from Subaru and Mazda also did well overall."

[Deco28]

Consumer reports thinks everything should be rated like fridges

[duke5700]

I instantly discredit whoever wrote that because they think the Prius is the best car...

[VYBerlinaV8]

I instantly discredit whoever wrote that because they think the Prius is the best car...

Not necessarily. It's more a measure of customer satisfaction. If you wanted to buy a small, economical vehicle that's a bit different to other cars the the Prius fits the bill. It's not my thing, but people buy them for a reason.

The vehicles that do well in this survey are generally mass produced, reasonable quality and good reliability. Performance cars don't generally make the list.

[IJ.]

Consumer reports thinks everything should be rated like fridges

To the average "driver" and I use that term very loosely they are just appliances, just by being here you're somewhat of an enthusiast, most people aren't and cars are just things that get them from A to B and they take no joy in them....

You can see this everyday on the road with people driving around with their heads in their arses in cars 3>4 years old that are borderline roadworthy...

[Micks]

To the average "driver" and I use that term very loosely they are just appliances, just by being here you're somewhat of an enthusiast, most people aren't and cars are just things that get them from A to B and they take no joy in them....

You can see this everyday on the road with people driving around with their heads in their arses in cars 3>4 years old that are borderline roadworthy...

Too right IJ they're barely steerers let alone drivers ffs!!

[whitels1ss]

Too right IJ they're barely steerers let alone drivers ffs!!

I call it "basic motor car operating"
it's cartainly not "driving"

[duke5700]

Discredit is probably the wrong term to use.. more so whatever this survey is most likely won't appeal to me in the slightest.

We had a plug in prius for work as a propaganda machine.. it was a complete heap of shit reliability speaking.. I actually don't think I've ever driven a car as bad as it was, I guess that sours my judgement somewhat.

Not necessarily. It's more a measure of customer satisfaction. If you wanted to buy a small, economical vehicle that's a bit different to other cars the the Prius fits the bill. It's not my thing, but people buy them for a reason.

The vehicles that do well in this survey are generally mass produced, reasonable quality and good reliability. Performance cars don't generally make the list.

[Angeldust]

it would be nice if they specified the reasons, ie why is the Nissan Altima rated such poorly?

[Red Beard]

I think Prius drivers are a lot like Apple fanboys, even when they have problems they won't admit it. They just can't do it. I saw one sitting for 45 mins in a car park, the guy just couldn't get it to "start". It just sat there ignoring him. I asked him if he had a flat battery, I couldn't resist.