Consumer Report, does it again...
 

Top 10 cars?? All Japanese...and more importantly they actually discuss the fact that all they pick is Rising Sun rides..:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/...cks/index.html

Is it just me or do half these look like Tonka Toys you would buy at WalMart?
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Where are the American cars?
This year's Consumer Reports Top Picks are all vehicles produced by Japanese companies. This is actually the second year in a row that that's been the case. In the 10 years that Consumer Reports has produced annual "Top Picks" lists, it's the fifth time there have been no American cars among them.

The biggest problem is that fewer American cars even make it into consideration. To be a "Top Pick," a vehicle must first earn Consumer Reports' general recommendation. That doesn't mean it's the best, but it's at least proven to be reliable, safe, it handles well and is reasonably easy to live with.

Of 23 Toyotas tested by Consumer Reports since 2000, 20 are recommended. Of 37 General Motors cars tested, only 13 are recommended. For Ford, it's eight out of 17 and, for Chrysler, four out of 20.

Besides reliability, American cars can fall down in other areas. Ford, for example, tends to do well in ride and handling, but poorly in braking performance and fuel economy, according to Consumer Reports. While GM has improved greatly in the "fit and finish" of its cars, there still tend to be problems with emergency handling and fuel economy, Consumer Reports says.

Chrysler has the second-lowest score of any automaker in Consumer Reports testing. Bad visibility, cheap interiors and noisy engines are cited as specific problems.

Things are getting better, though. New models and recently redesigned cars from Ford and GM are much more reliable and getting better test scores. The Ford Focus and Buick Lucerne, while not top-rated, are cited as two very good cars that signal a potential turnaround for Detroit products.

And in case you think Consumer Reports always likes Japanese car companies, there is one company with lower average scores than Chrysler: Suzuki.

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Got to love a completely bias reviewer.......

The only choice I agree with is the MX5.
Again, shows that CR has not even a basic knowledge of cars..

No surprise there Ryan :rolleyes:

The Japs are good at everything. You yourself say that the Yanks are getting better but still not there. So what's the fuss about? The top spots go to the top dawgs.

Huh? So you're saying there isn't a single German ride better then a Japanese one...I would strongly disagree.

CR is getting too much undeserved attention from us BMW enthusiasts. CR treats cars like appliances. 'nuff said.

I can't think of a single German vehicle that would have higher reliability than it's Japanese counterpart. They're looking at things from the pov, which vehicle does everything well.

That being said, I would buy a 5-Series instead of an M-Series, etc etc. CR based on the mainstream consumer, not the enthusiast.

Not trying to be PC but here's a heads up.

Jap |jap| noun & adjective informal offensive short for Japanese .

LOL :rofl: Those little people make some of my favorite cars, def don't wanna be dissin them. Thanks. :thumbup:

Two things I can think of to validate CR's point:

First of - European cars are pricy through out the range - a BMW is that little bit better than most cars, but they are usually that bit more expensive because they are built up to a certain quality instead of down to a price. For the general consumer that is a good point for why a japanese car would be a better pick. They seem to have the best balance of price and quality.

Secondly, as to why there are no american cars in the list - I am reminded of a Jeremy Clarkson comment: "You dont realize how important brakes are, until you are in an American car and haven't got any". A line that I, until two weeks ago, thought was BS. It can't be that bad, right? Well - my wife drove her dads Yukon XL (instead of our X5) and she was not pleased with stopping "the landboat" - just try comparing the brake discs of the cars you pass with those on your BMW's - soon you will notice a scary trend - one that would match with CRs reporting. The issues aren't limited to brakes, but it is a good point IMO.

I think that almost all cars offer reasonable reliability. Most come with or you can get ABS and Stability control. After that the differences are ride, drive, and to a small degree quality. In general its hard to justify paying an extra $20,000 +/- for a German car. Since most of are all BMW we have a different view point that does not square with CR.

People are we all forgetting that this is all based a combination of testing and owner feedback.

With the rising cost of everything in our lifestyles here in the good ole USA, people do not want a thermostat to go while driving in traffic on a 36 month old car that still has 36 months of payments left on and a factory warranty that only has 14k left on it. People do want their budgets or schedules throw out of whack so they are gravitating to longer lasting aggravation free rides.

BMW makes the most exciting car to drive on the planet that most people can afford but their focus on quality issues takes time...for instance the 01 BMW X5 is a maintenance nightmare to own past 50K on the clock. The 2006 is much better. Now if one reviews the history of the CR rating on the X5 you can see that 01,02 are the worst years and then it gets incrementally better, but I ask, why does it take five years to fix a common problem like window regulators, cam sensors or rear door latches?

I have the answer and the answer is simple.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES!

When the Japanese have a recall the lead engineer and quality control managers responsible for that part or design are usually demoted. It all stems from a situation of embarrassment and losing face to the competition, a black eye for the company that brings shame to organization. These are things that are at the very micro levels of their culture and of course extends to business.

The quality focus is all about incremental improvements and each year they review commonly reported issues from all the data provided by all of the dealerships and work with the suppliers to resolve the issue and the next year with out even listing a change a part maybe replaced that statistically had a quality fail rate that was higher than the acceptable level which is already below the industry standard.

I think that if BMW wants to compete with the Japanese auto makers on quality that they would need to adopt a cultural change of accountability and possibly hire away some top Japanese talent to begin to sort out the quality issues that plague some the models. Shake up the system, hold the suppliers accountable for quality or take the contracts else where. Like take the 7 series there is no way that model should be scoring lower in initial quality than the Sonata for Pete sake!

Also one can make the argument that even the way that the cars handle on the road is based on the different cultures. The Germans are straight to the point, aggressive, decisive and statement makers. The Japanese, quiet, modest, humble, and practical and if one considers what these things mean and apply them to the way the cars drive it only makes sense at how different the two cars approach the road.

At the end of the day more and more Americans want to spend no more on the car than the payment and insurance. So they hear about their neighbor who never has to go to the shop and have a car that is ten years old and is still more reliable than the 2006 that he has in the driveway and they begin to think about reducing overhead to save for retirement, higher education or wedding etc… CR is not looking at nothing more than numbers, the fact is the numbers are giving a cold hard truth to what ever they are measuring and like it or not it is placing things within or out of a mean and people are moving towards that.

I gave my Dad my 1993 Acura Legend L with 120K on the clock this was years after owning Oldsmobile’s, that car runs and drives like the day I tossed him the keys with 211k on it and little rust in the corner wheel well. Never been to the shop other than for preventive maint, so guess what…he is a convert…that is all it takes.

Now when I brought home my 01 X5 he was all over it and wanted to know when I would sell it to him. That was until I told him about my fuel sender problem which ran about $840.00.

That is how most people approach these things.

CR has no emotion for how they handle or how at 6400 rpm merging into traffic at 7:12am, 10 miles into a 35mile commute, the big smile your 4.8is just put on your face as blow the doors off the Jerk that would not let you merge, but you already knew that!

Couldn't have been said better. :thumbup:

:iagree: