kelldog

Wonder what the history is of let's say the last 10 year's of recall's?????
Foreign v.s Chevy. "Specific" reliabilty and faulty parts info. RAW DATA! Bet we all would be surprized. KELLDOG

krishaynes

I think most people on this site would argue that GM cars can go head-to-head with anyone when it comes to quality. However, the perception is still prevalent among most laymen and media that the domestic manufacturers have a long way to go to match other automakers. Basically, you can take two cars that are both made by Americans in America, but if one says Toyota and the other says Pontiac there will be a perceived quality difference.

While “we” may realize that there is no “perfect” car, the general public believes that Toyota and Honda are better built, and it is reflected in their resale values.

Hopefully, in time, this will change.

Grohlinator

Is it me, or does consumer reports have a Japanese bias?

krishaynes

Consumer Reports? They're the best! They never do anything wrong! Oh wait...

Yes, I find that they are not very balanced. On the whole, I think that Consumer Guide offers similar information and is able to do so while remaining objective.

Remember, Consumer Reports is the publication that unfairly targeted Suzuki (that case was only just settled), and the debacle over their babyseat “test” caused many parents unnecessary angst.

Here is some good reads about Suzuki vs. Consumer REPORT:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...3/ai_102612764

And the settlement…

http://www.rcfp.org/news/2004/0709suzuki.html

Goose

CR has the HHR as on of their Best Buys..albeit a low score but they still recommend it

Goose

tonepad

Consumer Guide has been my go-to publication for a long time now. Plus you can buy it anywhere without the annoying subscription requirement that CR has. BTW I'm sure you meant to say "Suzuki vs. CR" in your article link. The HHR is a "recommended buy" in the 2007 Consumer Guide.

hhrcrafty

My opinion is that if you're buying anything solely based on what a magazine tells you to buy, you deserve what you get. Back in the day, I used to sell appliances at Sears. Every year, the Kenmore Calypso was the top washing machine recommended by Consumer Reports. It was the biggest bucket of bolts we sold. We actually had to talk people out of buying the machine. Why? Well, here's how commission sales works:

1. Customer purchases product, without extended warranty, of course.
2. Sales associate gets paid a week or two later.
3. Customer does not use product properly or product has a manufacturing defect, so the product "breaks" after a couple months' use.
4. Customer calls and angrily returns product, vowing to never darken store's doorstep again.
5. Sales associate gets the commission taken out of their next paycheck one to two weeks later. It's the middle of winter, right after Christmas and before tax season, so bills don't get paid.

So you can see it was to our advantage to sell a cheaper, yet much more reliable machine to the customer because it kept them happy and a little hit on the commission is better than losing all of it when the product comes back.

My point is: no product manufactured by human hands or a robot built and programmed by humans is going to be perfect. One of my assistants traded in her Camry for an Accord last week. The old Camry was a decent car, but she was furious when I showed her that it had been in a wreck before she bought it as a demo. Honda made the sale because of the Toyota dealer's dishonesty. In this case, honesty made a bigger difference than reliability, and I firmly believe that this is the issue that keeps a lot of people from darkening the Chevy dealer's doorstep.