YONKERS, N.Y. — All of the vehicles in the 2007 Consumer Reports Top Picks List for 2007 are Japanese nameplates, as vehicles from the Motor City continue to be shut out of the prestigious lineup. The Toyota Prius remains the top pick in the "green" car category for the fourth year in a row.
The Honda Fit was singled out as the best overall in a new class of fuel-efficient subcompact cars. The Honda Civic was named the best small sedan and the Honda Accord was praised as the best family sedan. The Infiniti G35 was picked as best upscale sedan, while the Infiniti M35 earned honors as best luxury sedan. The Mazda MX-5 Miata was named most "fun to drive." The redesigned Toyota RAV4 was chosen as best small SUV. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid snagged the honors as best midsize SUV, while the Toyota Sienna earned the best minivan rating.
Detroit automakers were shut out of the list, in part, because the magazine decided not to name a pickup truck winner, "pending upcoming testing of newly released full-size pickup trucks." It also did not select a winner in the best full-size SUV category, another category in which Detroit would have been expected to perform well.
The top picks came from a list of more than 250 vehicles recently tested by the magazine. The candidates must have at least average reliability and must have performed adequately in overall crash protection if tested by the government or insurance industry, the magazine said. The list was released ahead of the magazine's annual April auto issue.
The news wasn't all good for Toyota, however. The Japanese automaker's upscale Lexus brand slipped to 5th place from last year's number-one ranking in new-car predicted reliability, based on Consumer Reports' annual Car Reliability Survey. The magazine explained that the drop "can be attributed to its GS models receiving only an average rating."
The publication acknowledged that, overall, "Most models with the best predicted reliability are again from Asia." Ford's Mercury brand was the only domestic brand to land in the top 10, while most domestic brands slipped in the rankings. According to the list, Toyota is predicted to have the most reliable cars, moving up to 1st from 3rd place last year. Honda remained unchanged in 2nd place and Scion, Toyota's youth brand, leapfrogged up to 3rd place from the seventh spot. The top five most reliable brands of vehicles are all made by Toyota or Honda, according to the Consumer Reports survey.
In an extensive "auto report cards for 2007" segment, the magazine found that Volkswagen and Audi lead the pack in overall test performance, but Honda, Subaru and Toyota are best when it comes to reliability. However, it leveled criticism at the Toyota FJ Cruiser and the Toyota Yaris for scoring near the bottom of their classes in tests.
Chrysler had the lowest average test score. Consumer Reports castigated several new Chrysler products, including the Sebring and the Dodge Caliber, slamming them for having "noisy engines, bad visibility and cheap interiors."
Consumer Reports noted that some recent models from Ford and GM are "competitive with the better Japanese or European models." It singled out the Cadillac CTS, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, noting that those three vehicles scored well in testing. But the Motor City got a dressing-down. Consumer Reports said: "U.S. automakers build some good models. But many vehicles are mediocre, and even the best seldom rise to the top of their categories against stiff competition."
What this means to you: Detroit boosters don't have a lot to cheer about with this report card, but Toyota and Honda buyers can congratulate themselves.
Japanese Models Shut Out Rivals on Consumer Reports' 2007 Top Picks List
Consumer Reports is excellent at evaluating washing machines..but personally speaking, I have never met any car enthusiast (Japenese, NA, Euro) who respects there work . This is nothing to really brag about
I don’t know of any car enthusiast that even consult CR when looking at cars. CR if for people that just want a reliable car. Looks. performance, and handling are hardly even considerations.
CR is crap, their methodology is crap, their "perceive reliability" is crap, and anyone that uses CR and nothing more when buying a car is not an enthusiast. . . . .they are people that like cars, but know nothing about cars. . . . For some, there is more to owning a car than how many cup holders it has and how the dash "feels" when touched. . . . For some, driving a car is a passive activity, for the rest of us, it is an interactive one. . . .
__________________
-Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance.
-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
CR is crap, their methodology is crap, their "perceive reliability" is crap, and anyone that uses CR and nothing more when buying a car is not an enthusiast. . . . .they are people that like cars, but know nothing about cars. . . . For some, there is more to owning a car than how many cup holders it has and how the dash "feels" when touched. . . . For some, driving a car is a passive activity, for the rest of us, it is an interactive one. . . .
Why does it always come down to GM. . . .Hell Mazda, Nissan, VeeDub, Mercedes, Land Rover, Honda. . . . .These car companies all make cars I would own. . . . Why do you always think I am sticking up for GM?
I dislike CR because they do not cater to what I consider most important in a vehicle. . . .performance. I also dislike them due to their flawed sampling and inconsistent use of their "perceived quality" scoring (brand new Tundra got a Good for perceived quality, IIRC, yet shares nothing with the old model. Meanwhile, other reskinned cars/trucks, not redesigned but reskinned, got a "no data available" for their perceived quality. Why does a total redesign get a "Good" perceived quality, but a MCE get's a "no data available"?). Like I said, CR is not for car enthusiasts, it is for those that know nothing about cars. . . .
Besides, to take one publications advise and base a purchase on that, and only that, is idiocy. It's like being diagnosed with an illness and not seeking a second opinion. Anyone who does that is not an informed patient/consumer. . . . CR IS NOT THE END ALL BE ALL OF AUTMOTIVE COMPARISONS (far from it)!!!
__________________
-Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance.
-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
Any car magazine or publication is obviously not perfect but some are more "accurate" than others. You have to take reviews with a grain of salt. Compare different publications with each other and see if they contridict or if they match at least with overall review or impression of a car.
__________________
U.S. media is a systematic censorship on free speech. They don't like what they hear they don't report. Don't want to upset the political and advertising sponsors. Its so corrupted. While they don't have to agree with certain views, its their job to report and let US decide.
Why does it always come down to GM. . . .Hell Mazda, Nissan, VeeDub, Mercedes, Land Rover, Honda. . . . .These car companies all make cars I would own. . . . Why do you always think I am sticking up for GM?
I dislike CR because they do not cater to what I consider most important in a vehicle. . . .performance. I also dislike them due to their flawed sampling and inconsistent use of their "perceived quality" scoring (brand new Tundra got a Good for perceived quality, IIRC, yet shares nothing with the old model. Meanwhile, other reskinned cars/trucks, not redesigned but reskinned, got a "no data available" for their perceived quality. Why does a total redesign get a "Good" perceived quality, but a MCE get's a "no data available"?). Like I said, CR is not for car enthusiasts, it is for those that know nothing about cars. . . .
Besides, to take one publications advise and base a purchase on that, and only that, is idiocy. It's like being diagnosed with an illness and not seeking a second opinion. Anyone who does that is not an informed patient/consumer. . . . CR IS NOT THE END ALL BE ALL OF AUTMOTIVE COMPARISONS (far from it)!!!
You are a GM apologist tried and true.
You are negative or dismissive about all things toyota.
You post in this "International Toyota Enthusiast Community" only to bash.
Then you complain when you get called out.
You say you are just being "fair" yet you try to spin every topic negative for Toyota.
Some Examples:
CR Loves toyota, excellent news for any Factory to hear about themselves, you say "CR is useless"
Toyota offers incentives to it's dealers to buy a Tundra for Parts delivery, completely normal in the industry, you say "looks like bad news for the new truck launch"
Toyota offers rebates to consumers on it's 1/2 ton reg cab (omg rebates on a truck?), you say "looks like bad news for the truck launch"
Every time you post your negative spin, I'll be here to point out that fact. I've got plenty of time.
The best part is you complain when toyota enthusiasts in a toyota forum are happy about the product. That sounds like idiocy to me.
Fan
Last edited by toyotafanfan; 03-28-2007 at 07:51 PM.
fan, you know what I love about having you around. . . . . . . . . .the fact that you never, ever correct any of my facts. . . .only my opinions. That alone validates my opinion (knowing that my it's based on real data you can't refute, gasp!!!). My opinion is more than what I read here, or GMInsidnews, or any other online blog. . . . .car magazines, business journals, newspapers, books, conversations, debates, hands-on wrenching, racing and ownership all contribute to my opinion. I seek out the facts instead of regurgitating someone’s opinion that's passed off as fact (or worse yet, waiting on someone else to spoon feed me the facts). The fact that you can only attack my opinion should say something about my posts. . . . .Unlike some, I take pride in my credibility and I dare you or any other fanboy here to try an discredit me. . . . My opinion is the only thing you have a pot to piss in when it comes to my posts. . . .
The amount of disinformation is astounding here, and most of it is used to prop Toyota up as some sort of automotive savior. The perpetuation of this misinformation and your ardent defense of it, does nothing but bring down the credibility of this site. I've said it 100 times, this should be a credible place for Toyota owners to come and share ideas and experiences, not some sort of cheerleading practice to pat eachother on the back and play grabass with Toyota executives.
You hate GM or Ford, great I could care less, Hell I hate some of the stuff they do. You think Toyota hung the moon, fantastic. All I'm asking is that you hate GM or Ford for VALID reasons (and there are plenty, and I'll agree with them), and love Toyota for the things they truly do well (and they do alot of things very, very well). Step out of the 1980's mentality that GM cars can't last more than 1 year (get real!!) or that somehow your Vega left you walking and now you swear you'll never own another GM again. Step into the present and go look at CURRENT PRODUCTS for Gods sake. . . . .there are actually some competitive products that don’t have a Toyota badge on them (really, there are!!!!).
Honest to God, sometimes the ignorance is overwhelming here. . . . . and you enable it!!!!!!
You are obviously educated and when your not critiquing my opinion, you actually have intelligent things to say. But try actually caring about factual automotive information here on this site and holding your fellow fanboy to a higher standard. Don't coddle their ignorance. . . . correct them, even if it means making Toyota out to look less than super-dooper.
You have a choice to either 1) follow me around and pick apart my opinion to somehow discredit me (good luck) or 2) to encourage a little friendly automotive dialogue based on hard data and to hold people accountable for their information.
__________________
-Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance.
-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
fan, you know what I love about having you around. . . . . . . . . .the fact that you never, ever correct any of my facts. . . .only my opinions. That alone validates my opinion (knowing that my it's based on real data you can't refute, gasp!!!). My opinion is more than what I read here, or GMInsidnews, or any other online blog. . . . .car magazines, business journals, newspapers, books, conversations, debates, hands-on wrenching, racing and ownership all contribute to my opinion. I seek out the facts instead of regurgitating someone’s opinion that's passed off as fact (or worse yet, waiting on someone else to spoon feed me the facts). The fact that you can only attack my opinion should say something about my posts. . . . .Unlike some, I take pride in my credibility and I dare you or any other fanboy here to try an discredit me. . . . My opinion is the only thing you have a pot to piss in when it comes to my posts. . . .
The amount of disinformation is astounding here, and most of it is used to prop Toyota up as some sort of automotive savior. The perpetuation of this misinformation and your ardent defense of it, does nothing but bring down the credibility of this site. I've said it 100 times, this should be a credible place for Toyota owners to come and share ideas and experiences, not some sort of cheerleading practice to pat eachother on the back and play grabass with Toyota executives.
You hate GM or Ford, great I could care less, Hell I hate some of the stuff they do. You think Toyota hung the moon, fantastic. All I'm asking is that you hate GM or Ford for VALID reasons (and there are plenty, and I'll agree with them), and love Toyota for the things they truly do well (and they do alot of things very, very well). Step out of the 1980's mentality that GM cars can't last more than 1 year (get real!!) or that somehow your Vega left you walking and now you swear you'll never own another GM again. Step into the present and go look at CURRENT PRODUCTS for Gods sake. . . . .there are actually some competitive products that don’t have a Toyota badge on them (really, there are!!!!).
Honest to God, sometimes the ignorance is overwhelming here. . . . . and you enable it!!!!!!
You are obviously educated and when your not critiquing my opinion, you actually have intelligent things to say. But try actually caring about factual automotive information here on this site and holding your fellow fanboy to a higher standard. Don't coddle their ignorance. . . . correct them, even if it means making Toyota out to look less than super-dooper.
You have a choice to either 1) follow me around and pick apart my opinion to somehow discredit me (good luck) or 2) to encourage a little friendly automotive dialogue based on hard data and to hold people accountable for their information.
I'm not going to waste my time debating a Troll and a Basher, it's pointless. You will bash no matter what I say. I will however always point out that you are Trolling and Bashing.
I'm not going to waste my time debating a Troll and a Basher, it's pointless. You will bash no matter what I say. I will however always point out that you are Trolling and Bashing.
Fan
You give them good Toyota news.
They will find flaws and try to put a negative spin.
They call themselves intelligent and general auto enthusiasts who are very fair yet all their posts are their opinions or facts coated with their opinions.
Some don't care about Toyotas at all yet they continue to exist here like pests and post essays all day long.
I just ignore them now. For somebody who has enough time in their life to continue writing MEANINGLESS/HATEFUL essays all day long, probably don't have a respectible job and/or a life at home with kids and family.
My auto passions in life and daily limited time are too important to waste on these kind of people.
I ignore them now and life is so much enjoyable now... LOL !
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