Deciding on a Car

General Discussion
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CR ratings are highly compressed. An excellent rating is less than 1% reporting problems. A poor rating is greater than 3% problem rate. If we wanted to buy our 2009 Cobalt LT sedan from a dealer, it would cost about $12,750. The similar Civic EX would cost about $14,900. If the difference is worth it to you, then consider the Civic. The Accord is a lot more expensive and not worth comparing on a cost basis. I own a 2005 Accord EX-V6 and I think it’s a terrific car. But there are a lot of options available that are almost as good if cost is a large consideration. BTW, MSN Autos rates both the Civic and Cobalt with outstanding reliability. If you consider the CR and MSN ratings together, it seems that CRs ratings compression is a big reason for the difference in ratings.