I’m NOT a big fan of CR. While it’s ONE source to help you buy a vehicle it should NOT be used as the ONLY source.
#1 - One vehicle but with two badges. This is common in the industry. GM/Ford/Toyota …etc…all have many vehicles that have two different badges like the GMC S-15 and the Chevy S-10. Exact same vehicle built in the same plant with the same people using the same components. Yet year after year CR usually has one such pair with different ratings. Some significantly different. This is statistically impossible (IF THEIR STATISTICALLY GATHERING METHODS ARE SOUND).
#2 - Their testing. When ever you get people to test something (anything you name it) there are bound to be personal biases involved. Someone may LOVE GM products and while testing a GM vehicle might forgive a certain flaw that someone who loves Toyota may not (and visa-versa). Many years ago CR did a testing of home speakers. They had rated the Bose 901’s as the BEST speaker you could in ANY price category. I’ve listened to the 901’s and I’ve yet to hear of any sound engineer who listened to those speakers agree with that assessment. If you read the complete article you’ll read about how the tester has actually owned a pair for the past 3 years. Their testing may not be flawed…but their conclusions might be biased.
I use CR as ONE and only ONE source. I don’t think it’s a good idea to rely on them exclusively.
I’m in total agreement with of MikeinNH’s comments. CR is a tool that can aid in making a decision; much like Carfax.
While my daughter does not follow CR, imagine what she would have thought if she had read their reviews of refrigerators before she bought a new one not too many years ago.
The fridge had a 1 year warranty and at 13 months it quit getting cold. I went to her house, checked it out, and found that the compressor had gone belly-up. A discussion with the retailer led to the comment, “yeah, compressors are dropping like flies in those things”. End quote.
This fridge was also highly rated by CR and ended up in a recycling facility at a very young age; apparently with a lot of its siblings.
“The fridge had a 1 year warranty and at 13 months it quit getting cold” @ok4450–I feel your daughter’s pain. My son had the same problem an Amana refrigerator that was just out of warranty and the compressor gave up. He is a teacher and money is rather tight in his housel Your retailer was correct–there were a lot of refrigerators that were apparently manufactured with defective compressors. My son finally decided to replace the compressor since the repair was $476 and it was less than half the cost of a new, equivalent refrigerator. The repairman assured him that the new compressor was from a different supplier and the repair job did come with a warranty. He had replaced a disproportionate number of refrigerator compressors in several different makes of refrigerators that used compressors from a particular manufacturer.
I do subscribe to CR and use its ratings as a guide, but more often than not choose the appliance based on the features we want or don’t want. According to CR, the icemakers on refrigerators are trouble prone and that has been the experience of many of my friends. I don’t have any problem emptying ice cube trays and doing without this feature. If I’m too lazy to empty an ice cube tray to fix myself a drink, I shouldn’t have that drink in the first place.
In my humble opinion, simpler is better, but unfortunately, most things today aren’t simple. The push lawnmower I bought in 1988 had to have the “deadman” control. Well, after 24 years, the cable for the control stretched and a replacement cable is no longer available. I wired back the control at the engine to keep the mower in service and I think I am smart enough not to run over my feet with the mower.
I agree with those that suggest 5,000 mile intervals. But, in all honesty, I have no technical data that suggests that following the manufacturer’s recommendation will adversely affect the life of the engine. I only have the gut reaction that should Toyota discover a few years down the road that this engine has some particular anomolie, like sludging perhaps, I’d rather know that I’ve changed the oil more often than required. It’s cheap insurance.
I guess I just don’t pay much attention to CR. They rated the G6 pretty low but I bought one anyway and haven’t experienced any of the issues in 90,000 miles. It seems like a lot of the brands and models are just not readily available in the midwest. As far as appliances go, there are so few actual manufacturers or suppliers, two or three brands are likely to have the same parts. I guess I just value the real world experience of the local tire shop, appliance dealer, and others more than the publication. I’m more interested in what country makes the stuff, or what plant, features that might make a difference, and so on. I mean really, what’s the difference in Sherwin Williams or Dutch Boy since they are owned by the same outfit and not the same as 20 years ago. In this day and age of musical chairs and everybody buying everyone else out, seems to me they could help sort that out instead of model ratings. They buy a railroad car full of power supplies from a plant in China and they end up in a new model number on a TV from Amazon so how does CR help that?
Bing…did the same too.
We bought a Suzuki sidekick as a third car when our road would wash out each year. I got out with my truck to go to work but wife’s Subaru couldn’t deal with the deep mud and ruts. The Sidekick was tough to drive on the interstate in wind, but it was one great off roader. Mounted 225/75/ 15 tires, the biggest that would fit and Drove it up through the woods many a time with a chain saw in the back to cut small trees down, the only things that seemed to slow it down. It was not a favorite of CR either but was a fave of mine.
As far as Dutch Boy v Shrwin Williams, you are right there. The products we buy are always it seems in a state of flux. It’s best to remember that any evaluation the CR does is but one picture in time. When it comes to cars or paint, it’s best the reader reminds himself that product evaluations along with their labels be more accurately looked at this way.
I changed the engine oil in my 2011 Prius at 5K mi. and again at 10K. It looked as good as the oil I replaced it with. I’d do it again. I’ll be sticking with the 10K intervals from now on.
The Prius might be one vehicle where you can extend past the 5k mile oil change because the engine doesn’t run as much as a conventional engine. But 10k is pushing it. And as OK said…it’s IMPOSSIBLE to tell how good the oil is by looking at it.
I agree that you can’t tell about the condition of oil simply by feel or looks, yet I’ve never seen oil that came out of an engine even with very low mileage on the oil look as clean as new oil that just came out of the bottle. I change the oil in my best car (bought new) at 3K mile intervals (probably overkill) with good quality conventional oil, although the oil isn’t black as coal the oil doesn’t look as clean as new oil. I’d rather spend an extra few dollars on oil changes and know the engine is being properly lubricated than to save a few dollars a year and take chances with sludge formation or excessive wear related to allowing it to go too long between changes, which would cost more in the long run.