Anyone concerned with Consumers "not recomended rating"?

[sklimo]

I want one of those decals ASAP

[BRZnut]

Originally Posted by guysmiley

For kicks, I just did a quick scan of the car review section of the CR website. Most common adjectives are things like "thrifty," "roomy," "reliable," "economical", with an occasional "peppy" thrown in. Yawn.

For lots of folks, these are top car priorities, and CR seems great for helping them decide between the Accord or Camry (both fine vehicles for their functions). I'd also imagine many of those folks rarely pop their own hoods for anything other than adding windshield washer (owners manual safely in hand). That's cool -- I know lots of very lovely people like that -- happen to even be related to many of them.

On the other hand, I'm guessing most of us on this board view the twins as a great foundation -- the starting platform, not the end state -- for creating our own custom rides, with top priority on things like performance, individuality, fun, and sliding sideways around traffic circles while surprised minivan drivers pee themselves. They're relatively cheap, easy to work on, highly tolerant of having the sh*t beat out of them, fun as all hell, and still reliably get us to/from work or the supermarket.

So I'm not the least bit bothered by this CR thing -- in fact, I'm thinking of printing up a "banned by CR" window decal.

Ha Ha ..the sticker is a great idea!

But, I think their data reflects all the issues that have been discussed on this forum after the release of the twins. Yes, they are a great drivers car, but even for a new model some of the issues (Cam failures/windows/water in lights/rough idle/rattles/DI gasket failures) , just to name the big ones, are not consistent with the usual Subaru/Toyota product.

[Byebye]

Every car review is subjective no matter how objective they make it.

I would rather have all the problems in the world reported than not. So far I haven't had any real issues *knock on wood.

Sub 3 second 0-60 family vehicles that can tow a boat and get 60mpg and pull over 1g on the skid pad and a sub 8min. lap at Nurburgring don't exist. Until then I'll just get the wife an SUV and I'll keep my FR-S.

[jeebus]

Thus far in life, I've made zero decisions based on Consumer Reports. I don't intend to change that.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by campy

Of course, other car magazines written by enthusiasts were all like "AARRGHHGH POWERSLIDES" but lets not forget that CR also reviews dishwashers.

But can I powerslide my maytag dishwasher?

[LeeMaster]

I dont know man, I crashed my car at 70 mph and was able to walk away from the accident without even a scratch or any broken bone. How can anyone not recommend this car after what had happened to me?

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by guysmiley

So I'm not the least bit bothered by this CR thing -- in fact, I'm thinking of printing up a "banned by CR" window decal.

i'll take one of those too! lol

[LiquidSwords]

Originally Posted by Alcyone

Consumer Report is a self-contradicting mess, they're just trying to make splashes in the automotive journalism world to stay relevant.

Spot on, imo.

Seems that whether they continue to give Kudos to these brands or flip-flop opinions -- its effect on the market goes unnoticed.

[SirBrass]

Lee, the GT86 did get an iihs top safety pick, after all ;-)

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[BRZfan]

They issue their analyses upon test results for a whole lot of products to stay relevant. Auto reviews are just one product class. Also, do they not accept advertising?????

Do their reports go "unnoticed"? I think not. One must ask how long they have been publishing - with no advertising.

Originally Posted by Alcyone

Consumer Report is a self-contradicting mess, they're just trying to make splashes in the automotive journalism world to stay relevant.

Originally Posted by LiquidSwords

Spot on, imo.

Seems that whether they continue to give Kudos to these brands or flip-flop opinions -- its effect on the market goes unnoticed.

[nalc]

I've gotten a couple surveys in the mail about the BRZ (I know I've gotten some JD Power ones, I don't recall if any were from Consumer Reports).

On those surveys, I've trashed the BRZ. I like the car, but it's got problems, and the way Subaru is treating those problems is simply not acceptable.

I got tail lights replaced under warranty. Made an appointment, dropped the car off at 8am on a Saturday (I, like many other people, work during the week). Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Get a call around 10. 'We finally brought it into the shop, they are dry'. Well, why don't you put some damn water on them? Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. No call. Finally I call them at 1pm. "Oh, the guy who is working on it is with another customer, but he'll call you back in five minutes". Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Dealership closes at 4, I get a ride there at 3:45. "Oh, we ordered them, but we must have dialed the wrong number, that's why we didn't call you. Don't worry, we'll call you when they come in"

4 weeks later, no call. I call them "Oh, the tail lights? Yeah, they're here, come on by"

I spend another hour while some slovenly mechanic replaces them, leaving grease stains all over the rear bumper that I later needed to scrub with dish soap. Within 3 days, they're leaking again, probably because the guy wasn't using a torque wrench and overtightened them.

So now I'm still fighting with Subaru on this. I went to a different dealership, they don't replace them because their records show that the TSB has already been performed on my car. They even said "The guy probably overtightened them, that makes them leak". So now I'm waiting for it to rain and then get sunny out (the situation where the leak appears), so I can show them the leak and have them replaced again.

Oh, and even though I've got crickets, and the new fix is out, the dealership is insisting "No, that's not crickets, that's the normal sound". Yeah, OK, then why does it sound exactly like crickets, why didn't it sound like that for the first 2,000 miles I had it, and why don't the new BRZs on the lot sound like that?

It's like pulling teeth to get Subaru to stand behind their product and honor their warranty, so I've slammed them for that on every customer satisfaction survey I've gotten.

[a2cpc]

Originally Posted by BRZfan

They issue their analyses upon test results for a whole lot of products to stay relevant. Auto reviews are just one product class. Also, do they not accept advertising?????

Do their reports go "unnoticed"? I think not. One must ask how long they have been publishing - with no advertising.

Did you mean they Do Not accept advertising?

[ZionsWrath]

Originally Posted by nalc

I've gotten a couple surveys in the mail about the BRZ (I know I've gotten some JD Power ones, I don't recall if any were from Consumer Reports).

On those surveys, I've trashed the BRZ. I like the car, but it's got problems, and the way Subaru is treating those problems is simply not acceptable.

I got tail lights replaced under warranty. Made an appointment, dropped the car off at 8am on a Saturday (I, like many other people, work during the week). Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Get a call around 10. 'We finally brought it into the shop, they are dry'. Well, why don't you put some damn water on them? Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. No call. Finally I call them at 1pm. "Oh, the guy who is working on it is with another customer, but he'll call you back in five minutes". Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Dealership closes at 4, I get a ride there at 3:45. "Oh, we ordered them, but we must have dialed the wrong number, that's why we didn't call you. Don't worry, we'll call you when they come in"

4 weeks later, no call. I call them "Oh, the tail lights? Yeah, they're here, come on by"

I spend another hour while some slovenly mechanic replaces them, leaving grease stains all over the rear bumper that I later needed to scrub with dish soap. Within 3 days, they're leaking again, probably because the guy wasn't using a torque wrench and overtightened them.

So now I'm still fighting with Subaru on this. I went to a different dealership, they don't replace them because their records show that the TSB has already been performed on my car. They even said "The guy probably overtightened them, that makes them leak". So now I'm waiting for it to rain and then get sunny out (the situation where the leak appears), so I can show them the leak and have them replaced again.

Oh, and even though I've got crickets, and the new fix is out, the dealership is insisting "No, that's not crickets, that's the normal sound". Yeah, OK, then why does it sound exactly like crickets, why didn't it sound like that for the first 2,000 miles I had it, and why don't the new BRZs on the lot sound like that?

It's like pulling teeth to get Subaru to stand behind their product and honor their warranty, so I've slammed them for that on every customer satisfaction survey I've gotten.

Sounds like more of a problem with the dealership, which is why most people hate dealerships. I had problem with mine and contacted subaru customer support directly and they took care of it for me.

[autobrz]

are you "concerned" because somehow your car will be physically different because of what's said about it in a magazine or if you will lose resale value or if others will think you bought a crappy car or what?

My car has been very reliable for me so far and I already know the common issues with the car. Those are relatively minor, except for the cam gear thing (hasn't happened to me) which the warranty will cover.

Yeah, it's definitely got more little problems than a corolla or camry but they are minor problems and not deal breakers. Meanwhile, enjoy the drive!