Anyone concerned with Consumers "not recomended rating"?

[industrial]

All the information you need is a google away? Good lord, we are so screwed. Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's good information. CR is still the best database for aggregated consumer reported reliability ratings. They still attempt to conduct scientific testing of consumer products. While jd powers survey ratings are more accessible, they are far more ambiguous than cr which breaks everything down to which areas the issues are and what methods they used to reach their conclusions.

I love my car and plan to keep it forever so I really don't care what cr says. I've had my issues with this car and I'm ok with it so far.

[BRZfan]

There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism on the part of Consumer Reports if based upon valued reasoning. In this case, although I have yet read the review, the CR criticism is based upon vehicle owner research. It is the reader that must make the final conclusion. In this country of free enterprise, he/she is free to do so. (of course, nothing is free, ask any military veteran)

The REAL TEST is how Toyota & Subaru respond to the issues. In the last 20 - 30 years my conclusion has been that Japanese companies were successful in doing this relatively quickly. They READ the criticism, they RESPONDED to the criticism and they REAPED the benefits. The American manufacturers have been much slower and, hence, their resultant competitive edge minimized.

Although I did not do it in this case, the lesson learned, at least for me, is NOT to buy a first year model vehicle and preferably to buy the LAST or near last in the vehicle manufacturing model run.

[lionbacker54]

i am concerned. it affects resale value. even if i personally don't agree with the criticisms, it will affect me in the end.

[Levi]

CR is BS. Those consumers are idiots.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by lionbacker54

i am concerned. it affects resale value. even if i personally don't agree with the criticisms, it will affect me in the end.

You're planning to sell your BRZ? Why?

[Screw Loose Dan]

As someone that recently purchased a new BRZ after reading CR's ratings, I can tell you it did weigh in on my purchase, but clearly didn't make the choice for me. It also didn't tell me anything I didn't already know by reading forums like this one. The radio/nav unit has had some issues. There are also some rattles. While the overall "reliability" circle gets filled with black (bad) because of those two things, those of us doing our research look closer and the breakdown shows there are actually quite a few things that are VERY reliable on this car. And in my mind, the important things for reliability are reliable.

The following is the list of item that got better then average reliability ratings:

• Engine
• Transmission
• Drive system
• Fuel System
• Electrical system
• Climate
• Suspension
• Brakes
• Exhaust
• Paint
• Body Hardware
• Power Equipment

Again compare that to the two items that are marked as "much worse than average":

• Squeaks and rattle
• Audio system

I suspect that these items will improve. For instance, my 2014 BRZ doesn't exhibit some of the Nav system issues I've read about. It's still not a great system but I don't seem to have any issues picking up Sats and such.

[Razz]

The Navigation hurt the BRZ more than the FRS, that is why it shows up worse.

Funny how all the fan boys say CR is crap when it is the owners who report the defects.

[subwaynm]

I'm not concerned at all. I've always had great results from my Toyota's and I'm not racing the new FR-S. So it's all goods far as I am concerned

[Pinoywhiz]

Calm down gentlemen, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Besides Consumer Report reviews tend to the average consumer anyway. No need to get bent out of shape because of what he or she said.

[BRZfan]

-----Now that some of us have attempted lower the status of Consumer Reports, what do you think of the following report? Although the analyses are done differently, what do the naysayers of Consumer Reports say about Road & Track? ------


From Road & Track magazine, November, 2013, page 98:

"Almost everyone (R&T drivers) hyped the Subaru as the rebirth of a segment, but unless you're a parent, birth doesn't equal love. On long trips, the BRZ is noisy, its sixth gear too short, and its suspension never seems to settle down. The electrically assisted steering rack is pin sharp, but on the freeway, you spend a lot of time chasing the darty nose. Around town, you wish the engine -- which needs revs to produce significant acceleration -- was enthusiastic and enjoyable as, say, the four-cylinder in a Honda S2000 or a Miata."

[kakarot1657]

Originally Posted by BRZfan

-----Now that some of us have attempted lower the status of Consumer Reports, what do you think of the following report? Although the analyses are done differently, what do the naysayers of Consumer Reports say about Road & Track? ------


From Road & Track magazine, November, 2013, page 98:

"Almost everyone (R&T drivers) hyped the Subaru as the rebirth of a segment, but unless you're a parent, birth doesn't equal love. On long trips, the BRZ is noisy, its sixth gear too short, and its suspension never seems to settle down. The electrically assisted steering rack is pin sharp, but on the freeway, you spend a lot of time chasing the darty nose. Around town, you wish the engine -- which needs revs to produce significant acceleration -- was enthusiastic and enjoyable as, say, the four-cylinder in a Honda S2000 or a Miata."

It depends on the road your on but interstate driving in my BRZ is quiter then city driving. I just enjoy the car as it is my expectations were not super high unlike the writers of these reviews so I find more positives then negatives with my BRZ.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by BRZfan

-----Now that some of us have attempted lower the status of Consumer Reports, what do you think of the following report? Although the analyses are done differently, what do the naysayers of Consumer Reports say about Road & Track? ------

Any review should be taken with a grain of salt. Some people would have the exact same criticisms of the car, they would prefer a Miata or a used Cayman or Focus ST, who cares? This thing will never be one size fits all, no car will.



That guys last review was probably about some >$50k luxury something or other, hot hatches and their affordable ilk will always pale in comparison. The novelty has worn off and some have grown tired of it, will it scare people away? Who cares, I've got a damn good car and I'm happy.

Consumer reports is different because their ratings are based off of surveys and statistics, you just have to understand how the data is collected for it to be useful (hence the refrigerator comparisons). "How satisfied are you with the transmission" will likely have more negative responses than "Have you had any issues with your transmission" or "Have you had to have your transmission serviced". The things CR is concerned with are not the things enthusiasts are concerned with, enthusiasts will try out different tranny oils and flush the system, the average CR reader compares it to their last lease and complains to the service manager who really doesn't have much flexibility.

Grain of salt with everything you read.

[dontpanic]

Originally Posted by BRZfan

-----Now that some of us have attempted lower the status of Consumer Reports, what do you think of the following report? Although the analyses are done differently, what do the naysayers of Consumer Reports say about Road & Track? ------


From Road & Track magazine, November, 2013, page 98:

"Almost everyone (R&T drivers) hyped the Subaru as the rebirth of a segment, but unless you're a parent, birth doesn't equal love. On long trips, the BRZ is noisy, its sixth gear too short, and its suspension never seems to settle down. The electrically assisted steering rack is pin sharp, but on the freeway, you spend a lot of time chasing the darty nose. Around town, you wish the engine -- which needs revs to produce significant acceleration -- was enthusiastic and enjoyable as, say, the four-cylinder in a Honda S2000 or a Miata."

Noise: disconnect the silly sound tube. 6th gear?... very comfortable in the 70's... perhaps the noise tube added their perception of being under-geared... Darty nose? check your tires/alignment? you want to experience a darty car try a MINI Cooper JCW! my dart-o-meter must have a different calibration set point.
My recollection of the S2000, particularly the first gen is that it took a bunch o revs to keep on boil and had pretty close ratios. it was hoot in spirited driving but just plain too much stirring of the shifter in regular DD use; but it was one sweet sewing machine smooth powerplant. the FA20 is not in the same vein. not sure I would have used the S2000 for a comparison but so be it. by the nature of their dislikes I would have used a BMW 1 series instead to show up the FRS/BRZ...
That or they are trolling for interwebs traffic - negative tone = hits?

[DoomsdayJesus]

Originally Posted by R.S-HawK

You do realize they've basically labeled the car as completely unreliable? Which, regardless of this small annoyances that have presented themselves, is a complete lie.

I don't know what planet you're on but these cars do have significant mechanical issues. It's not all taillight condensation. When I have to have a tranny replaced at 5800 miles, that's serious. When I find out tons of people on the same forum have the same problem, that's an issue.

It's a first year car, I fully expect the quality to go up. But for this year, it's not a mechanically reliable car for a lot of us, especially if you drive it as advertised.

As for CR, they actually do an awful lot of field testing on cars, it's not all user input. Which makes me think a ton of people on here don't know how consumer reports works and should probably stop sounding off on them.

Sure, they dumb down the adjectives for a 6th grade reading level because almost all publications do that, and they have to sell subscriptions. But they're one of the single most comprehensive databases of end product reliability, they do do their homework and verification to a decent standard, and they pour through a lot more data than anyone here has when researching cars and products.

The best part about that is they KEEP MANUFACTURERS HONEST. They hold them accountable. Honestly, you should be grateful that they took a blowdryer to our beautiful, unique snowflake because it gets Subaru/Toyota's attention, and forces them to increase QA/QC and improve products year to year. Manufacturers pay serious attention to Consumer Reports and many other publications. When they don't, you get things like the Pontiac Aztek and company failure.