[vdiv]

Consumer Reports has issued ratings of American-made cars for 2013 since none of them made the category for 2013 Top Picks

http://news.consumerreports.org/car...-top-picks-the-best-cars-born-in-the-usa.html

In the "Green Car" category the Chevy Volt was bested by Ford C-Max Hybrid. It does not look like the Tesla Model S, Ford's Energi models and Focus EV, or the Spark EV were considered...

 

[garyg]

yeah 'cause consumer reports knows some of us are just too stupid and wont buy foreign cars...

just remember where the yahoos at consumer reports come from. the perfect example is the Corvair. so they make up crap about the Corvair, which then leads to the NHSTA and their first act is to say they Corvair claims are unfounded. then there is the unintended Audi acceleration and the Omni/Horzon shocks and the.....

Car and Driver has a couple of good ones this month. The Cadillac ELR was picked as one of the top 25 cars to wait for. The only one that didnt have souped up engines. And an interesting article on how fuel mileage claims by sme hybrids tend to be off the mark.

 

[aventineavenue]

Love how they make a point to write that the vs the CMAX hybrid, the Volt is "considerably more expensive—and much lower scoring", yeah there's no bias lacking detail there. Let's look at that:

-Is $6000 really "considerably more expensive" (note you can actually get the Volt for less than $25k in West Virginia, and in the high 20k's in a half dozen other states)

-What criteria were used to determine the "much lower scoring". Unlike the CMAX, the Volt actually has an EV range, is cheaper to fuel/lower cost of ownership, is faster, handles better, and has more standard features. The CMAX got only 37 mpg* in CR's own test, lower than the Volt's EPA rating in CS Mode...and, um, has more space/seats 5...and...help me out here...I want to say something else nice about the CMAX

*CS got only 32 mpg for the Volt in CS mode, but I would question, did they do as many gas miles and the same track in the Volt as total miles in the CMAX. Otherwise, the mpg is skewed low for the Volt as it wasn't given proper warm up time, course, etc to truly comparatively measure mpg. Also, mpg on the Volt seems to vary + or - a few mpg depending on whether you use Hold, Mountain, or if in CS mode, all of which will occur in real world driving.

 

[Zeede]

Consumer Reports is only good for rating toasters and refridgerators. Cars they are fairly useless with. I wish they'd publish the tester's names, because there is a lot of subjectivity with cars and you don't know who drove what.

 

[volt11]

The people at CR have obviously always hated General Motors, for as far back as I can remember. Read accordingly.

 

[jamesdawson]

Gotta love how CR loves to boast how they "caught" Ford cheating on the mileage numbers for the cmax, AND THEN THEY ANNOINT IT THE BEST GREEN CAR!
What the hell? Where is the logic in that move?

 

[aventineavenue]

And you have to "subscribe" to see any of their data and analysis. Conclusions and opinions you get for free though!

 

[JMett]

I never got good advice from Consumer Report. Besides, the household items they rate are never current or found in stores.

 

[Voltster]

The people at CR have obviously always hated General Motors, for as far back as I can remember. Read accordingly.

I agree completely! And I thought that I was the only one who felt that they had some kind of grudge against GM cars.

 

[NewBostonConst]

Yes Consumer Reports has been very biased since the 90's when I stopped believing them....

 

[petefoss]

The one that used to crack me up was the vehicles from NUMI. GM and Toyota vehicles from the same line but the GM versions always ranked lower.

 

[vdiv]

I am quite speechless that an EREV with an efficiency average of 180 some odd mpg (according to voltstats.net at least), or 95 mpge that can run entirely on 100% renewable electricity can lose to a hybrid (not even the plugin one) with about 36 mpg for the title of "Green Car".

I am also amazed at the explanation:

"That leaves us with the considerably more expensive—and much lower scoring—Chevrolet Volt. On the plus side, the Volt has been very reliable, owners love them, and you can get cheap lease rates."

Which is it? Considerably more expensive or cheap lease rates? Much lower scoring or very reliable and owners love them?

I think we should have our own pick for the least objective media outlet when it comes to EVs.
For 2013 the Consumer Reports and the NY Times may have won a tie.

 

[baragona]

Aren't these the same guys that rated the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (and its 21 MPG City) green car of the year????

Storage and seating capacity always rate higher than mileage, even for "green cars" apparently......

 

[flmark]

Aren't these the same guys that rated the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (and its 21 MPG City) green car of the year????

Storage and seating capacity always rate higher than mileage, even for "green cars" apparently......

I have a Tahoe Hybrid- whose main job now is to tow one of my Volts between homes. Do not disparage the concept, OR the award. It had nothing to do with CR, and was awarded by the same folks who later picked the Volt for the same title. The point was to get a BIG vehicle respectable city mileage, & since Tahoe Hybrid managed to get it down to level of a CAMRY, they obviously succeeded. Calculate GALLONS of gas saved, & you gain much more by shifting from conventional Tahoe to hybrid version, than you gain by shifting to Volt from a Prius. Gaining 5 or 6 mpg when you are in the teens, results in magnitudes of better savings than when you alter 40 mpg by that same 5 or 6 mpg. Just because something is not accepted commercially, does not make its engineering success any less remarkable.

 

[Joekc]

Actually, CR sold me on buying a Volt when they rated it the car with the highest customer satisfaction for two years in a row. Just saying . . .

 

[aventineavenue]

The one that used to crack me up was the vehicles from NUMI. GM and Toyota vehicles from the same line but the GM versions always ranked lower.

lol "And from the East German judge..."

 

[Steverino]

I dropped my subscription (2 year ago?) the day I read their editor trying to say the Volt would cost more per mile on electricity than on gas or some such garbage. Called, cancelled right then and there.

 

[cadillackid]

funny thing is CR never liked Jeep wranglers either.. ive owned 7... some had issues.. others didnt.. yet people buy them... they are what keeps Jeep brand in business... their resale value is very high..

I put no stout into what CR says.. they hated on the 2012 Honda Civic too... yet people bought them in mass.. 2012's are easy to spot.. they are everywhere... I had one.. it was an excellent car for what it is..
never broke down, was comfortable and got 40 MPG....CR likes the 2013's.. the people dont... Honda listened to the CR snobs and civic sales are wayyy down for the 2013 Model....

I like my New Volt.. other than the politics associated with it. (some VERY right wingers that are friends.. think i jumped off the deep end for buying the "obama-car" as they call it..). I just laugh when they are getting $4 gasoline and im sitting at Panera on my laptop getting a FREE charge out front...seems everyone that owns one or has tried on out for real likes them.. they still get crowds of people around them at auto-shows in every city..
-Christopher

 

[sinnombre]

funny thing is CR never liked Jeep wranglers either.. ive owned 7... some had issues.. others didnt.. yet people buy them... they are what keeps Jeep brand in business... their resale value is very high..

I put no stout into what CR says.. they hated on the 2012 Honda Civic too... yet people bought them in mass.. 2012's are easy to spot.. they are everywhere... I had one.. it was an excellent car for what it is..
never broke down, was comfortable and got 40 MPG....CR likes the 2013's.. the people dont... Honda listened to the CR snobs and civic sales are wayyy down for the 2013 Model....

I like my New Volt.. other than the politics associated with it. (some VERY right wingers that are friends.. think i jumped off the deep end for buying the "obama-car" as they call it..). I just laugh when they are getting $4 gasoline and im sitting at Panera on my laptop getting a FREE charge out front...seems everyone that owns one or has tried on out for real likes them.. they still get crowds of people around them at auto-shows in every city..
-Christopher

I have a 2012 Civic and a 2011 Jeep wrangler , both nice cars . CR ran a phony hit piece on the Wrangler . The editor tried to get the driver to try to get the Wrangler to tip slightly . After several failed attempts , they loaded one side with sand bags , still didn't tip . Added more sand bags and a stunt driver and got their results on camera .

I remember trading my " poorly rated " 91 Jetta for a "Consumers Choice " 93 Corolla . After a few months I realized I was duped and cancelled my subscription . Odd , you mention right wingers , I get pounded all the time from left wing Toyota Prius Nazis who tell me my Volt is " sadly inefficient " when compared to the mighty Prius . I guess they still subscribe to Consumer Reports .

 

[USe-car]

I found out that CR only polls their subscribers. You must have a subscription to vote in their polls. Since their subscribers were raised on a steady diet of Asian superiority, you can guess what they are going to vote for. I stopped reading them since they got busted for rating a new Camry without even driving one first.