Chevy Cobalt make Consumer Reports Least Reliable List

Are the Cobalt and Pontiac G6 Sister cars?

Reply to
Austrodamous Jones
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No

Reply to
Steve Mackie

G6 uses the same platform as the Malibu (next size up from the Cobalt)

Reply to
Chris

No, but the Cobalt and Pontiac G4(not sold in the US) are.

I would ignore anything that Consumer Reports says because they have clearly proven that they don't know what they are talking about time and time again.

Reply to
Dennis Smith

Like when?

Examples?

Reply to
GRL
10 people respond, 8 say their car is bad so it gets a bad rating. Brand loyal dunces never say anything bad about their Volvo, Saturn, Honda, etc. . It's all normal service items. CR is clueless, I service appliances and routinely see them recommend crap. Then low and behold 2 yr. later they downgrade the item. But I love them as the SUCKERS that read that rag and believe them buy that garbage and I make money on them fixing that overpriced garbage.

Reply to
Repairman

Years ago they rated the Dodge Omni as better than the Plymouth Horizon. The only difference between them was the grill. They also listed the AMC Alliance as a good buy, at one point. . ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

"Mike Hunter" wrote in news:UN2dnUNpy snipped-for-privacy@ptd.net:

So, what's your point. Every magazine that tries to 'rank' cars does so from their perspective, and there is a better-->worse listing for great cars and for crap. That argument has nothing to do with CR. Further, they test a pretty broad cross-section, so their reviews have good points as to how some manufacturers are making their cars just a bit better than others.

IF, however, you're talking about their reliability rankings, you're still wrong. CR doesn't create these lists, per se, the subscribers answer a questionaire and CR reports.

J
Reply to
Jon Patrick

The point is statistically their ratings or meaningless to a buyer. The fact is they don't list which are great cars and which car is crap. The list them as one compared to another, in the opinion of their few thousand subscribers who bought ONE of the 18,000,000 sold annually in the US. The fact is what they are really telling you is ALL manufacture make some that are not up to snuff. Statically the 'bad' ones are equal to around 2% of all the vehicles a given manufacture sells. The odds of getting one of their 'good' ones is 98% no matter how many the manufacture sell in total. Any buyer therefore has a 98% chance of getting one of ANY manufactures good ones. Betting the ONE particular vehicle you buy will not be one of the 2%, based on someone opinion of which one will be the less likely to leave you with one of the 2%, is therefore foolish at best.

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

"Mike Hunter" wrote in news:dMmcnapMHqJlL snipped-for-privacy@ptd.net:

are you speaking of their testing and ranking of automobiles, or the reliability rankings? J

Reply to
Jon Patrick

You are definitely in need of a clue or two, sir. We bought a used LS400 12 years ago, still have it. CR said it was a very reliable car and it has been exactly that. No defects at all for first 6 years of our ownership and then I had to replace a HVAC control unit because of fading display ($200 for a rebuilt I put in myself). Bought a Yukon XL new in 2000. Gets the same use level as the LS400. CR says that that model year is less reliable than most and is prone to electrical problems. After 28,000 miles it has had: failed electric fuel pump - cost me $400 to replace plus GM kicked in $400 (because while out of 3-year warranty, it has low miles), defogger tab fell off rear window and was non-repairable - cost me $420 to replace, ABS sensor failed due to corrosion causing brakes to not work at very low speeds - cost me $100 to repair, but there is a recall on this one and I should be re-imbursed, rear power window failed - cost me $80 to repair with a local dealer kicking in another $80.

I'd say that has it exactly right for these two vehicles and if I were buying either used I would take their advice to heart. Thankfully, Yukons have gotten better and are now average, as I recall, in reliability while LS430's continue to be much better than average.

Short answer is that CR owner surveys are very valid and do tell you, the used car buyer, which are the good and which the bad. For the new car buyer they tell you who has a history of being good and who bad and that is not a bad way to predict future performance.

- GRL

"Mike Hunter" wrote in message news:dMmcnapMHqJlL snipped-for-privacy@ptd.net...

Reply to
GLitwinski

Wrong. The Omni may have rated higher than the Horizon with their owners and it is entirely possible that for a given model year that occurred, but it would balance after a few years of survey results. No way do I believe that in a road test one would be rated better than the other.

As for them rating the Reliance as a good buy based on a road test, that may (or may not - which issue?) true. I rented an Alliance once and while not powerful by any stretch it was`a remarkably comfortable small car with good handling and mileage. Drove one 350 highway miles in great comfort. Much better than American small cars of the same period in that regard. I am sure that you are not talking about a owner survey reliability result as no Renault sold into this country has ever been worth a damn as far as reliability goes.

GRL

Reply to
GLitwinski

Just like CR opinion of cars it seems, but you are free to believe whatever you wish, I guess. LOL

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

The Chevrolet Cobalt shares the GM delta platform with the Saturn Ion.

The Pontiac G6 shares the GM epsilon platform with the Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Malibu MAXX, and Saab 9-3.

Reply to
Timothy J. Lee

When the new Grand Prix came out in 2003 (I think) they went ahead and panned it in their "review" (I think it was in their New Car Buyer's Guide for that year), which they came out and said in their article was based on last years model. The GP had been redesigned, and yet they bash it and admit that they hadn't had an opportunity to drive the new model.

Now if you don't like a car after you've driven it, that's one thing but when you are a supposedly unbiased magazine offering consumer advice and you bash a car that's just undergone a major redesign (a car that by your own admission you've not set foot in, let alone taken for a test drive) because you didn't like the previous model ... that tells me you came into it with a bias from the get go.

Reply to
Darren Toews

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