Chevy Cobalt make Consumer Reports Least Reliable List

No

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

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.

Like when?

Examples?

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

"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.

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

"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

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

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.

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.