Consumer Reports kudos for Subaru

I know it's not considered good form to reference Consumer Reports in some circles (like most auto discussion groups), but you may want to take a look at the April 2005 annual auto issue. For starters, check out p. 17, in an article entitled "U.S. autos narrow the gap." The section titled "Asia: Mainly positive, but with glitches," says, "Subaru showed significant improvement. This year, with just 8 problems per 100 cars, it had the best reliabillity rrecord of any 2004 make."

In the "Vehicle profiles" section, p. 72, the Baja and Legacy/Outback are "Recommended" models, and the Forester is rated even higher as a "Top Pick."

Under "2005 Cars Ratings" on p. 35, the Forester is the top-rated among "Small Sport-Utility Vehicles"; the worst they could say about it ("Lows") was "Gated shifter." Under "Highs" is "Ride, agility, steering, controls and displays, crash-test results, reliability."

Reply to
Hal Whelply
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What's wrong with quoting the best unbiased review company in the world? Under small SUVs they rate the Forester #1 followed by ... RAV4, Vibe, Matrix, Baja, CR-V, Escape, Tribute, Element and others. In the past, they rated the RAV4 or CR-V highest. Props to Sube.... LT

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Reply to
LT

I love my Forester, however I would not rate the controls and displays as "Highs".

In daylight it is impossible to tell what setting the aircon is set to, those little green lights just dont show up, I suppose that's the penalty for having such a huge sunroof and non-tinted windows. The speedo is also hard to see, I usually have the headlights on, just to see my speed (lots of speed cameras in England).

And it usually takes me about a minute to work out which button is for the heated wing-mirrors, I always seem to press the headlight washers first, which of course will be frozen up.

For the money I would have expected an MPG readout, and an indication of which gear the car decided it was using, and don't even get me started on the OEM radio.

However, the other controls are all top notch, including the cruise control.

Still the best small SUV on the market.

Ian. Forester 04 XT AT

Reply to
Ian Brown

I THINK you might be able to hold down the off button and toggle that display to a brigghter mode. Seems like my OBW does something like that. Try it or check the manual.

Carl

Ian Brown wrote:

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

I think Consumers Reports are excellent refs. I bought my first new Subaru in 1986, an 86 GL Wagon based on Consumers Reports of the day claiming crash worthiness and owner satisfaction. I bought my current 04 Forester for the same (and other) reasons. I would never trust the industry voice publications such as Car & Driver and the like.

Reply to
H

Depends. Wasn't it Consumer Reports, about a decade ago, that criticized a small Jeep kind of car - Suzuki? - as tending to roll over. The testing agency then showed videos showing the car being tested. The agency had added steel bars extending out 10 feet or so from the middle of the left and right sides, with a wheel at the end, to prevent the car from rolling over and injuring the driver. Fine, but these bars changed the whole angular momentum (if that's the right term) of the car, making the test car much less stable than the stock vehicle.

I've read other CR tests that similarly showed that the organizati> "The most reliable brand overall is now Subaru, which averages eight problems

which is just great.

Reply to
John Rethorst

This is true for both the radio and A/C controls on my '02 VDC H6. Holding down the 'Off' buttons for 2 seconds will toggle the display from 'low' to 'high'. Very handy for rainy, misty days when you have to have your headlights on but ambient light is still high. John

Reply to
John A. Mason

Wow...nice try, lol.

CU identified an unsafe design, period. Even memos within GM and Suzuki, pre-release, showed they recognized it as an unsafe design, and some corporate voices spoke out against releasing it without major changes.

Suzuki finally lost that case, after what, three runs thru appeals, and probably fifteen years?

I know a guy who lost a daughter in a rollover of one of those.

Reply to
CompUser

I didn't say it wasn't. SUVs in general have a greater tendency to roll over. It's also credible that Suzuki knew about it before the car's release. My point was only that CU tested a heavily modified vehicle that was very much unlike the vehicles offered for sale.

Reply to
John Rethorst

I take a lot of CR info with a grain of salt. They badmouthed the 95 Trooper even though the Trooper was rated as high quality as the Landcruiser. They also did a hatchet job on the suzuli samurai. The ford bronco II is the scariest vehicle I ever drove . Suvs arent sports cars - if people overdrive thats too bad.

Reply to
jabario

And what would you suggest as a better metric?

Seems to me that if Car A has an average of 5 problems a year, and Car B has

10, Car A is the best bet for reliability. Sure, probably a more sophisticated methodology would yield deeper insights. But seems to me that's a good, basic start.

In the case of EVERY car I've owned, CR's reliability indicators, descriptions, etc., have been spot on.

HW

Reply to
Hal Whelply

Nothing at all. I like CR's reliability ratings.

Reply to
John Rethorst

Suzuki Samurai was the vehicle and they did, unfortunately, kill it from our shores. The biggest problem is that it was never meant to be a freeway vehicle or to handle like a sedan. It was (and still is in many countries) one of the best, cheapest, easiest off-roading vehicles on the planet. I have friends with '88 model Samurai's that can go places with just tire upgrades that I can't get my lightly modded Wrangler to go. They weigh nothing, they go anywhere, they are nearly impossible to kill, and they are cheap to keep on the road. Too bad the idiot media killed them off by warning away the uneducated. Then again, they did the same thing with Audi (unintended acceleration = putting your foot on the wrong pedal and being typically American "I can't possibly have done something wrong, I can't make money that way!"), and even attempted the same on the Chevy pickup's with the side-mounted tanks (Dateline still never regained much credibility after that bottle-rocket fiasco).

If you think about it, those somewhat heavy (required to sustain the weight and prevent the roll) bars are also very low which HELPS to lower the cars center of gravity and as each bar is about equal and equally spaced it shouldn't have any real affect on the stability.

The way I look at it, I don't let the media make any of my car buying decisions unless they are going to be writing the monthly checks for it. If they want to do that then they are welcome to tell me what kind of car to buy.

;)

Reply to
DragonRider

Reply to
Edward Hayes

Suzuki sued CU and lost. CU made a big deal about their 'victory' years later, and still brings it up.

I think both sides had a point. The car was fine for its intended purpose, but risky in how it was used on the street. The CJ-5 and Bronco II were criticized for the same reason but I'd be comfortable driving any of them as they were meant to be driven. Tall and narrow vehicles fill a legitimate off road niche.

-John

Reply to
Generic

When it comes to cars, I like CR. Their auto issue is a handy compendium of facts and relatively unbiased opinions. They pay site has more info, I think, which I found useful when I selected my Forester last August. I trust their reliability data too.

I find their ratings of small objects less useful. My brother won't buy a hammer or drill without memorizing what CR has written, but I don't think their critiques are very important for something I only use once or twice a year. Furthermore, it can be very difficult to find their preferred choice in a product or appliance, considering how often manufacturers change their product lines.

Finally, for some products I pay no attention to CR. I have been upgrading my 20 year old stereo. CR had little or no useful info for these products. I found research at sites such as avsforum.com and hometheaterforum.com and similar sites to be the place to glean the opinions of true connoisseurs.

Opinionated Pete

Reply to
P T

I stand corrected, my forester does do this, (only taken me 6 months to find this out) however it doesn't seem to remember that I want it bright and I have to re-brighten it every time I start the car, but yes it's certainly visible now :-)

Thanks, Ian.

Reply to
Ian Brown

The case was only finally closed last year, believe it or not!

Reply to
CompUser

SELF hi-5 !!!

Carl

Ian Brown wrote:

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Suzuki and Sharper Image(with their useless air ionizer) both lost their lawsuits against Consumer Reports.

Adam

Reply to
Adam Helberg

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