- Consumer Reports reviews six SUVs in February issue.
- Jeep Grand Cherokee draws early praise
- New MyFord driver interface called "overcomplicated and distracting."
YONKERS, New York — Consumer Reports, in its February issue, says the 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX registered test scores "too low to be recommended" by the magazine, which has more than 7 million print and Web subscribers.
The magazine also ripped the new MyFord/MyLincoln touchscreen driver interface as "overcomplicated and distracting," adding that "first-time users might find it impossible to comprehend." Consumer Reports also said the system "did not always not always perform as promised."
Also included in the six-vehicle SUV test were the Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, Infiniti QX56 and Porsche Cayenne, all of which were redesigned for 2011. Consumer Reports said the latter three vehicles "performed well in testing, but are too new . . . to have adequate reliability data to recommend."
Inside Line says: CR's less-than-happy experience with the MyFord driver interface mirrors our own. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
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camaroguy37 says:
09:50 AM, 03/04/2011
Consumer Reports is incompetant. The Chevrolet Tahoe hasn't changed one bit over the last few years when they were recommending it, so now suddenly the same vehicle can't be recommended. I suppose this should be expected form CR though...
calhon says:
01:06 PM, 01/05/2011
How is Consumer Reports planning on disposing of their Edge, MKZ, Tahoe and CR-Z test vehicles - models they recommend no one buys?
I bet they plan on selling them. Oh the web we weave ... !
tdiluv says:
06:18 AM, 01/05/2011
Towing,and lugging things around, good, yes, gigantic depreciation also yes, it is what it is !! Don't need a consumer mag to tell you that !!
dgs4 says:
10:57 PM, 01/04/2011
"F*** them: Consumer reports just hates all fun, intresting, and futureistic cars."
There is nothing fun, interesting, or futureistic about a gas sucking SUV.
dgmail says:
10:46 PM, 01/04/2011
OMG! Consumers Reports doesn't like a Domestic vehicle?
What else is new.
Slap a Toyota badge on it, add faulty electronics, sticky accelerators, sludged engines, and rusted out frames.
Then Consumer Reports will LOVE it!
tbone85 says:
06:45 PM, 01/04/2011
" I find CU useful for Washers, Toasters and Detergent, useless for anything at all subjective."
I find some of their reliability/quality data interesting, but don't take it as definitive as they have as many flaws with their methodology as their competitors do. For something that involves actual judgment: car handling, sound quality of speakers they have historically been woefully lacking.
mediabias says:
06:44 PM, 01/04/2011
Anybody basing their second-biggest lifetime purchase (next to a house) on some magazine writers is an idiot. As was stated earlier, the magazine is probably a good help for a toaster or mixer, but nothing more.
The vast majority of CR readers are NOT domestic buyers, so right from the start that discounts their ratings.
I realized how bias CR was way back in the day when they ranked the Geo Prizm as junk but lauded the Toyota Corolla, both of which were made on the same line at NUMMI and were built out of 95% of the same parts.
kingfish4 says:
06:09 PM, 01/04/2011
It's hard to take Consumer Reports seriously. These are the same people that admitted that they sent out child safety seats for testing and a majority failed, till they realized they used faulty test protocol. They also stated that Toyota were given a free pass on reliability of new models, while other manufacturers they had to have data on. Then it became known that certain Toyota engines failed due to oil sludging, yet based on their survey (and who is to say that Toyota employees are not the ones filling out the survey) that the cars had serious reliability issues.
They don't recommend the Pontiac G8GT stating there are serious problems with the fuel system. I have over 62K miles on my 2009 and have had no problems with the fuel system, but I read somewhere there were some bad fuel cap that caused the check engine light to come on. Yep a bad fuel cap, that sounds like a really big reliability issue.
Consumer Reports are more concerned with how many cupholders and cubby holes are in a vehicle, not with how it actually drives.
6sptl says:
02:56 PM, 01/04/2011
I love it when people complain about something they haven't even read. Though I don't necesarily agree with consumer reports conclusions all the time, 90% plus of the time they are right on the money. In fact they didn't pan any of these vehicles, they simply lost out to the Cayene and Infinity Q 56, is that any surprise? They did pan the Ford "my touch system" which, as BMW's I drive, is ergonomic disaster, very flashy but just that.
All the vehicles in the test are handily outscored by the Acura MDX which after 4 years still reigns as their #1 luxury SUV. Just another tidbit about consumer reports and car testing, they have been testing cars for >60 years, not only that they actualy test them not just take them on a joy ride and a couple of times around a track, if anyone can claim to be auto review experts its consumer reports.
If anyone is dumb enough not to understand CR's black and red dots' this can serve you as a primer:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/buying-selling/consumer-reports-automotive-ratings.htm/printable
BigFordFan150 says:
02:53 PM, 01/04/2011
F*** them: Consumer reports just hates all fun, intresting, and futureistic cars.