Has Consumer Reports reviewed the Prius C yet? I have an online subscription, and there is nothing on website, save for a brief press-release style writeup of the C. There's also a short video of a Consumer Reports analyst test driving the car on YouTube, but as of today, the magazine has written nothing in-depth on the C. I realize it's a new car, but I would expect the Consumer Reports analysis to be coming out soon. Has anyone heard anything about when this will be available?
Who needs Consumer Reports when you have a resource like PriusChat? This is where real owners praise and complain in real life and not in a biased publication. Hell one person even traded his c back in so he could repurchase his old car. If that is not honesty I don't know what is. lol
I like to hear from a combination of owners such as those on this board, as well as trusted publications like Consumer Reports. So... anybody know when the Consumer Reports review should be expected?
I'd like to see a review by Consumer Reports. I like the reviews here but we, as owners, can also bring a bias to our comments.
CR is one of the better auto reviewers and have a level of objectivity not likely to be found on a message board, even if their details will be necessarily sparse in some regards.
Consumer reports is good at reviewing alot of things, like sheets, BBQs, TVs, paint, tires, etc. Cars? Not so much. I enjoy reading their articles about cars, but don't put to much weight into their opinion.
CR is another useful source of information, and at least you know no-one has paid them off for a good review, nor are they particularly biased for or against any type of car. I look forward to seeing what they have to say about the C. Their reliability reports, based on user surveys, can also be informative.
Why? They have reviewed many cars over the years and are not paid like all of the other advertiser-reliant publications, whose objectivity must be questioned. CR has a great deal of experience in this area.
I always notice that Consumer Reports is biased in favor of Toyota. Car & Driver and Motor Trend, however, often like to slam Toyota for its "boring vehicles." It's best to take any of these paid advertisers with a grain of salt.
It's questionable just how good they are at reviewing some of those items, like TVs. They don't really gauge performance parameters all that well (I guess they're passable if you're not a videophile or videophile wannabe ).
Consumer Reports has little credibility when it comes to evaluating cars. They may not be paid by advertisers, but in order to stay alive as a publication they must make their subscribers believe that they have discovered flaws in the cars that they evaluate -- that in some way they know things that you won't discover when test driving a car. Their opinions aren't wort the paper that they are written upon.
Consumer Reports car reviews are both subjective and objective. What most of their readership wants to know is: 1) Which car within its specific class is a best buy overall 2) What is the driving experience like (noise, comfort, handling, etc) 3) Based on historical data, if any, what is the likely reliability of the new model You may not agree with the choices CR makes but AFAIK CR purchases and tests every car they write reviews about. Sure it's a sample size of ONE. But at least you know that they have had it in their possession and one of their reviewers actually drove it. Maybe CR should supply a list of their reviewers and the cars each reviewed. Then we might see which reviewers have more bias toward a particular car company or type of vehicle compared to each other. The Gen 2 Prius had always received high marks from CR. After owning one for 18 months and 37K miles with only one minor problem that was present when I bought it, I'd say CR's review on this car was perfect.
Cnet checks more of the tech than anything else and Brian Cooley is the best. I like to watch MotorWeek on youtube!
