Consumer reports : Cars not to buy 2015

[emg]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Jeep did not fare well. And the Fiat... an Italian car with reliability troubles?


Oddly enough, my Fiats were always mechanically reliable. It was the rusting bodywork and poor electrical connections that caused the problems.

 

[horse123]

I'd put at least some of the nissan 3.5 reliability up to the typical owner being a ~24 year old male that has to either have the gas pedal fully depressed, or fully up. Not that I believe what Nissan is saying (apparently the Altima and Maxima are luxury cars now), but the idiot drivers probably have something to do with it.

 

[Shrubitup]

Originally Posted By: horse123
I'd put at least some of the nissan 3.5 reliability up to the typical owner being a ~24 year old male that has to either have the gas pedal fully depressed, or fully up. Not that I believe what Nissan is saying (apparently the Altima and Maxima are luxury cars now), but the idiot drivers probably have something to do with it.


That's interesting. We were shopping for a new economy car and the Altima made our list 5 years ago. The base model did not include a radio. Luxurious!!!

We bought a Honda Civic LX instead.

My 2007 Nissan Titan purchased new has a great motor and transmission. However the chassis squeaked from day one, the tire pressure monitoring system is always lit on dash, the tail pipe fell off due to rust, and the underside of body developed rust in 18 months from new. No relief from Nissan warranty dept. Won't purchase this brand again. Will say my truck's seats are extremely comfortable and it rides nice too. I dunno - maybe I should soften on Nissan and just purchase and expect no warranty and/or rust from them as part of the sale?

 

[OneEyeJack]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
Considering CR's well-known bias against domestic brands, I'm really surprised not to see at least one Chevy or Ford on this list.


CR's posted "opinions" match nearly exactly the real world results from sites like TrueDelta dot com.

Facts matter, and "certain" domestics have consistently demonstrated lower reliability.

In fact, the Toyota Camry/Honda Accord models are 1 order of magnitude more reliable than the VW Passat. That's an amazing difference.


I feel the same way about my 4Runner. They claims it rides like a truck. I say, that's why I purchased it. I wanted a 4 door pickup with a good camper shell that can tow my trailer. CR has bashed my V8 4Runner but for me it's been about as indescribable as a vehicle can be.

 

[hattaresguy]

So wait the Tacoma is not a good truck because it drives like a truck and has ground clearance?

 

[Voltmaster]

Theyre paid to post stuff.

Most of their reviews is complete garbage digestible for average folk, not scientific or factual AT ALL. Its all their opinions.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
If they can't get washer and dryer recommendations right, why should anyone put any credence in their opinions about a vehicle?

You're quite right Pop. It's not much more than entertainment value, or maybe a starting point for checking other reviews. I don't think they're exactly speaking to car guys; if they're trying to, they're not doing so well.

I see too many reviews of all sorts grumble about oil change intervals or costs, such as Car & Driver recently complaining about the 5w-50 synthetic in a Mustang. My concern is if I can do it readily myself without making a giant mess and without having to go on a scavenger hunt for the oil and/or filter. I don't care that the particular Mustang needs 5w-50; my concern is that the oil would be next to impossible to source outside the dealer in Canada.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: horse123
I'd put at least some of the nissan 3.5 reliability up to the typical owner being a ~24 year old male that has to either have the gas pedal fully depressed, or fully up. Not that I believe what Nissan is saying (apparently the Altima and Maxima are luxury cars now), but the idiot drivers probably have something to do with it.


If you watched Nissan over the last decade you pretty much knew this would happen. As you may recall, Nissan was near death 10 years ago. Carlos Goshen came in and took over and cracked the whip, making Nissan put out an incredible number of new vehicles in a very short time. As a mechanical engineer, I know what can happen when some roughshod manager comes in and forces un-realistic product development schedules down peoples throats. Quality suffers as the company cuts corners. When you jobs on the line, its either release product or be walked out the door. IMO, some of the same issues happened with Toyota, on a much smaller scale. Some of the 2000-2010 Toyotas are too suffering the same way, just not on the same scale as Nissan as they too, grew like crazy during those years.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
So wait the Tacoma is not a good truck because it drives like a truck and has ground clearance?


I agree. Makes me like the Tacoma even better. If I buy a truck,I want a truck,not a Cadillac or Lincoln luxury sedan. Tacoma is the only truck I'd ever consider buying.

 

[hattaresguy]

Toyota does sell nice ridding luxury trucks, they are called Lexus, maybe CR has heard of the brand?

 

[SatinSilver]

Super high resale on the Tacomas.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

"The Italians are coming, the Italians are coming." And look what showed up, a goofy looking Fiat 500. I'm surprised that Fiat would even show its corporate face again. What was their 1970s car called, the 128? Ninety nine out of a hundred had at least one problem. And now Fiat and Chrysler are one and the same. And who can forget the many iterations of the K car? How much lipstick was put on that pig? I don't put too much faith in what CR says anymore, but in the case of the 500, they got it right. Much worse than average, just like the 128.

 

[hattaresguy]

The Italians make some great cars, we sadly just get the expensive ones.

 

[ls1mike]

Eh, just another list, but the Armada 13 MPG! Holy .... My 3/4 ton gas pickup does better than that. It must be a heavy vehicle.

 

[rjundi]

Toyota trucks in smaller form have always had terrible ride and slopping steering/handling. Nothing new there.

 

[EA82]

I agree with the list besides the Tacoma. Based on research here on bitog and cars that I and other members of the family have owned, Nissan and Chrysler products are at the bottom of my list.

 

[Shrubitup]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Eh, just another list, but the Armada 13 MPG! Holy .... My 3/4 ton gas pickup does better than that. It must be a heavy vehicle.


Nope! Just a thirsty inefficient motor. Have same one in my Nissan Titan. 14 in town and 17 on the highway - empty. 1/2 ton 2WD.

 

[Xeno]

Originally Posted By: Shrubitup
Originally Posted By: horse123
I'd put at least some of the nissan 3.5 reliability up to the typical owner being a ~24 year old male that has to either have the gas pedal fully depressed, or fully up. Not that I believe what Nissan is saying (apparently the Altima and Maxima are luxury cars now), but the idiot drivers probably have something to do with it.


That's interesting. We were shopping for a new economy car and the Altima made our list 5 years ago. The base model did not include a radio. Luxurious!!!


I find that really hard to believe. Even the base Versa, since its inception, has had an am/fm radio.

 

[Shrubitup]

Originally Posted By: Xeno
Originally Posted By: Shrubitup
Originally Posted By: horse123
I'd put at least some of the nissan 3.5 reliability up to the typical owner being a ~24 year old male that has to either have the gas pedal fully depressed, or fully up. Not that I believe what Nissan is saying (apparently the Altima and Maxima are luxury cars now), but the idiot drivers probably have something to do with it.


That's interesting. We were shopping for a new economy car and the Altima made our list 5 years ago. The base model did not include a radio. Luxurious!!!


I find that really hard to believe. Even the base Versa, since its inception, has had an am/fm radio.


Why would I lie? It was a 2010 Altima S model I believe. Radio was $500 additional. Our Honda came with a radio if you want to call it that.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
The Italians make some great cars, we sadly just get the expensive ones.


The FIAT 500 Abarth is an amazing pocket rocket, fun to drive,
fairly reliable, and inexpensive too. If you are are worried you just buy a factory extended warranty. Most folks I know have had very few issues with their cars.