CR's reviews are perfectly suited to its intended audience…as much as Car and Driver's, Motor Trend's, and so on, for theirs.
Its audience is not going to know whether a water pump, if they are even aware of the component at all, circulates engine coolant, or blinker fluid. Nor whether muffler bearings require 30k service.
Nor do its reviewers have a time machine, or crystal ball, to predict any design flaws that may surface in the future, and give it the insight to warn potential buyers in the present. What it does do is is collect reliability data from its readers and study which vehicles are more likely to be trouble-prone. And when that data conflicts with its original projections, it's not afraid to point that out.
Odd to see the one publication that tries to be free of bias (accepts no advertising, purchases all the products it reviews), and with an emphasis on reliability and durability be called out for lacking that. It may not contain the level of detail you expect, but which other publication can make those claims? Others' long term tests, when they do bother with them, are on loaners, so they have no stake in the game. How many pages do they devote to product recalls, including automotive, each month? Do their recommendations come with a snazzy-looking trophy, accompanied by a lavish advertising spread for the honorees in those same pages?
It used to be that CR was mostly criticized for not being "car people," and doing no real testing. Yet those have been neutralized by the fact that CR has its own test track, and does objective performance testing. No, they won't tell you how many g's a CR-V will pull around the skidpad compared to a CX-5, or which pulls the better 1/4-mile, but again, its readership is not looking for that information or care.
While CR is hardly the ultimate authority or the sole source any diligent buyer should consult, its reviews have value, in ways that many others do not.
Originally Posted by Cdn17Sport6MT
Originally Posted by borgward
...No(t to) mention that you can no longer buy a service manual or optical disc from some manufacturers...
This SO p*sses me off. BMW is one of the worst in this respect that I'm aware of. That and no spare parts / (effectively) non-repairable manual transmissions.Really a shame because (for me) there are many things to like when it comes to BMW's (YMMV).
I have a '17 Mazda6 - and the factory workshop manual is REALLY complete. Very impresed.
BMW is very stingy with its technical support, but ironically, that makes it one of the easiest brands to obtain such information for, given its enthusiastic owner base.
The factory ETK parts catalogs have been readily available online at least two decades, and the TIS repair information for models up to a current G-series is online as well, at least unofficially. Officially, TIS subscriptions are available in daily, monthly, and annual increments.
The ETM wiring diagrams and EBA accessories installation instructions aren't as easy to find, but can be found.
And in situations where those sources aren't sufficient, the Bentley manuals or the owner forums can fill in.
Honestly, anybody who has used the TIS repair instructions will tell you it's often of limited value, terse, and not very illuminating.
Granted, that's not the same as being able to walk into a Honda or Volvo dealer, and have them hand you a thick tome over the parts counter, but I don't know if they even still do that, but there's hardly an information vacuum, at least when it comes to BMW, even if it may not come from official channels.
In terms of parts, component-level availability for things like gearboxes may not be what it used to be, but try walking into some other brand's dealer and asking for something random for a 25-year old model, and not having them give you a funny look.