consumer reports review

[flatfoot]

Just wondering. When consumer reports reviewed the 5 back in January, they couldnt say anything about the reliabiity, even though it probably could be predicted based upon the 3.
Question I have is that I got the new consumer reports today, and on the review for the honda fit, which has only been recently introduced, consumer reports is already saying first year reliability is much better then average.
How can they say this with one car(the honda) and cant say anything about the mazda at the time. ?
Is there a built in predjudice by consumer reports or am I missing something.?

Stay safe

 

[dommo_g]

Consumer Reports isn't really all that unbiased. They seem to be swinging from Hondas balls.

 

[a10thunder]

I'm not a fan of Consumer Reports car reviews but I think I can explain this one. The Mazda5/Premacy was released around the world in late 2005 as a 2006 model. The Mazda5 shares many parts with the 3 but it's a very different car. The Honda Fit/Jazz on the other hand has been around since 2001. It has been a bestseller in many countries and has a very good reliability record.

Just wondering. When consumer reports reviewed the 5 back in January, they couldnt say anything about the reliabiity, even though it probably could be predicted based upon the 3.
Question I have is that I got the new consumer reports today, and on the review for the honda fit, which has only been recently introduced, consumer reports is already saying first year reliability is much better then average.
How can they say this with one car(the honda) and cant say anything about the mazda at the time. ?
Is there a built in predjudice by consumer reports or am I missing something.?

Stay safe

 

[doctorz]

I agree with dommo on this one. Consumer Reports gives Honda and Toyota a free ride on this issue. Every new vehicle they introduce is predicted to have better than average reliability, whereas with the other manufacturers CR adopts a "wait and see" approach.

It's really either gutsy of CR to make that bold prediction with Honda/Toyota, or they're correct and that Honda/Toyota really do produce reliable vehicles from the get-go. I'll leave others to judge that one.

 

[irloyal]

Using consumer reports to buy a car is like using Guns and Ammo to pick a camera.

 

[P5w3kids]

I actually know quite a bit about the Fit case because I asked about it on CR's forum.

The survey, which can be submitted as late as June, says to only report problems that occurred from 4-1-2005 to 3-31-2006. The Fit went on sale in April. But at least 100 people misread/ignored the instructions and completed surveys on their nearly new Fits anyway. Using the justification "our readers want this information" CR issued a verdict based on these early responses from people who misread/ignored the instructions.

Their other excuse was that they'd have given it a MBTA rating anyway, because it's a Honda, and Honda's usually do well. Seriously. They do this with moth Honda/Acura/Toyota/Lexus products, includeing the new hyper-complex Lexus LS, but no others.

Sometimes they get burned by this. The Ridgeline pickup received on off-the-charts reliability score last year using the same method as the Fit this year. This year CR had to report that "the Ridgeline's reliability has declined to average." But did the truck really get worse, or did they jump to early to a verdict last year?

IIRC, the Acura TL and Acura RL both ended up at average once enough data rolled in, reversing an earlier track-record-based or early-data-based verdict. CR just shrugs it off and keeps rolling.

They should have a reliability verdict for the Mazda5 at this point, as the 2006 survey results were issued early in November.

I have these and many other issues with the way CR collects and reports data. That's why I've started conducting vehicle reliability research myself.

 

[jandree22]

Ive learned through various sources that Hondas reliability and quality has been spinning down the crapper these past few years. My brothers 2001 Civic EX 5MT needed a new tranny a few months ago (and yes, I said transmission not clutch), $1000+ bucks out of pocket. And hes a good, gentle MT driver. Ive also been looking into Accords and Civics for myself and through reading actual customer reviews and participating on Civic message boards, theyre getting mighty junky. The 8th gen civics, for example, have had widespread complaints about fudged up alignment producing squirley highway tracking, weird engine noises, and even a good deal of Coupes windshields not sealed properly and FALLING OUT! The correlation between that and them bringing factories over to the US of A is uncanny.

All that being said, I still think the Jap-built Fit is sexy

 

[P5w3kids]

A properly-managed factory assembling a well-engineered car can turn out great cars anywhere. Honda has been making cars in the U.S. since 1983, so I wouldn't chalk it up to that. For one thing, that transmission in the 2001 was probably made in Japan. I doubt Honda makes manuals in the U.S.

But Honda's reliability isn't always stellar. In my research, I'm seeing a domestic-like repair rate for the 2006 Civic, around 1.0 trips to the shop per year. This is based on 26 cars reporting for a total of 130 months, and an average odometer reading of 7700. For a 2006 Mazda3 I'm seeing 0.2, but expect this number to go up a bit as my sample grows (currently 22 cars reporting for a total of 103 months).

My sense is that Honda might have rushed the development a bit with the 2006 Civic.

 

[paging_drburgos]

Not to get off subject, but my wife's 97 civic had tons of minor problems from day one. Although i do have to hand it to them because none of the problems were major, but the little things should count for something. My inlaws also have a 98 or 99 accord and the same goes for that car. In my opinion they're no more reliable than Audi's and VW's. Thumbs down in my book.
(while im off the topic) I saw a broken down new model Toyo Prius yesterday on the way home from work. So i guess none of us are safe