March 18, 2004
More on the Consumer Reports Article...
I'm guessing that most of the MINI fans read about the article in Consumer Reports which mentioned the MINI. If you missed it, you can catch it on MotoringFile.com.
It seems to be well documented that there are just some bad MINIs out there, but the rest of us were scratching our heads about some things that just didn't' make sense. Apparently we were not the only ones. An editorial on the online edition of The Chicago Tribune points out these other strange aspects of the report:
But CR results tended to be as confusing as they were informative. CR relied on its testing plus feedback from 600,000 readers to rate the most reliable new ('03 models) and used (1996 to 2003) cars as well as the most satisfying new ('03) and used (1996-2003) cars, plus recommendations for top picks ('04). Hard to sort them out.
...
It may have surprised some that the Ford Focus is a CR top pick, considering that car's history of 23 government recalls. But the '03 Focus SVT made the cut because it's the model's first blemish-free year after 13 recalls for 2000, nine for 2001 and one for 2002.
...
The BMW 3-Series rated only average in owner reliability but "most satisfying" among luxury car owners who said they'd gladly buy another.
Owners of the Mini Cooper reported 25 problems per 100 vehicles on the reliability rating, well above the industry average of 17. Yet the Mini was rated "most satisfying" among owners of small cars.
I never held the ratings for cars in Consumer Reports in high regards. It always seemed to me like asking a car magazine what videogame to buy. And with the big round-up every year, you have to take in account that it's really a fake survey. Fake, as in it's only for the demographic of Consumer Reports readers, not the public at large. I would also like to know what was the distribution of car ownership in the 'study'. As someone who has always been fascinated by manipulating statistics to prove your point, the non-random nature of the report always bothered me.
Erik...
It seems to be well documented that there are just some bad MINIs out there, but the rest of us were scratching our heads about some things that just didn't' make sense. Apparently we were not the only ones. An editorial on the online edition of The Chicago Tribune points out these other strange aspects of the report:
But CR results tended to be as confusing as they were informative. CR relied on its testing plus feedback from 600,000 readers to rate the most reliable new ('03 models) and used (1996 to 2003) cars as well as the most satisfying new ('03) and used (1996-2003) cars, plus recommendations for top picks ('04). Hard to sort them out.
...
It may have surprised some that the Ford Focus is a CR top pick, considering that car's history of 23 government recalls. But the '03 Focus SVT made the cut because it's the model's first blemish-free year after 13 recalls for 2000, nine for 2001 and one for 2002.
...
The BMW 3-Series rated only average in owner reliability but "most satisfying" among luxury car owners who said they'd gladly buy another.
Owners of the Mini Cooper reported 25 problems per 100 vehicles on the reliability rating, well above the industry average of 17. Yet the Mini was rated "most satisfying" among owners of small cars.
I never held the ratings for cars in Consumer Reports in high regards. It always seemed to me like asking a car magazine what videogame to buy. And with the big round-up every year, you have to take in account that it's really a fake survey. Fake, as in it's only for the demographic of Consumer Reports readers, not the public at large. I would also like to know what was the distribution of car ownership in the 'study'. As someone who has always been fascinated by manipulating statistics to prove your point, the non-random nature of the report always bothered me.
Erik...
