Consumer Reports questions GMs Volt

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
As usual Consumer Report makes their mind up about something before they actually review it and then write their review to fit that mindset.

$5,000 markup from a Chevy dealer? Are they trying to look stupid?


50k bucks for a chevy. GM got bailout money and the price is outrageous. the dealer deserves to be pimp slapped

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
So is the Prius & Leaf then, granted I am a fan of Volt purely because it is a big risk being the first.


The Prius is a relatively inexpensive car that can be economically justified at much lower gasoline costs than the Volt or Leaf. I don't see it as a novelty anymore, though it probably still is for most owners at current U.S. fuel prices.

 

[L_Sludger]

... GM had the right idea with the EV1 a decade and a half ago.

 

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
So is the Prius & Leaf then, granted I am a fan of Volt purely because it is a big risk being the first.


The Prius is a relatively inexpensive car that can be economically justified at much lower gasoline costs than the Volt or Leaf. I don't see it as a novelty anymore, though it probably still is for most owners at current U.S. fuel prices.


Personally before I'd buy a Prius I'd buy a TDI or at the minimum a Corolla or Civic...or now a Cruze/Elantra.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Electric plants would love it if we could even out our demand. There are places where they pump water uphill into dams overnight then release it through turbines the next day for peak power load. Then they won't need their expensive, usually natural gas fired, peaker plants.

Peak is still the peak, and will still require GTs to meet it.

Until the wholesale price on average increases to the level where they can justify building more baseload. The overnight trough is a key part of your (average) power price.

In short, EVs make everyone's heating/cooling bills more expensive.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Personally before I'd buy a Prius I'd buy a TDI or at the minimum a Corolla or Civic...or now a Cruze/Elantra.


I'm of the same mindset. Most Saskatchewanians are. Compact cars are the most common vehicle type in the city, and TDIs are more common than Priuses on our roads. I also enjoy a sporty drive, so I'd even be willing to pay extra to drive a basic compact with a manual transmission and good handling over a Prius. But the last time I ran the numbers through my cost/benefit analysis spreadsheet, I figured $1.25 per liter was my break-even point for a Prius over a regular compact car, assuming our winters don't affect the Prius fuel economy any worse than that of a conventional drivetrain and that maintenance costs are similar. We're at $1.20 now (US$4.65 per US gallon), so the Prius is almost starting to make sense to me. Who knows, it might even become desirable to me when we hit $2.00 a liter!

 

[440Magnum]

Consumer Reports = useless

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Consumer Reports = useless

Yeah, because we've seen so much conclusive proof that their analysis of the Volt is incorrect...

 

[unDummy]

CR=useless
Volt=useless

Any questions?

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: css9450
Hmmm, Consumer reports.... a GM car.... a bad review.... where's the surprise there?


EXACTLY!

 

[rshunter]

It's nice to see that artistes of the ol' bull-dung are always willing to spread the ignorance, rather than a little fact...

Originally Posted By: Consumer Reports
Highest scoring American vehicles
Last reviewed: April 2011

There are many ways to view the Consumer Reports Ratings to find the highest-rated vehicle in a given category or price range. But we get many questions from journalists and our readers regarding the best current American-branded vehicles.

To answer that popular query, we sorted vehicles into 12 key categories. We found that General Motors captures six of the 12 slots. Ford Motor Company has five entries, and Chrysler has one. Reviewing the scores, we find that most of these American models are quite competitive, scoring well in most cases...

Category - Model - Overall test score

Small car - Chevrolet Cruze 1LT (1.4T) - 68
Family sedan - Ford Fusion Hybrid - 84
Upscale sedan - Lincoln MKZ - 77
Luxury sedan - Cadillac CTS Premium (3.6L) - 84
Sports car - Chevrolet Corvette Z06 - 92
Muscle car - Ford Mustang GT Premium (V8) - 83
Small SUV - Ford Escape Hybrid / XLT (V6) - 66
Compact Sporty SUV - Cadillac SRX Luxury - 73
Midsized SUV - Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (V6) - 71
Large SUV - Ford Flex Limited (EcoBoost) - 85
Luxury SUV - Buick Enclave CXL - 77
Pickup truck - Chevrolet Avalanche LT (5.3L) - 80


So, will we get another resounding line of bull about them having a thing against GM? Or, will it now shift to them being against Ford or Chrysler, because GM got half of the top rankings? Hmm...

 

[Thermo1223]

It said best current "American" vehicles, not best vehicle.

Throw up a comparison to the rest of the pack then we'll see.

I mean did you expect to see no GM vehicles on that list?

 

[Cutehumor]

With gas approaching $3.50/gallon, the prius will sell for MSRP knowing how stealerships operate. Gas looks like it will break $4/gallon this summer. grikes

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
It said best current "American" vehicles, not best vehicle.

Throw up a comparison to the rest of the pack then we'll see.

I mean did you expect to see no GM vehicles on that list?

The whiners around here were saying that Consumer Reports has a thing against General Motors, which I think that list pretty much proves is bunk. They're not going to give the most top ratings among American cars to GM, over Ford and Chrysler, if they've got a vendetta against them. It's just simple good sense, which anyone capable of logging on to a computer should be able to comprehend.

How about a list of American vehicles that made the CR charts on nothing more than their merits...

Originally Posted By: Consumer Reports
Best Cars
Tops In Our Tests
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (MT)

Lowest Ownership Costs
- Large/Luxury SUV
Ford Flex SEL

Best New Vehicles Under $25K
Chevrolet Malibu LT (4-cyl)
Ford Fusion SE (4-cyl)

Best Overall Fuel Economy
- Subcompact Cars
Ford Fiesta SE sedan
Ford Fiesta SES hatchback (MT)

- Small Cars
Ford Focus SES (MT)

- Sedans
Ford Fusion Hybrid
Chevrolet Malibu LT (4-cyl)

- Small SUVs
Mercury Mariner Hybrid
Jeep Compass Sport
Jeep Patriot Sport
Ford Escape XLT (4-cyl)

- Midsized/Large SUVs
Chevrolet Equinox 1LT (4-cyl)
Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
Lincoln MKT 3.5
Chevrolet Equinox 2LT (V6)
Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (V6)

- Pickups
Chevrolet Colorado LS (5-cyl)

Best City MPG
Ford Fusion Hybrid

Best Highway MPG
Ford Fiesta SE sedan
Ford Fiesta SES hatchback (MT)

Quickest Vehicles
Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Chevrolet Corvette (base)
Ford Mustang GT Premium (V8)
Chevrolet Camaro SS

Hits From Our Testing - Home Run Redesigns
Ford Mustang V6

Most Fun To Drive
Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Best For Comfort
Cadillac DTS Luxury II

Best Off-Road
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V8)
Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Dodge Ram 1500

Best Three-Row Vehicles
Ford Expedition EL
Lincoln Navigator Ultimate


Not bad for a nationality of vehicles that are supposed to be discriminated against, I say. Oh, and as for how they'd score against all comers, two of the ten categories were won outright by those American cars that CR has it in for...

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Consumer Reports = useless



You got it. I have yet to find that they can rate anything right anyways.

CR is for those who are too lazy to research for themselves.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
With gas approaching $3.50/gallon, the prius will sell for MSRP knowing how stealerships operate. Gas looks like it will break $4/gallon this summer. grikes



I still find it funny that people actually think people will buy new cars this summer....

This summer is going to be scarier than people think...

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
It's nice to see that artistes of the ol' bull-dung are always willing to spread the ignorance, rather than a little fact...


Really uncalled for insult there. I and others who disagree with you are entitled to our opinions. I have witnessed CR for decades favor Imports over Domestics so if they have changed that it is recent. I have yet to ever read a magazine that deals with auto's that is truly unbiased.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
I have witnessed CR for decades favor Imports over Domestics so if they have changed that it is recent. I have yet to ever read a magazine that deals with auto's that is truly unbiased.

I would agree with the magazine part. Many of them (not even just car ones) are pretty bad.

 

[Hokiefyd]

There's a human aspect with journalism, and it goes both ways.

First, any story being told by a human will have that human's experiences, preferences, and biases woven into the story somehow. Try as we might to keep something "objective", human nature often wins out. Here, it's easy for us to armchair-quarterback something, maybe pull some things out of context, and present an argument for bias.

And here's where it goes the OTHER way also, and we need to acknowledge this second human aspect as much as we need to acknowledge the first. Two humans will perceive one story two different ways, and this is also based on their own experiences, preferences, and biases.

It's interesting to observe, especially with Consumer Reports, because it's so polarizing. I tend to agree with rshunter. If you examine CR's latest information (and recommended vehicles), you'll find a slough of "American" vehicles in there.

 

[rshunter]

NHHEMI, for the record, my comment wasn't targeted directly at you. After I posted it, I realized that the reply listed you. I apologize for any offense.

My post was intended as a general comment about the declarations that CR was against American cars, without anyone having bothered to examine the data which proved otherwise. Consumer Reports isn't biased against American cars, they're biased against bad cars. And let's be honest here, we, as a nation, have turned out some real stinkers over the last few decades. The fact that CR is ranking American cars higher, and yes even at the top in some categories, is only proof that we're getting better at producing a quality car.

If you really want to wave the flag, look at how many foreign cars come in behind American products in the CR ratings. There are plenty of Japanese, Korean and European cars that don't score the kind of points that some American models do. That doesn't mean that they've got something against Japanese, Korean and European cars, does it?