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Pugpal Champion Author Toronto Posts:2,061 Points:39,745 Joined:Jul 2005	Message Posted: Jun 3, 2012 1:35:57 PM Ignore Pugpal Report Abuse It's fair to say that not all my gas buddies are CR fans. Some are, some aren't and some merely include it as part of their due diligence process. What I haven't heard a lot of, is what the GB community thinks of Consumers Digest - note how the 's' has moved from the second word to the first. Unlike the not-for-profit CR, which accepts no advertising and which buys its own vehicles, the for profit CD sells its Best Buy awards for between $25K-$35K a pop. Link GM paid for 15 such Best Buy Awards, including the one featured in Cruze advertising. Example The Cruze is a cute little car, but that is not the point - this sort of disingenuity puts a bit of a tarnish on CD, GM and several other manufacturers, if you ask me. [Edited by: Pugpal at 6/3/2012 1:39:29 PM EST]

Pugpal

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Message Posted: Jun 3, 2012 1:35:57 PM

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It's fair to say that not all my gas buddies are CR fans. Some are, some aren't and some merely include it as part of their due diligence process.

What I haven't heard a lot of, is what the GB community thinks of Consumers Digest - note how the 's' has moved from the second word to the first. Unlike the not-for-profit CR, which accepts no advertising and which buys its own vehicles, the for profit CD sells its Best Buy awards for between $25K-$35K a pop. Link GM paid for 15 such Best Buy Awards, including the one featured in Cruze advertising. Example

The Cruze is a cute little car, but that is not the point - this sort of disingenuity puts a bit of a tarnish on CD, GM and several other manufacturers, if you ask me.

[Edited by: Pugpal at 6/3/2012 1:39:29 PM EST]

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14smoke Champion Author Birmingham Posts:13,188 Points:1,921,140 Joined:May 2005	Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 4:19:52 PM Ignore 14smoke Report Abuse I do my research not through magazines or online sites, but, by seat of the pants. I will admit to being a subscriber to most of the car magazines, "Car & Driver", "Road & Track" and "Motor Trend" among them, but, only to be up on the new releases. Using the knowledge of what's in the market, when it is time to buy a car, I narrow down my list of choices based upon, need first, then what I would like to have within that segment. Then, all my testing and research is done "seat of the pants", by actually driving the vehicle. Could not care less what someone else says about the car, because I am not them, and they, conversely, are not me.
charladan All-Star Author Virginia Posts:564 Points:447,265 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 4:06:25 PM Ignore charladan Report Abuse Stopped using Consumer Reports in the early 1980s. They just seemed biased to what I personally experienced with many items not just cars.
WhiteRaven48 Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:1,912 Points:55,625 Joined:Oct 2007	Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 1:08:50 PM Ignore WhiteRaven48 Report Abuse I have my opinions on Consumer Reports with regards to their sometimes subjective thoughts on things such as interior materials, but do consult their used car long term data collection from time to time as one of many tools when researching a car. Consumer's Digest (on the store shelves) doesn't seem to be widely available around here, so I never even give them a thought.
reb4 Champion Author Chicago Posts:19,076 Points:1,818,125 Joined:Sep 2004	Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 12:17:11 PM Ignore reb4 Report Abuse PUGPAL, I like you use the CR reports as one of many tools in the process. Usually I use it to confirm my wants. The many years I was buying Fords or Chryslers those cars were not top rated but it it gave me some insight what to look for. As for consumer digest, I will review what they have to say but at a lesse degree. This is commonly done and there isn't much to be done. The Consumers digest also get the car from the manufacturer unlike CR which actually does not make it obvious what the car is going to be used for...
PatAZ Champion Author Tucson Posts:9,227 Points:122,020 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 12:03:14 PM Ignore PatAZ Report Abuse I do my product research on line.
bluenvoy Champion Author Nashville Posts:14,947 Points:1,873,740 Joined:Oct 2005	Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 10:21:13 AM Ignore bluenvoy Report Abuse All awards and recommendations are part of the advertising perks. Motor Trend rotates through their advertiser ever 5 to 6 years. Some companies, like JD Powers, will make up a award for you if you pay them enough, even if you are selling junk. Even Consumer Reports has their biases.