Hello all. I posted this topic because I got a consumer reports magazine today just to look at and it had a review of all the makes and models of automobiles. It also rated the reliability risks of used cars. I remember in particular it showed a list of cars that were good used cars and a list of risky used cars. I noticed the good list was all foreign and that all American made were in the risky list. Almost every Pontiac car made was considered a risk!! I had a 94 Grand Prix that was used and I thought it was great. Anyways, throughout all the new car reviews the American made cars were "below average", "average car", "Trans Am is too bulky of a car." and so on and so forth. Im just thinking to myself, "Are these cars that darn bad or is consumer reports against american automobiles? What do you all think?

Unless they are depending on very economical cars, like a 2 cylinder honda.

Isn't most yuppies in america buying SUVs?
Yes im a antisuv advocate. So why is the trans am a bulky vehicle?

You have to go to the library and look for those used vehicles by consumer reports, if your lucky you can find the fiero in it. I remember some break downs were leaking trans and cool lines. Also compartment room was low.

I forgot to mention that SUV's were included in this list. The only american vehicles that got good reviews were the Explorer, and Contour I think. GM and Chrysler were serious dogs. Chevrolet must have had their whole line up in the dog house. it was awful

If I want to find a good soap scum remover, I'll use Consumer Reports. If I want' to find a vehicle, I'll go to MotorTrend, Car & Driver, AutoWeek, or similar.

Consumer Reports caters to the soccer moms with kids...they love stuff like the old boxy Volvos...

They are biased toward safety...I'm biased toward looks and whether my wheels will get me sack time with gorgeous babes. Hey...I'm gonna start my own magazine...(LOL)

Have to comment on that "Contour" thing...
I did some work on a Contour for a friend of mine. Not a bad car at all. Was even considering buying one 'till they quit building the SVT version.
(What a concept! Neat car gets cancelled. That's never happened before, has it? )

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 04-25-2000).]

My wife has a Contour- Bought new in 95. The repair costs for some weird problems could have bought me a couple of nice Fieros. I used to like the car, but it has turned into a turd.

What kinds of probs?

Those SVT Contours are awsome! Got to take one out last summer with a friend. He didn't end up getting it though. For what the dealership wanted per month, he could have almost leased a C-5. It was pretty qiuck and cornerd very nice. I see a few SVT Contours every week, and I still like them.

The wife's contour:
Broken spring recall work

$75 for a set of Radio buttons- I about crapped a brick over that one. We asked about replacing the broken F.Forward button and was charged for a complete radio "Knob/Button Assembly". The car was under warranty, but the service writer said the radio had been "abused".

Cruise master replaced

Two complete brake jobs (at the dealership) at less than 70,000 miles. I have 150,000 on my Civic with only one set of rear brakes.

$300 in new rotors, even though two brake jobs had already been done, the front pads ate the rotors and never touched the "squeelers".

New power steering hose ($350) because a pressure switch in the hose failed.

New timing cover because of some unknown reason- the mechanic said it needed to be replaced and did it. Oh well.

2 four wheel alignments and it still eats tires.

2 new batteries.

Lifetime tranny fluid had to be serviced at our costs.

100,000 mile spark plugs had to be replaced at 30,000 miles and again at 60,000 miles.

New MAF

New TPS

Plug wires

Valve cover gasket

All belts and hoses replaced due to leakage/ cracking at less than 70,000.

Inconsistant performance from engine. It never sets a code, but sometimes will not have enough power to pull away from a stop light, other times runs fine. You never know if you will be able to pull into traffic or not.

Cooter,
I don't know about Alabama, but most states have lemon laws. If you lived in WI, the dealer would have had to take the car back, if that list all happened during warranty. Almost any model of car has some lemons, hence the consumer protection against them. I don't know what your state laws are, but you might still have some recourse.
Mike