Consumer Reports: CTS tops BMW, Mercedes rivals

[maxximus1]

"Consumer Reports: CTS tops BMW, Mercedes rivals; Malibu 'excellent'"

The 2008 Cadillac CTS finished third in Consumer Reports ranking of upscale sports sedans announced today with the release of the magazine's March issue.

The CTS received a rating of "excellent" to vault past the BMW 328i and the redesigned Mercedes-Benz C300, which were rated "very good."

The Infiniti G35 and Acura TL still outscored the CTS to lead the class of 12 sports sedans that Consumer Reports rated at its auto test center in East Haddam, Conn.

"The Cadillac CTS now competes toe-to-toe with some of the best German and Japanese sport sedans," said David Champion, senior director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports. "There are more safety features and interior amenities in the new model. Fit and finish is greatly improved and the interior is much more pleasant than in the previous generation."

Separately, Consumer Reports tested two trim lines of the new Chevrolet Malibu, the four-cylinder LT trim line and the V6-powered LTZ, and now ranks the sedan among the best in its class, just below the Nissan Altima, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

Consumer Reports granted the LTZ an "excellent" score, ranking it the fourth best of the family sedans between $25,000 and $30,000. The Malibu LT achieved a score of "very good" overall.

Auto analyst Erich Merkle from IRN Inc. said it's a step in the right direction for the automaker.

"It's good that they're coming up in the quality scores," Merkle said. "If you can be competitive, and then have a design that is inspiring - have a car people want to be seen in - and you deliver on the quality, it becomes about how do you deal with the customer after they put their money down. . This is a good it's a step in the right direction."

link to article:

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID...NESS01/80204066

Edited February 5, 2008 by maxximus1

[Blake Noble]

Consumer Reports granted the [Malibu] LTZ an "excellent" score, ranking it the fourth best of the family sedans between $25,000 and $30,000. The Malibu LT achieved a score of "very good" overall.

Am I the only one who doesn't quite understand the logic of giving the same car two separate scores? The LT and LTZ just differ in standard content (both the EcoTec four and the 3.6 are available on both trim levels, so ...). It's not like the Malibu LT is on a shorter wheelbase, has separate sheetmetal, different powertrains, and a totally different name from the Malibu LTZ.

Edited February 5, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[jcgable]

I know this is a good sign overall, but the Malibu should not be below the Camry. It's that simple.

I can see it being neck and neck and neck w/ Altima and Accord, but it outclasses Toyota.

[K.C.]

I wouldnt trust my car buying decisions to Consumer Reports if they were the only magazine with a third grade reading level. Their tests are very ambiguous.

[biff]

If only their ratings 'excellent' and 'very good' meant something. They never disclose their criteria so you can't judge for yourself. The best judge is you.

[Z-06]

This still does not justify trusting ####umor Magazine.

It is simple, if they would have voted against these cars, the people would have lost trust in them like they have been, they played it safe than sorry. Seriously while Acura quality is better, G35 plastic and quality is subpar and to rate it above MB and Caddy is really asinine.

[hyperv6]

CU is a load of crap but if they are saying good things so be it. A compliment is a compliment even if it from a unreliable scouce.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

LOL

Same $h!; different day..

In the world of CR, it's always the japanese first, the domestics second-ish and the euros third.

Wow, the Malibu ranks behind ALL of the mainstream asian offerings.. Umm, gee, oh, ahh, what an accomplishment! Hell, I guess we can safely say it's a better car than what; the koreans now. Whoop-te-friggin'-do.

The time where CR was relevnt (If there ever was a time) has come and gone. Even they admit their own bias now.

[91z4me]

I wouldnt trust my car buying decisions to Consumer Reports if they were the only magazine with a third grade reading level. Their tests are very ambiguous.

+1

[bobo]

Am I the only one who doesn't quite understand the logic of giving the same car two separate scores? The LT and LTZ just differ in standard content (both the EcoTec four and the 3.6 are available on both trim levels, so ...). It's not like the Malibu LT is on a shorter wheelbase, has separate sheetmetal, different powertrains, and a totally different name from the Malibu LTZ.

The LT tested was a 4-cylinder, and the LTZ had the V6.

[CARBIZ]

CR has not had an original thing to say in decades. YOu can pick up any back issue from, say 25 years ago, and see the same BS exclamation: "Chevy/Ford/Dodge catching up to the imports."

In THEIR eyes Detroit will always be 'catching up,' but will never quite arrive. No bias there. How the F$%K they can rate the Camry superior to the LT2 Malibu is WAAAY beyond me.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

In THEIR eyes Detroit will always be 'catching up,' but will never quite arrive. No bias there. How the F$%K they can rate the Camry superior to the LT2 Malibu is WAAAY beyond me.

It's even more contradictory when one considers the berating they gave the Camry and Toyota in general last year.

[turbo200]

everybody here gets so antsy about Consumer Reports....they're really reporting mostly what everyone else has been saying over the years....only maybe to bigger extremes. they are reporting now that the CTS and Malibu design have been drastically improved, they are much more livable and therefore easy to recommend to live with daily. i don't see what's hard to agree with that, and why everybody's pants seem to combust at the mere mention of Consumer Reports here.

[ZL-1]

Should I call bias here?

[A Horse With No Name]

CR has started calling Toyota to account which is a good thing.

Chris

[gm4life]

CR has been full of $h! for over 10 years now. The last CR I bought was in 1990 when I got my GP. The Malibu is a much better car inside and out than the Camry is, plus it drives worlds better and as for the Honda/Nissan its a draw. I still would give the nod to a Chevrolet. Bastards.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Should I call bias here?

Sure...

They're biased in favor of Toyota.

[ZL-1]

Sure...

They're biased in favor of Toyota.

We are all biased

[enzl]

everybody here gets so antsy about Consumer Reports....they're really reporting mostly what everyone else has been saying over the years....only maybe to bigger extremes. they are reporting now that the CTS and Malibu design have been drastically improved, they are much more livable and therefore easy to recommend to live with daily. i don't see what's hard to agree with that, and why everybody's pants seem to combust at the mere mention of Consumer Reports here.

Because, the unstated fear is that by acknowledging this good news, they'd be retroactively giving credence to CR's previous destruction of almost anything GM.

Real catch-22, huh?

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Because, the unstated fear is that by acknowledging this good news, they'd be retroactively giving credence to CR's previous destruction of almost anything GM.

Real catch-22, huh?

:rotflmao:

Ok, why does everyone think this is such a "great accomplishment"?

So what? CR wrote some good things about a couple (out of eight divisions) of GM's products. But at the same time, they ranked the Malibu pretty much at the BOTTOM of the pack (compared to the companies that matter/pull major share in the segment anyway)

It's the SAME thing CR has done for years... NOTHING has changed.

I won't even bring the psychological/sociological aspects of things into the argument here but I will ask you this: considering CR's readership, do any of you for one minute think that those people are going to so much as give the Malibu a chance in the first place? And doubly as much since it is ranked below not one, but 3 of the most popular cars in the readership? They will consider the 4th place of the Malibu as "Just another domestic, er excuse me, 'big 3' (because we all know these people BELIEVE that Toyota & Nissan ARE domestics) car that failed."

Therefore, CR is doing the very same thing it has done for years... Promoting it's own agenda, that being selling the most magazines, and campaigning for the companies it supports, those being the very companies it was founded to highlight and to this day does highlight.

The icing on the cake (a.k.a. 'sweet' comments towards the Malibu) is just smoke and mirrors. And CR is just another media outlet perpetuating the "good, but not good enough" mantra that might eventually seal the fate of Detroit. (Despite their products being as good and in a lot of ways BETTER than the imports)

Edited February 6, 2008 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Drew Dowdell]

CR rated the Plymouth Volare and Dodge Dart as best picks..... 'nough said.

[turbo200]

CR is just more positive exposure. They reach tons of people, usually those that are less about enthusiast rags. they don't find that they fit in with that crowd and either haven't discovered edmunds.com or use CR to supplement that type of info, or they have a long standing respect of the CR name. Regardless, this is nothing but good news when a detractor converts and actually gives this kind of praise. It must mean something is going right when the hardcorest of your critics suddenly does a complete 180 change.

[ZL-1]

CR is just more positive exposure. They reach tons of people, usually those that are less about enthusiast rags. they don't find that they fit in with that crowd and either haven't discovered edmunds.com or use CR to supplement that type of info, or they have a long standing respect of the CR name. Regardless, this is nothing but good news when a detractor converts and actually gives this kind of praise. It must mean something is going right when the hardcorest of your critics suddenly does a complete 180 change.

well said

[Camino LS6]

CR has a credibility of zero, what they say, be it positive or negative, is of little to no value.

[turbo200]

whether you believe this or not is beside the point. if CR had no cred nobody would buy them. clearly there is a fanbase that also reads and absorbs the car reviews, otherwise that issue would not sell and would have changed, maybe the editorial staff would have disbanded. but clearly there is a reader base that responds to CR's opinions and mostly agrees with them. And yes everyone else in the world has a brain like yours, capable of independant thinking, identifying emotional-based decisions and rational fact-based decisions [even if that part of their/your brain isn't always timely], and have the ability to hold different thoughts/ideas on the same subject. So no, not all of CR's readers are brainwashed, single-minded, lemmings being drawn to the slaughter. conversely, I'm sure many import fans think GM fans are single-minded lemmings.....

Edited February 7, 2008 by turbo200

[IfICouldWouldYou?]

CR rated the Plymouth Volare and Dodge Dart as best picks..... 'nough said.

Taken out of context, your quote sounds humorous, if unfounded. The Dart was renowned in its time as being reliable as hell: the ChryCo Slant-6 was indestructible. If you are referring to the Volare/Aspen clones, then you would be closer to the mark; however, at their inception, all of Detroit was imploding.

[Camino LS6]

whether you believe this or not is beside the point. if CR had no cred nobody would buy them. clearly there is a fanbase that also reads and absorbs the car reviews, otherwise that issue would not sell and would have changed, maybe the editorial staff would have disbanded. but clearly there is a reader base that responds to CR's opinions and mostly agrees with them. And yes everyone else in the world has a brain like yours, capable of independant thinking, identifying emotional-based decisions and rational fact-based decisions [even if that part of their/your brain isn't always timely], and have the ability to hold different thoughts/ideas on the same subject. So no, not all of CR's readers are brainwashed, single-minded, lemmings being drawn to the slaughter. conversely, I'm sure many import fans think GM fans are single-minded lemmings.....

I think you've glossed over the point here. CR has extremely flawed methods and has admitted to publishing outright falsehoods as well as rating new products with only their own previous ratings of earlier products by the same manufacturer to go on.

CR is junk.

[The O.C.]

I think you've glossed over the point here. CR has extremely flawed methods and has admitted to publishing outright falsehoods as well as rating new products with only their own previous ratings of earlier products by the same manufacturer to go on.

CR is junk.

Camino.....you are missing Turbo's point!!!!!!

Your post may be 100% true....and most of us believe that as well. But none of that matters because they have a huge readership base and they sell tons of magazines.

Just as the "import humpers" may have flocked to Honda and Toyota dealerships due to CR's "flawed methods" and "falsehoods"......so will many of them, I'm sure, give the new CTS and Malibu due consideration....also due to CR's newfound attention to these vehicles.

"Flawed" or not, let's all just enjoy the good press that GM is getting.....even considering the source.....

[turbo200]

Camino.....you are missing Turbo's point!!!!!!

Your post may be 100% true....and most of us believe that as well. But none of that matters because they have a huge readership base and they sell tons of magazines.

Just as the "import humpers" may have flocked to Honda and Toyota dealerships due to CR's "flawed methods" and "falsehoods"......so will many of them, I'm sure, give the new CTS and Malibu due consideration....also due to CR's newfound attention to these vehicles.

"Flawed" or not, let's all just enjoy the good press that GM is getting.....even considering the source.....

thanks OC, and you're absolutely right!

[daves87rs]

LOL

Same $h!; different day..

In the world of CR, it's always the japanese first, the domestics second-ish and the euros third.

Wow, the Malibu ranks behind ALL of the mainstream asian offerings.. Umm, gee, oh, ahh, what an accomplishment! Hell, I guess we can safely say it's a better car than what; the koreans now. Whoop-te-friggin'-do.

The time where CR was relevnt (If there ever was a time) has come and gone. Even they admit their own bias now.

Quoted for truth.

CR can't even rate Tvs right...

I'm just glad they don't rate underware....

I've always considered CR a sheep mag anyways. If you want it done right, learn how to do it yourself. Which includes shopping.....