Car Buying Advice

Choosing a car:
In this section

• How much can you spend?
• What kind of car do you need?
• Narrow your vehicle type
• Pick the right model
• Model reviews
• Reliability information
• Fuel economy
• Safety ratings

Next section:
  At the dealership

Model reviews

To get an in-depth perspective on a model, it's important to read vehicle reviews from sources you trust. Good reviews can tell you about a vehicle's driving character; how it handles, accelerates, and brakes; and how comfortable and user-friendly the interior is for everyday use. They can also give you insight into shortcomings and deficiencies that may not be apparent on a test drive. Because different sources have varying points of view, we recommend reading a variety.

There is no shortage of vehicle reviews, both in print and online, but most are for new models that are currently being sold. It's harder to find reviews for older models. But the new-car review for a model will still be applicable to a used version.

You can get started by reading the summary reviews in the vehicle profiles. Some Web sites, such as Edmunds.com and New Car Test Drive (www.nctd.com), give you access to road tests going back several years, which can give you more detail. Subscribers to ConsumerReports.org can also search for our full road-test reports for the models that we've tested in the past few years.

Most models don't change that much from year to year, so many new-car reviews are still relevant to late-model versions. You can see when a model has had a major redesign by checking its profile.

Keep in mind that most model reviews are in publications or on Web sites that are supported by automaker advertising, and they don't want to offend their advertisers. So while you can get insight into a vehicle's performance and driving character from those reviews, you will seldom find very much hard-hitting analysis or an in-depth exploration of safety or reliability issues. Look to our profiles for notes on these topics. Moreover, only a few organizations conduct their own instrumented testing, which allows more accurate comparisons between and among different vehicles.

The key is to find reviews that are in-depth enough to give you a good, solid overview of the car and cover the aspects that are most important to you.

CR road-test reports. The best way to test vehicles is as a competitive group, so that testers can go directly from one car to another. This gives you a better perspective of a vehicle's strengths and shortcomings and makes it easier to assess even subtle differences that wouldn't be as noticeable when testing vehicles weeks or even months apart.

As a result, every month (except for the April Annual Auto Issue) Consumer Reports magazine and ConsumerReports.org publishes a road-test report on a group of competitive vehicles in a similar price range and category (such as sedans, SUVs, minivans, etc.).

Subscribers to CR's New Car Buying Kit ($39) can also access the detailed engineers' technical report (called Expert Reports) that our auto-testing staff generates for each tested vehicle. Together, these give you the most comprehensive perspectives of vehicles you'll find anywhere.

Other sources of vehicle reviews. Many publications and Web sites regularly review new models of autos, but keep in mind that they typically borrow test vehicles from the auto manufacturers' specially maintained press fleets. Vehicle problems are addressed before the cars are delivered to auto reviewers. If a vehicle has major problems, it is often taken out of the press fleet. Auto-enthusiast publications also tend to focus heavily on a vehicle's performance attributes, often at the expense of more everyday concerns such as safety, reliability, and fuel economy.

Newspaper auto reviews are geared toward the everyday driver, but the auto sections are often intended to draw advertising from automakers and local dealerships. As a result, reviews can shy away from hard-hitting criticism or comparisons with competitive models. Some are written by reviewers with limited automotive experience.

Web sites such as Epinions are a bit different in that they publish reviews that have been submitted voluntarily by owners. You can find a range of topics, including car-buying experiences, discussions of recurring problems, and service frustrations that owners are having. All can give you valuable insight, but keep in mind that the owners usually haven't experienced a wide range of vehicles with which to compare theirs. And sometimes the reliability of the information can be questionable. For example, you have no way of determining the source of an entry: it could be from a disgruntled automaker employee, a dealer, or a dealer's competitor. Similarly, ConsumerReports.org publishes user reviews submitted by subscribers. But it also provides expert forums that feature discussions on various subjects between Consumer Reports auto testers/engineers and readers. Forums are open to subscribers to ConsumerReports.org and transcripts of conversations are available.

Most car-buying Web sites provide reviews of many new vehicles, but they may not be written by automotive experts. Many just recycle what they pick up in automakers' press kits. They don't rely on expert opinion and don't review, judge, or test products and services themselves.