When is a great deal on a car not a good deal?

"A good deal on a bad car is no deal at all," said Rob Gentile, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Price Service. "For example, the upscale Land Rover LR3 is being offered with a $6,000 rebate, but reliability is well below average with owners reporting a wide range of problems." Gentile pointed out consumers should look for vehicles recommended by Consumer Reports. Recommended vehicles performed well in Consumer Reports testing and are ranked high in both safety and reliability.
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Matthew1 - 12/22/2006 3:43:19 AM

-2 Boost

Buy the car that you want to buy is my advice.

Screw Consumer Reports.... unless you don't care for cars.

dumpsty - 12/22/2006 9:07:46 AM

+1 Boost

But what happens when you follow the Consumer Reports' advise and chose the car that aced all their tests and then it starts to have "uncharacteristic" problems that CR didn't mention? I agree with Mathew, select a few (3 or 4) vehicles that you like and chose from that list. Be reasonable and realistic. If you're looking through CR, then maybe you're trying to save some cash and should get a reliable vehicle. If moneys-no-object-of-concern, then don't even consult CR.

It's ok to get a good deal on a car. But if you don't like it after a few months, it'll seem like you must keep it forever before you can purchase another car.

NARunner - 12/22/2006 9:53:54 AM

+1 Boost

i agree with the article to an extent...I love RR styling, but I wouldn't buy one, no matter the deal, because of their infamous reliability problems.

On the other hand, I'm not going to run out and buy a Honda CRV just because it aced all of the CR tests and surveys.

You have to take the middle road- buy what you like, but be wary of the brand's reliability reputation and history.

99gs400 - 12/22/2006 11:05:40 AM

+1 Boost

Remember the better the deals are the worst the car gonna have for resale value , dealer drop prices + huge rebates = cant give the car away !! I rather paid MSRP for a Honda Civic Si than get 3k off on a stupid
Chevy Cobalt SS . Just my .002 !!!

Neverfollow - 12/22/2006 12:15:30 PM

+1 Boost

When an LR3 works, it's one of the best SUV's on the market. I guess it boils down to your patience level for stuff like that. I'm not sure why, but one of Land Rover's biggest problem is parts availability. I see rows of these things in the service parking garage on terminal parts back order. Sometimes it takes months to get a part in. It makes it seem temping to start cannibalizing inventory to satisfy consumer demand, but you really can't do that either. This seems like a simple problem that could be solved with simple systems analisis but it never seems to go away with that brand. Not even BMW could make it work. It's too bad, because they perform really well off-road, are okay on the street and will hold a lot of stuff. There built like a tank and seem indestructible from a chassis point of view, but one bad part can kill it for months. I'd personally like to have one, but they scare me just the same. CR is right on this one.

chewy - 12/22/2006 3:52:25 PM

+1 Boost

Wiat, Consumer Reports hyping itself up. And they are a nonprofit organization?

speedracer54 - 12/22/2006 4:05:11 PM

+1 Boost

well consumer reports is always a couple years off on reliablity. They cant test realiablity in a couple weeks. Also a lot of cars i checked are N/A which is all of 2007 cars and most 2006 cars. So the 2006 issue is really for 2005.

urbansouljah - 12/22/2006 9:46:43 PM

+1 Boost

CR still lists problems that have long been fixed years ago for some makes.

weaponX - 12/23/2006 5:06:09 PM

+1 Boost

I'm trying to negotiate a deal for the M5.

Best deal I got --- 0% off, no charge freight & PDI.