CR Takes Chrysler For A Ride, Returns Unimpressed
No good can possibly come from a story that starts with “Chrysler has been bumping along on a couple of flat tires in recent years.” And it doesn’t. After recommending only one Chrysler model, the RAM 1500 pickup, over the last three years, Consumer Reports tested eight Chrysler models to see how they have improved.
CR is mildly impressed by the Dodge Charger, the Durango, and the Town & Country. CR finds that the Charger “now scores close to the Ford Taurus and Buick LaCrosse.” The Town & Country receives a “considerably improved.” And yet:
“Although they performed well enough, none of those three are recommended because they are too new for us to have reliability information.”
So what about the cars where Consumer Reports has reliability information?
“We are not impressed with the 200, Avenger, Compass, Journey, or Patriot. Despite some improvements, they’re still mediocre overall, scoring at or near the bottom of their respective categories and too low to be recommended.”
Ouch.
When Bloomberg called Consumer Reports for a statement, David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ auto test center, answered:
“Chrysler is on the right path, but they still have a long way to go.”
Ouch again.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Unless I`ve been sleeping for the last 20 years...the LARGE percentage of car buyers are NOT going to pay the cost to subscribe to CR before they purchase a car.CR has always been an..how do I put this...place for :people who subscribe to it and buy upon the magazines reviews. Whew,got past that part pretty smoothly,you think? NOW LETS TALK REAL WORLD! They are a struggling middle class family(or what left of our middle class)and the beater has finally died.....the used car market is shit(thanks,cash for clunkers)so now we need..and this a no bullshit NEED a new car. Where you gonna go:CHRYSLER Why? The cars look great, the warranty is good and you can get "bought" Every time I see a new Chrysler product reviewed I think about the 'average' car buyer...the one that just pisses the hell off the CR and Elitist buyers. This is America. This is the way it is...REAL LIFE Give me a NEW car at a with an affordable payment! That I can stand to look at! This is what Chrysler does best! I think they will be around for a long time.
Having spent many years working as a Service Advisor at Chrysler, I would not buy one of their cars. I cannot begin to think how many times I have heard them say, "Our new stuff is way better, so buy now!" only to see that it was just a awful as the old stuff. Having said that, whomever wants to buy one, to each his own!
You can shine S**t, but it's still s**t.
I think CR's bias was pretty well proven by the discrepancies between the Corolla / Prizm and the Mitsubishi / Chrycos.