Is Consumer Reports biased towards Toyota Motor Company?
An excellent question, that will very likely gain more prominence in the media in the near future.
Given all the data available to Consumer Reports over the last dozen years, their unqualified recommendation of virtually all Toyota models year after year is quite puzzling. Consider the following facts, which are on record and substantiated:
- Toyota was censored by the Japanese government in 2006 for failing, over eight years, to disclose and act on reports of design flaws implicated in ‘loss-of-control’ incidents.
- Toyota had 9.3 million vehicles recalled from 2004 to 2007 , number exceeding its annual output.
- Toyota’s recalls of 2005 represented 10.1 % of all of its vehicles on the road, compared to only 6.8 % for G.M. and only 2.5 % for Chrysler Group.
- Toyota received its first U.S. complaints of ‘unintended sudden acceleration’ in 2003.
- In 2004, State Farm Insurance, America’s largest auto insurer, notified the NHTSA about unusually high Toyota-owner claims.
- Between 2000 and 2009, Toyota received over 2600 documented complaints about sudden acceleration.
- Nicole Nason, the Bush Administration’s appointee who headed NHTSA for a decade, has stated that they had tried in vain for years to get Toyota to acknowledge the company’s problems with ‘sudden unintended acceleration’.
- Joan Claybrook, former NHTSA administrator for the Clinton Administration, has stated on record that " Toyota bamboozled NHTSA or NHTSA was bamboozled by itself ", with reference to the fact that Toyota had former NHTSA employees on its payroll, handling safety concerns raised by the regulator.
- An internal Toyota corporate document ( subpoenaed for the current criminal investigations of Toyota vehicles involved in dozens of ‘loss of control’ fatalities in the U.S.) from July/2009, entitled "Wins for Toyota", boasts of hundreds of millions of dollars saved by "delaying safety regulations, avoiding defect investigations and slowing down industry requirements."
- During the past decade, Toyota vehicles have had defects involving not only the sudden acceleration, but also: brakes, steering, drive shafts, engine blocks that seize up, undercarriages affected by rust, and electronic throttle systems.
So the question is, with all of this data about Toyota shortcomings easily accessible to Consumer Reports, why did the publication continue to praise and recommend Toyota’s vehicles? There is a very real possibility that editors, writers and investigators of Consumer Reports will be subpoenaed to explain themselves before the congressional, SEC, and New York grand jury criminal investigations underway. Just as likely will be that Consumer Reports will be named and subpoenaed in some of the individual and class-action lawsuits that have been filed against Toyota. Will Consumer Reports itself be sued and found culpable in the fatalities involving Toyota vehicles it so highly recommended? Stay tuned.
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Meta
Good question.
But, since "domestic" products are started to rate well again (never mind the late 90s when junk like the Dodge Dakota was getting ‘BEST BUY’ ratings), are they biased towards "domestic" automakers again?
In other words, they are always biased when they don’t say what you want them to say.
References :
There is no known connection.
Consumers Reports tests cars and has a few long term cars in the fleet. They buy the cars from a dealer with out them knowing for what purpose. Long term data on repairs is compiled from subscribers who complete yearly questionnaires about what their experiences are. Which includes repair costs.
The only way that Toyota could influence the recommendations is through a method of subterfuge. If they had purchased/subscribed to CR under several aliases to keep the true nature of the subscription unknown then Toyota could change the reported data by reporting low costs on ownership. But they could not do this (IMHO) and get away with it if anyone at CR knew about it.
The above is the result of a little reading into how CR works and speculation on how CR could be lead to believe that Toyota had no problems. I don’t think CR has been bought off.
References :
Not at all. Consumer Reports simply has investigators and reporters that do not run around screaming their fool heads off every time a car manufacturer phucs up. They rely on the facts for their reporting; not hearsay and fear mongering.
In other words, they are professionals about it.
References :
An excellent question, that will very likely gain more prominence in the media in the near future.
Given all the data available to Consumer Reports over the last dozen years, their unqualified recommendation of virtually all Toyota models year after year is quite puzzling. Consider the following facts, which are on record and substantiated:
- Toyota was censored by the Japanese government in 2006 for failing, over eight years, to disclose and act on reports of design flaws implicated in ‘loss-of-control’ incidents.
- Toyota had 9.3 million vehicles recalled from 2004 to 2007 , number exceeding its annual output.
- Toyota’s recalls of 2005 represented 10.1 % of all of its vehicles on the road, compared to only 6.8 % for G.M. and only 2.5 % for Chrysler Group.
- Toyota received its first U.S. complaints of ‘unintended sudden acceleration’ in 2003.
- In 2004, State Farm Insurance, America’s largest auto insurer, notified the NHTSA about unusually high Toyota-owner claims.
- Between 2000 and 2009, Toyota received over 2600 documented complaints about sudden acceleration.
- Nicole Nason, the Bush Administration’s appointee who headed NHTSA for a decade, has stated that they had tried in vain for years to get Toyota to acknowledge the company’s problems with ‘sudden unintended acceleration’.
- Joan Claybrook, former NHTSA administrator for the Clinton Administration, has stated on record that " Toyota bamboozled NHTSA or NHTSA was bamboozled by itself ", with reference to the fact that Toyota had former NHTSA employees on its payroll, handling safety concerns raised by the regulator.
- An internal Toyota corporate document ( subpoenaed for the current criminal investigations of Toyota vehicles involved in dozens of ‘loss of control’ fatalities in the U.S.) from July/2009, entitled "Wins for Toyota", boasts of hundreds of millions of dollars saved by "delaying safety regulations, avoiding defect investigations and slowing down industry requirements."
- During the past decade, Toyota vehicles have had defects involving not only the sudden acceleration, but also: brakes, steering, drive shafts, engine blocks that seize up, undercarriages affected by rust, and electronic throttle systems.
So the question is, with all of this data about Toyota shortcomings easily accessible to Consumer Reports, why did the publication continue to praise and recommend Toyota’s vehicles? There is a very real possibility that editors, writers and investigators of Consumer Reports will be subpoenaed to explain themselves before the congressional, SEC, and New York grand jury criminal investigations underway. Just as likely will be that Consumer Reports will be named and subpoenaed in some of the individual and class-action lawsuits that have been filed against Toyota. Will Consumer Reports itself be sued and found culpable in the fatalities involving Toyota vehicles it so highly recommended? Stay tuned.
References :
Consumer Reports is an unbiased company .They purchase at full retail price all Items that they test.They make money from you the consumer subscribing to the magazine
Period.
I trust Consumer Report Publication.
References :