Best and Worst New Cars 2010 - CR

In contrast to the 2009 "Best and Worst" Consumer Reports, the 2010 issue (available on news stands) listing the owner satisfaction breaks a 5 year record of the Prius being the top rated vehicle in owner satisfaction (pp. 2):

• 92 - Dodge Challenger
• 91 - Ford Fusion Hybrid
• 89 - Porsche 911, Corvette (base)
• 88 - Toyota Prius
• 87 - BMW 35i, Corvette Z06, Boxster, Jetta TDI
• . . .

It is now fifth.

The Prius still comes in highest rated in:

• family cars - least expensive over five years (pp. 4)
• family cars - most reliable list: Prius, Fusion/Milan gas and hybrid, Altima hybrd, Camry hybrid (pp. 8)
• family cars - predicted reliability score: Prius followed by Fusion/Milan and rest (pp. 11)
• family cars - best new-car values: Prius (pp. 19)
• wagons and hatchbacks - Prius 44 overall MPG / 32 City MPG/ 55 Highway MPG (Consumer Reports testing) (pp. 21) ... Smart ForTwo Passion 39 / 30 / 44 (*)

The interesting part is the section "Fuel Economy" that in one table lists the Prius as a "Wagon & Hatchback" (pp. 21) and in the next table puts it in "Small Cars" (pp. 22.) Interesting because in all other sections and the USA EPA ratings, the Prius is listed as a midsize, family sedan. The other remarkable claim is there are two vehicles that have a fuel payback even if fuel costs nothing:

• Mercedes-Benz GL320
• Volkswagen Jetta TDI

The modeling used for this section probably needs a closer look but I get the impression the "Tax rebate" pays a large part of this remarkable diesel fuel savings.

The vehicle profile still lists the Prius with an 80 "road test score" (pp. 162) and all but one of the other metrics have a solid, best rating. One step below a solid, best rating line is "Accident Avoidance." The funny thing is "road test score" entails the largest number of subjective, tester ratings. But with "more than 50 individual tests" (pp. 40) making up this number, we remain blind as to how this number is calculated for any set of vehicles.

In the Consumer Reports "Quick Recommendations" (pp. 30) the "Lows" are "Steering feel, rear visibility." Without the full list of 50 elements, we can't really tell everything their testers fault but it looks like steering rated a comment. Then the "Road-Test Highlights" has more of a clue (pp. 186-187.)

It will take a little longer to convert the "Road-Test Highlights" and "Which Cars are Safer" into a single score metric. With luck, we should be able to reverse engineer something that approximates their scoring formula. We have enough vehicle scores that we should be able to figure out their weighting.

Overall, when non-subjective metrics are used, Consumer Reports tends to give the Prius the highest ratings. It is only in the subjective area of "Road-Test" that clarity remains obscure and the "Fuel-Economy" section that claims two diesels run 'for free.' As for owner satisfaction, it would be helpful to see a count of the responders since a small number of vehicle owners could give either inflated or deflated "Owner Satisfaction" scale.

Bob Wilson