consumer reports

In advance of eagerly awaited details regarding proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, Consumer Reports has released results of a new survey, and – no surprise here – 93 percent of respondents "support increased fuel efficiency." Further revelations include 77 percent in ...

Does the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid match its stellar non-gas-electric counterpart? According to Consumer Reports, the answer is simple: the Sonata Hybrid – unlike the conventional Sonata GLS – is full of flaws. Consumer Reports issued a score of 69 to the Sonata Hybrid, a full 20 ...

Despite its relatively low score of only 67 points, Consumer Reports has now officially collected sufficient data to evaluate the Chevrolet Volt from a reliability perspective. So, how'd the Volt fare? Data gleaned from the 2011 Annual Auto Survey in the November issue of Consumer Reports shows ...

Consumer Reports has wrapped up its five-month road test of the 2011 Nissan Leaf and reports the electric hatch scored 78 points. That puts the EV into the middle of six recently tested fuel-efficient hatchbacks. The Leaf ranked two points shy of the Toyota Prius and 11 points above the Chevrolet ...

As we've stated before, there's truly no greater sin in the automotive world than replacing a worthy vehicle with an inferior machine. According to Consumer Reports, that's exactly what Honda has done... again. With the 2012 redesign, the Honda Civic Hybrid has fallen off CR's Recommended list. ...

What does it take to impress Consumer Reports? Getting an overall 30 mpg helps, but that sort of fuel economy wasn't enough to save the Honda Civic LX from falling from CR's recommended list in the watchdog group's latest report on small sedans and hatchbacks. The Civic, which had been a ...

According to a survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, new car buyers are factoring fuel economy as a larger concern in their purchases. That's no real surprise given that prices at the pump remain high, but the study also revealed that those same consumers are ...

Occasionally, hybrid owners express dissatisfaction with their vehicle's performance as it ages. Specifically, complaints tend to focus on a gradual decrease in fuel economy as the hybrid's battery pack slowly degrades. While it may be generally true that hybrid vehicles's performance ...

The launch of vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf has stirred up a debate over battery longevity. Critics say battery output will degrade and cite outrageous replacement costs as a possible downside to these breakthrough machines. Well, it turns out that skeptics posed similar ...

After all the initial automotive press fawning over the Chevrolet Volt, it's time for the more critical voices to chime in. Motor Trend called the car a "sweater and gloves commuter car" in the cold, for example. Now comes the ...

Occasionally, owners of older hybrid models complain of diminished performance as the vehicle ages. Specifically, the complaints seem to focus on a gradual decrease in gas mileage as the hybrid's battery pack slowly loses its ability to hold a charge. Well, Consumer Reports recently set out to ...

To gauge the 2011 Chevrolet Volt's energy consumption under real-world driving conditions, staffers at Consumer Reports took turns piloting the plug-in hybrid on their daily commutes. Throughout the test, drivers logged fuel usage ...

Fuel efficiency is rapidly becoming one of the most influential determining factors when new car shoppers go looking for their next vehicle. And, as our friends at Consumer Reports correctly point out, earning top fuel efficiency marks generally means shopping in one of three categories: diesels, ...

Consumer Reports recently surveyed 1,713 car owners in the U.S. and discovered that 39 percent of them will consider buying a hybrid or electric vehicle (EV) for their next vehicle. Out of that group, 60 percent are leaning towards a conventional hybrid, 16 percent are considering a plug-in ...

Recently, Consumer Reports conducted a survey of car tire buyers and discovered that a remarkable 95 percent of consumers were satisfied with their shopping experience. CR also found, though, that less than half of tire buyers researched before purchasing. When "so much is riding on your tires" ...

Recently, Consumer Reports conducted a random, nationwide survey of 1,700 vehicle owners. Questions focused on green vehicle technologies and buyer motivation. The survey aimed to uncover what motivate buyers to consider buying a ...

Considering that hybrid vehicles – an established technology – comprise less than three percent of U.S. new vehicle sales, the fact that 26 percent of Americans would consider an electric vehicle (EV) for their next purchase ...

Each year that Consumer Reports offers up its annual list of Top American Picks, it seems less and less a consolation bracket and more like a reasonable set of choices. To wit, if you wanted the very best family-sized SUV ...

The real-world results are in, and Ford has earned itself a dubious honor: offering the 2010 model year light-duty vehicle with the worst fuel economy in the U.S. Consumer Reports tested all of the 2010 vehicles and discovered ...

Some of us are big fans of diesel engines. Huge fans even. We love the slow-revving grunt. We love the incredibly long time it takes them to run through a tank of fuel. We love lazily cruising at 70 mph while turning over less than 2,000 rpm. There's even more to love, but we have to admit, none ...