Got it a few days ago and am a bit puzzled......
In this months issue they tested the F-150, Ram1500, Titan, Silverado and Tundra.
Their "recommended buy" - Tundra and Silverado.
Here is what i don't understand:
I carefully read all write ups on the trucks and they CLEARLY
had more negitive things to say about the Silverado than any other truck, ie: old design, bad turning radius, jittery ride poor interior materials ect.
When i read the about the F-150, there was actually very few negitive things said about it. They mentioned the brakes and ive gotta laugh at the other thing....location of the buttons for the windows...
Still they picked the Silverado, whats the deal
They liked the Tundra based on realibility, but stated it was the weakest in payload out of the whole group...soooo, they rated this ahem..."truck" with the weakest payload a recommended buy too.
I don't get it

 

I glanced at that issue of CR. Doesn't a caption near a picture of the F150 say "260 horsepower"?

 

I can only guess that, being a new model, the F150 was essentially ignored (at least as far as the recommendations were concerned). Reliability seems to play a big part in their ratings and the 2004 F150 has no history.

I have also noted similar disparities in their ratings of cars. They don't seem to even want to include the Mustang when they are comparing cars of that class. At the same time they will tell you all about the shortcomings of the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and then proceed to make it one of their recommended models. In this particular case, I wrote to ask about the disparity and received some double-talk about consumer feedback (which was not reflected in the writeup). I guess that their reports are a good read, but you need to balance them with personal experience and feedback from folks on forums like these.

So you know I'm not slamming CU, I get their magazine and I have an online subscription to their services.

 

CU is a sham. They are a bunch of communists that hate 'new' products because they don't have a record of reliabilty blah blah blah.. jerks. They love the products that they recieve the most advertising/donation dollars from just like the rest of the 'automotive journalism' world.

 

I'm a young person so I can't comment about things from to many years ago as I was just to young to fully understand. However, in the years I've been of the age that guys really start understanding cars and stuff (about 14-15) I've always noticed that all the big magazines never have much to say about Ford as far as positive/good notes go. But those same magazines can easily pick apart a Ford for every little thing (location of the window buttons). Doesn't make sense, but then again almost every media outlet I turn to seems to be 110% democratic, and the republican party only exsists to be picked on.

I guess I've just got a life history of being associated with the "lesser" group that always recieves negative comments.

 

Oh, gee....here we go! By the way, it's i before e except after c, as in receives

 

I have noticed that too about Consumer Reports. They said the Tundra was a very comfortable ride and had good gas mileage or something. Ummm... I dont want a truck that has the best ride, it is important, but not the most important. I want a truck that has stiff shocks and a stiff frame so I can tow two Toyota's when I need to. The thing about the buttons is stupid as hell. I drove 2 sport trac's over 3 years, and when I got my 2004 Ranger, I thought I would never get used to the turn signal/wiper blade switch, but now I use it without a problem and like its location better than my Sport Trac's. Sometimes the best ideas take some getting used to. Whoever did those reviews must own a car, because they know nothing about what a real truck is.

Edit:
Also, if the F-150 does not have enough feedback to guage its reliability, it should not be in the article. People may think the F-150 is inferior when in fact it just "Has not proven its worth" or whatever BS they want to put out.

 

Hmmmm, Wonder why it got truck of the year...

 

CR is a sham. These guys test all kinds of stuff and anyone that Really knows anything about the items they're testing can only Laugh. The reviews they give on bikes an other cycling equipment are sooo far off it's embarassing!

They obviously tested a 4.6 liter F150. Heck, it could even be a Heritage model. The placement of the window controls?? Give me a break.

I thought their other review of the F150 was whacky too. They complained because it would spin the tires on Wet pavement... Whatever....

 

Wow if that is true, then I will NEVER read that magazine again. Because if that is a problem, then my Ranger is in deep crap because that thing spins the tires on dry pavement.

As far as it being Truck of the Year, they only give that award to trucks that have recieved a major redesign, Ford's major competition was the Chevy Silverado SS, the Tundra I think, and a couple others, not the Dodge, current Silverado, or anything like that. The Ford still owned them, but I wish it was a model year comparison and not a redesign comparison. Oh well, the Chevy Avalanche had to find a way to get an award somehow.

 

Sorry, I didn't realize this was the Spelling Bee forum. Next time I'll be sure to "dot your EYE's" for ya!

 

I gave up trying to figure out CR a long time ago but there is one thing that will always be true about CR, if toyota makes it they will love it no mater what. Its all about rose covered glasses with them when it comes to certain products and toyota is top of the list. They do play favorites about certain things and when they do it becomes very obvious so I've lost a lot of faith in them. I remember that my dad bought a Ford Contour b/c they liked it (among other reasons) and the next year they seemed to do a 180 on the Contour. Its been a good car and I think he puts a lot less stake in what they say now too. They never recomned anything that is new b/c of the lack of reliability data so we'll see what they have to say about the F-150 in a few years. I've read their reviews of trucks and it seems like they don't really seem to understand what makes a truck a good truck, hence putting the Tundra at the top of the full size pickup list. It just can't compete and everyone who has a clue about trucks knows that. They had to recomend something besides the toyota and the F-150, Ram and Titan are too new so they threw the Silverado in there b/c the design has been arund a long time.

 

How about vehicle with the most tacky plastic trim?

 

Yes, and sentences should end with punctuation, as in a period.

 

I kant beleave we r startng tis speelling crap agane. Didn't we lurn are lessun frum teh last thred? Sheesh!