Buying a Car? Check Out These Resources
The resources below are just some of the professional resources for car shopping and research. If you’re going to spend thousands of dollars on a car, though, you need to find all the information you can on both the car you’re interested in as well as the competitors. Don’t go into the dealership unprepared, or else you may make a rash, uninformed decision.
Edmunds.com, purportedly “where smart car buyers start,” has a giant database of cars, including reviews, pricing, and specs. The site provides information on new and used cars, as well as advice on how to shop for and how to finance cars. Best of all, it can offer your searches tailored to your location!
Consumer Reports is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to rating consumer goods. Its website has a solid section on cars. Unfortunately, the most helpful offering – expert ratings – is available to subscribers only. But this site is still worth a look; there are many informative articles freely available.
Buying a Car based on Perception versus Reality
Consumer Reports recently issued a report about car brand perception versus reality with some very intriguing results. People had to rank based on seven crucial areas: safety, quality, value, performance, environmental friendliness, design, and technological innovation. Here’s what they had to say were the tops in those areas, along with their scores:
Brand perception – Top 5
1. Toyota – 193
2. Honda – 149
3. Ford – 109
4. Cadillac – 102
5. Mercedes-Benz – 100
Brand Perception – Bottom 5
5. Jeep – 21
4. Hummer – 19
3. Saab – 18
2. Mazda – 17
1. Suzuki – 7
Ok, I won’t disagree that I perceive most of those brands as high or low quality, but let’s see what their real reliability scores indicate as the best brands:
Real Brand Reliability – Top 10
As a note, these are results based on Consumer Report’s annual reader surveys and are not based on data directly from the service divisions of the automakers. That means these results are still a bit skewed, but at least are based on real data:
Most Reliable Cars in 2008
Although I admit that professional surveys mean little when it’s YOUR car that breaks down, I’d like to share the list of most reliable cars based on the recently released J.D. Power & Associates list of the most reliable cars of 2008.
At the top of the list is, of course, a Toyota brand (Lexus). However, interesting to note are #2 and #3: American brands. Who would have though that a Ford and a Chevy brand would beat out Toyota in reliability results, but given Toyota’s massive amount of recalls in the last few years, I guess it’s understandable:
- Lexus
- Mercury
- Cadillac
- Toyota
- Acura
- Buick
- BMW
- Lincoln
- Honda
- Jaguar
And what’s going on with Honda? Oh how the mighty have fallen. Perhaps Toyota and Honda now see what it’s like to be a top producer, in high demand, and rushed to produce more cars than their process can handle. That’s one big reason you see their quality slipping.
Here’s a look at the top models by segment:
Small does not always mean Inexpensive
If you’re a technophile, or just happened to go shopping for a new laptop lately, you may have noticed that the smaller the laptop, the higher the price (with the exception of the Asus Eee). Why is that? Aren’t they using less silicone? Less liquid crystals for the screen? Less precious metals?
Well, for laptops, smaller sizes mean less room to put the parts. If you want a 12″ laptop with a 120Gb drive vs a 40 Gb drive, you’re going to pay more than someone buying a 15″ laptop because the factory has to be more creative to find room to put that part. In addition, they need to keep the parts cooled, which is harder when there’s less air-flow.
Why Small Cars aren’t Always Inexpensive
Now let’s compare laptops with cars. If you want a small car that provides decent elbow and hip room, plus 5-star crash ratings, a premium audio system, room for 4-5 passengers plus luggage, a high-powered engine, and luxury car-like quality, then you’re going to pay the price.
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