On Wed, 18 Oct 2017 14:11:09 -0400, John H
wrote:

I think finding truthful reviews, especially for vehicles, is scarce.

Human nature is such that good reviews are more the norm by people who
recently purchased the vehicle and are subconsciously justifying their
purchase. The bad reviews come later after many miles on the odometer.

I agree. Magazines like Car and Driver or Road and Track make for interesting reading at times, but you have to take their reviews with a grain of salt. Between them getting ringers from car companies to test, and the "not wanting to bite the hand that feeds you" syndrome, many of their test articles are just fluff pieces. If they have something bad to say about a car, it's usually very carefully worded so it almost doesn't sound negative.

That they don't take ads is one thing I really like about CR. You should read a 'Trailer Life' (RV
Magazine) once. They 'review' RVs, and in a two or three page spread there may be one 'unpositive'
comment. Total bull**** reviews.

===

I think the Consumer Reports reviews are a good starting point,
paticularly their reliability evaluations which are important to me. I
like to keep my vehicles until they are ready to drop because I've
always believed that transaction costs are too high when buying and
selling, same with boats. While the CR reviews may not be perfect, at
least you know that they are not being influenced by advertising
revenue. It's my understanding that they actually buy their test
vehicles anonymously. The car mags of course are dependent on
manufacturers and dealers for test vehicles and they have to tread
very carefully to avoid being cut off.

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