I've participated in Consumer's Reports auto surveys for at least 20 years. They ask you questions, in several categories, if you've had a problem which you would define as SERIOUS, based on cost or safety issues, with your car. My idea of a serious problem may be a lot different than someone elses. For example, my precats have been bad for the last 40,000 miles, and many people would consider this a 'serious' problem because of the cost of replacement. For me, I don't consider it 'serious', because I don't intend to fix them, since my car runs just fine the way it is.
They originally rated the Contour/Mystique very highly, at least in '99, and I based my decision to buy based largely on their report. They have since rated Contour/Mystique models, especially older ones, as unreliable and not recommended. This is because as the cars get older, the repair history is worse than the average car. Therefore, although it was a recommended model when new, as it ages, it becomes less attractive due to high repair costs.
Sometimes I think Consumer's Reports is strongly biased towards Japanese cars, but if you look at the fact that Toyota is the #1 selling car in the US, that many customers can't be wrong. One thing I would like to see CR do is do a total cost of ownership survey. Although Japanese cars need repairs less often than American brands, the repair costs are traditionally much more than for domestic cars. Over the long haul, which cars REALLY have the lowest cost of ownership??
