on 11/7/06 2:38 AM, Tyler Backman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I've noticed that consumer reports bases their reliability data on > average cost of maintenance over the first few years, and their > safety data on cost of repairs for minor accidents. I think these are > both fundamentally flawed because a car that is expensive to maintain > can still have fewer breakdowns and last longer before it is > completely worn out than a car that has cheap maintenance > requirements.
Yes, and further the whole concept of crash testing in North America -- though better than it once was -- is not comprehensive. I recently spent some time at the site for the European crash test authority, which does dynamic testing (offset impacts where both the test vehicle and the target are moving, with variable angles of impact) and some of the results were horrifying... for cars that get four or five stars here. Mac
