Consumer Reports Auto: Two dissenting views

With all the hubbub surrounding Consumer Reports' latest issue (seeAutoblog comment-field staple Michael Karesh of True Delta has been touting his analysis and refutation of Consumer Reports (CR) rating system. He points out how the rating system changed from the use of relative ratings for 20 years to an absolute scale which, for example, gave a red dot to vehicles with problem rate under two percent, and now again to a controversial a new hybrid system for 2006. More details of Karesh's analysis can be found here.

Doron Levin of Bloomberg News, in reaction to CR's 2006 Top Picks, does what he admits is an unscientific study on car-buying habits. His sample, though, are 'Smart People in Leadership Positions', or SPILPs.  He questions a former governor, a commanding officer in the First U.S. Army, and even a Nobel prize-winner, all of whom have more than sufficient funds to afford the costly exotics. Instead, they choose their favorite vehicles in total disregard to CR's report.

[Sources: True Delta, Bloomberg]