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I got in a heated battle on-line with several folks who state that all reviews from mags and their websites are basically BS. They claimed that, because such media are supported via ad $$s that the reviewers will ultimately be biased. They said the only unbiased views are from 'sites like The Truth About Cars, forums, and sites like Epinions which allow 'surfers to post the real experience.

What's your opinion? I argued that reviewers can be balanced with their reviews, remembering that their readership can smell a fink. (Though that doesn't explain the Solstice versus MX-5 comparison in MT.)  

Reviews can be balanced sometimes, but if you're gonna use motor trend as an example i can think of one case when they aren't.  pretty much when they review the BMWs.  they seem to really favor them.  i remember reading one an article wheree they addressed being biased towards BMW.  if i remember correctly they were saying something about how the BMWs cost more and thats why they usually had better ratings in the comparisons. i think that was the general idea.  maybe that would be an indication that money does control the reviews, or it could be that monetary value is also incuded in the overall judgement of a vehicle.  i guess thats subjective.  

Can you tell me where I can find reviews on Honda Civic si? Thank you.  

looking for a review of the newest civic si? because i think there is one on motortrend.com  

thank you  

Actually I wish they would do reviews on used cars, say 3 to 5 years old, even less if you hear of problems with a particular model.  Does anyone do that?  If something is wrong with the car take it in and see how you are treated without telling who you are.  Have a man take the car to one place and a woman take it to another place.  Any differences there?  These are reviews people will read.

Test driving a new car isn't going to tell you how it will be in a few years or even a few months.  Alot of these reviews the average person can test drive it and basically find out the same information. You won't find out what is does in 0-6 seconds but you will know if the acceleration is fast enough for you.  Some of the new car reviews are decent, but others seem like a cut-and-paste presentation.  I wish the new car reviews would get into maintenance.  What will have to be done to change this or that, timing belt or chain, does the engine or transmission need to be pulled to change another part?  

I travel so I rent cars.  I have driven cars at 5k that seem fine.  But at 20k you find out they are rags, on the other hand I have rented cars running just as good as new with 25k on it.    

So basically, I pretty much feel the new car reviews are BS.  I read them to see the options they have and a comparison of options with their previous models or against similar models - but that is all.  When you are spending 20-60k on something I think you need a lot more in a review.  Did you know that one automaker had changed their water pump in one model almost every year for several years?  This is something I learned from someone who owned one.  Why didn't the car reviewers pick this up?  Why the frequent change?  Or the fact a European automaker had to change alot of their front bumpers in one model year due to the American parking spaces have higher concrete stops than in Europe and people were damaging them easily.  

I did exhaustive research on the Jeep Patriot.  All the magazine reviews were not so flattering.  The owner's posts were highly positive.  When I went back over the magazine reviews I noted that the authors often used words that sent my brain into thought mode or my body scrambling for Webster's 2nd edition college dictionary.  Perhaps the , "professional" evalulators were more interested in impressing a reading audience verses supplying good information.  I also don't know what some of them were testing and how.  I remember one review for a 2009 Patriot that described noise but then stated that might change because of more insulation in the 2009 model.  WELL WHAT IN HELL WERE THEY TESTING?  The review was for a 2009 model but they obviously had not driven one.  Take everuthing with a grain of salt.