Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Michael Czeiszperger <czei AT webperformanceinc.com>]

On Wednesday 26 June 2002 11:42 pm, you wrote:
> RE: hondas "not being worth it" and "blowing out head gaskets at ludicrous
> speed." hogwash. complete, unfettered hogwash. worth every penny and no
> more succeptable to failure than any other car. but much better engineered.
>

How about a bumper stick that reads "Anecdotal evidence sucks" ? As far as I 
know, Consumer Reports is the only organization that does actual unbiased 
research in car reliability (repair records) and safety. The repair ratings 
are extensive-- for more than 40 years they've surved more than 500,000 
people each year to ask them about their used cars. The repairs are 
classified into 14 categories like "Engine", "Ignition", "Transmission", etc, 
and then rated based on what percentage of owners reported a problem.

This type of detailed research is needed because its hard to classify rules-- 
a used car that was reliable when it was 3 years old may not be when its 5 
years old.

Based on those records, the honda makes Civic, CR-V, Accord, and Odyssey are 
all rated as having exceptional reliability. Even on an old model like a '94 
Civic, most of the categories have only a 2-5% repair rate.

For a comparison of you who own New Beetles will not be surprised that this 
car rates at the bottom of the reliability scale, with more than 14% of 
owners reporting problems in many of the categories even after only 3 years. 
Compare this to a three year old Honda, in which every category receives the 
highest CR rating of < 2% repair rate.

-- 
Michael Czeiszperger
czei AT webperformanceinc.com