I picked up the latest 2008 Consumer reports book the other day, and pg. 182 lists the 06 feh as a vehicle to avoid, which I own!
why are they picking on the 06? or is that the only one they have data on?

 

From what I could tell, the "vehicle to avoid" rating came from (repair frequency and) roll-over test results - all based on government test results using a 2004 model. Now, does anyone think the regular Escapes and the FEHs have the same center-of-gravity during roll-over tests? How much does the HVBattery weigh? Even the government testers did not extrapolate the results of the non-hybrid to that of the hybrid for roll-over projections....but that didn't stop Consumer Reports. Sloppy work.

 

CR has its own way of deciding cars to "avoid" and which cars are a "best buy". Some of the criteria make sense, and some of it is considered by a lot of people to be dubious or odd.

For example, imagine a vehicle designated a "rollover risk" by CR. This designation may be based only on their own testing, which may or may not be truly reliable. That vehicle, no matter how good it otherwise is, may be marked "avoid". Failure of any of the CR tests is often cause for failing the whole car.

Now imagine the manufacturer makes stability control standard the following year. Because the rollover risk was the only reason to "avoid" the vehicle, it will be taken off the "avoid" list. In fact, if it's really a good vehicle otherwise it might go from "avoid" directly to the "best buy" list.

 

I have "loosely" followed the web based consumer report edition and noted errors as previously revealed. I get more out of reading what the owners have to say than what the experts publish. It is interesting to hear/read from owners of "stellar" vehicles such as Honda and Toyota report on problems with their vehicles and dealerships that the CR experts rarely mention.

 

Interesting perspectives.... thanks all.

 

That's odd. I was at the Press Event when they unveiled it, and was the first in the nation to get a copy. Pg 182 in mine is the road reviews, and is Kia. Pg 180 is the Fords, and doesn't have the FEH, let alone the '06 FEH.

I wasn't real thrilled that they lumped all the Escapes together for their review purposes, and neglected to have it on the best FE lists for SUVs, but those are different issues.

 

There was a time when I treated CR as gospel.
Now, I rank it right with Fox News.

 

Boy, you must really think badly of CR!

 

 

CR is really bad... they have their own political agenda, and/or get money for saying things lobbyists want them to say... they are anything but impartial. That publication should be labeled "for amusement purposes only". If good at one time, they have since sold out to the highest bidder.