I’ve seen a lot of car reviews on YouTube and Edmunds and they usually don’t factor in reliability or quality. Do you think they’re worse than mechanic reviewers who usually factor in quality?
Also whenever I watch a review on a Toyota Corolla (autotrader, cargurus, kbb, etc) they always mention its reliability.
They could be good resources for driving dynamics, features, ride comfort, etc. and if you liek it you could check it out yourself but this forum is more about reliability and you shouldn't trust the "best" or "worst" car they put on their list. But I find that for example KBB has pretty decent reviews saying the good and bad about lots of things but they don't consider reliabiity because lots of Americans don't consider it but in other aspects they can be a good resources. Plus, you could compare it. If KBB says the ride is harsh, handling is completly dull, the engine is unresponsive, but you drive it and its very nice to drive, then you have an idea of what is going on there. But through what they say about for example Toyotas, they aren't too negative or too positive about anything.
Well if they told the truth about the vehicles, they wouldn’t get as many vehicles to review by the automaker. Some of the youtubers make their money by reviewing cars, so they need a constant flow of cars coming in so their reviews will usually be positive. Also, the cars they review is usually new and we don’t now how long they will hold up. We usually make educated guesswork based on past history and how mature the technology is for that automaker. I would take what the Youtubers say (i.e. their reviews) with a grain of salt.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to do your own research before buying a car!
Keep in mind, the average American looks for 3 things when buying a car. 1. Looks 2. Fuel mileage 3. Safety. The definition of a reliable car is more about safety rather than actual reliability of the motor/ electronic components and parts. I mean the only reason cars keep getting more and more added to them is because people want all the bells and whistles. Yes I realize the great people on this forum are a different breed of car buyers. But I’m talking about the general population. For example, Do you think if people educated themselves more on what tech is going in what, you think Ford would really be selling so many of the crap Ecoboost motors? I really don’t think so. The sell because they get in one and like the looks of the vehicle, power the motor creates, and safety as well as the fuel mileage.
Car you tubers usually don’t factor in reliability cause that’s a though thing to guess if you’re not a mechanic.
Often mechanics are also fooled and are mistaken when a new car comes out (Like the PureTech engine that fooled everyone and turned out to be an unreliable mess unlike the heritage it was built up on)
it’s such a hard thing to guess that Scotty also said on a couple of new cars “we’ll have to wait and see” when commenting of their reliability.
To know the reliability the car has to be a couple years old and often new car buyers do not care about the reliability and car more about warranties and such things.
ConsumerReports is a good place to know the projected reliability of a car.
Consumer Reports should also be taken with a grain of salt.
I trust guys like Scotty and a few other YouTube mechanics that get their hands dirty.
I don’t trust reviewers. They are extensions of a car marketing arm. Not of real world experience.
The problem with car reviewers is they get paid to review cars by the people who made them. It's like large companies who pay colleges to come up with studies to say what they want to say. Or drug companies who are part owned by Fauci telling you to get the vaccine. Seriously?? They really think we are all idiots. May sound cynical but I have had years to developed cynicism based on experience. Works for me!
I trust very few car reviewers, edmunds or just someone who only reviews cars and doesn't really offer anything in relation to reliability. It seems like when they are honest mechanics like Scotty you get a dependable review. Another you might check out on youtube is the Car Wizard, the cars to buy or not buy videos I have seen from him have been pretty good.
A lot of those guys review cars solely based on how they drive and some are paid off to review certain cars good or bad.
Probably, get a Toyota.....
I mean… at this point… I’ve seen so many Toyota CVT transmissions breakdown before 120,000 miles that I’m not sure if that’s even safe to recommend those.
I would not go by YouTube reviewers advice. They get paid by the manufacturers to do their program so it is biased from the start.
