Confession

[Hawgee]

First, I don't qualify as a Blue owner YET. (99% sure)

Second, we don't confess round here even thou we know it's good for you. Most the time it's duck and cover.

Getting my colors mixed up would probably get me reading the (green) owners manual 10 times and kissing the darn thing twice.

Let me see now, how is it?

Green, so you blend in with the outdoors and the angry ones can't find you for the bad job you did?

Orange, a standard safty color so as to warn others of your intentions?

Blue, simply heavenly!

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

[MChalkley]

Bird - Ditto. For a while after I realized their ratings were absolutely worthless, I continued to subscribe because they did do a fair job of rounding up a representative sample of what was on the market, and summarizing the features. Then, it seemed that they couldn't even do that well enough that I didn't get mad over at least one article in every issue.

The power they wield is enormous. Even if they don't have any commercial stake in any of the products, it seems they were overcome with their opinion of their success and forgot how to objectively rate anything. I don't know how many times I saw products that seemed to carry on the merit of the brand having scored well in a previous test. Or, as you mentioned, they don't bother to properly emphasize the fact that their ratings are based on weightings that, for most people, make them worthless. So, every time I thought of how many people were probably running out and buying whatever was on the top of the list, I got aggravated all over again.

Since I cancelled my subscription, I've enjoyed a much happier, more fulfilling life. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mark

[JimBinMI]

Hawgee,

Well done soon to be BLUE owner! [img]/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif[/img]

JimBinMI

The world without Blue would be too Orange!

[Bird]

I was a little reluctant to post that message; afraid I might antagonize someone who put a lot of stock in Consumer Reports' ratings, but obviously I'm not the only one who actually read their entire reports.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Bird

[JimBinMI]

Guys, I agree with you for the most part. Here is an excerpt from the free part of their website. I subscribe online and am careful how I read the results but do use some of the information for larger purchases. Usually talk to others that may own the reported models/etc.

JimBinMI

Lawsuit
In April a federal jury in Los Angeles ruled unanimously that Consumers Union had not libeled or defamed Isuzu Motors Ltd. in a Consumer Reports cover story and other public statements that said the 1995 and 1996 Isuzu Trooper were unsafe because of a propensity to tip up in our short-course emergency-avoidance maneuver. Isuzu was denied damages; it sought $242 million. When judgment is entered for Consumers Union, Isuzu will likely have to pay statutory court costs to CU.


The world without Blue would be too Orange!

[Bird]

JimBinMi, I never heard all the details of that lawsuit, but was a little surprised when I first heard that Isuzu lost. Of course, Consumer Reports went after Isuzu as far back as 1982 when I owned one and was one of the individuals who completed Consumer Reports' owner satisfaction questionnaire (or whatever they called it then). They ran their "report" comparing an Isuzu diesel sedan to a Toyota and Olds gasoline sedan, rated Toyota best, then Olds, and Isuzu last, even though if you read the owner's responses, the Isuzu came out ahead in every category.

So not only were they comparing apples to oranges (gasoline to diesel), but in one of the first paragraphs of their report, the author made a flat statement that he did not like diesel sedans unless it said Mercedes on it. And then the only criticism he made of the Isuzu was that it was awkward to get into the back seat. Weird!

Incidentally, the John Deere riding mowers are pretty nice even if they ain't blue.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Bird

[JimBinMI]

Bird,

Thanks...regarding the JD. I have to tell you a funny thing that the Simplicity Dealer told us. I told him that my mother in law was replacing an older JD but she wasn't trading, she would sell it. He said oh, don't worry, you put anything green out for sale and it'll sell quick!

Imagine, he's trying to sell Simplicity and tells us what great resale the competition has! [img]/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Although, I know Simplicity has good resale, my former tractor was an Allis Chalmers made by Simplicity and at 21 yrs. old, I still got $800 for it and they got a good deal too! [img]/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif[/img]

JimBinMI

The world without Blue would be too Orange!

[DONOTDELETE]

I became convinced they were all a bunch of prune faced sour whiners, at least in the area of cars. For a lot of people cars are more than numbers and transportation and may like to mash the peddle now and then to feel the calcium deposits or whatever in their backs break up. Not once did I ever see any mention at all of (admittedly intangible) factors of fun, style, speed or the all important ability to corner (on private sealed off roads of course) so fast your passengers head is plastered against the side window so hard they can't get it off until you straighten the car out. If you're shopping specs, like Mark said, saves you from making a chart yourself, but that's about it.

[DONOTDELETE]

This reminds me of the current stupidity surrounding the media's fascination with (to them) a new story, that "SUV"s are dangerous to smaller cars. DUH. Full size Ford and Chevy Trucks have been the number one seller the what...past 20 years? And they just figured the weight situation out now? Dump Trucks are also dangerous to people in full-size pickup trucks, especially when the truck is an old unmaintained pile of you know what. I would just once love to see a media or Consumers Report that showed that any of the politically correct gas mileage forced vehicles (baby Fords made by Kia or whoever etc) have a DANGEROUS tendency to COLLAPSE when hit by a anyother vehicle.

Weren't those rollover tests shown to be completely invalid due to the mounting of the outriggers? Yes a narrow high vehicle will tip over, Jeep and Suzuki widened their tracks just for this purpose (I also did it on my Ford in the rear).

And the weight thing, well it doesn't take a genius to know that if I ram into a JD4600 with my BX the JD's gunna tip over, right? (OK JD'ers, start typing...)

[TomG]

I believe that blue and orange are complimentary colours, just like red and green. So, when we say something about our Fords, the Bota folks should tell us what great tractors we have. We don't need to tell each other. Like in complimentary colours, too much of one spoils the view.