New Cadillac XTS & Chevy Spark Fail To Make Grade At CR

[88Fiero]

Meh... its CR. I rate them poor.

True Very True. They are very biased.

[jadis]

Must be everyone else's fault, right? Folks, CUE is horrendous. At least in my personal, hands-on experience and is enough to put me in a new 335Xi (iDrive which I don't love either has a fully independent HVAC system with buttons and knobs and the Radio has designated buttons and knobs, so you only have to futz with iDrive for NAV and Radio display). Quite a shame actually b/c Caddy is throwing the system in every vehicle they make and I really liked the ATS, but I can't live with CUE. I know I am in the vast minority on this forum and probably the only person here who does not think there is a massive conspiracy against GM or Ford. The systems simply stink.

[avinarf]

I own a 2012 1.2 Spark an there is nothing wrong with that car for its price you cant expect much, plus here in SA the Spark is not compared to a Honda Fit or Kia Rio. Those cars are bigger than a Spark.

Fit and Rio = Corsa/ Sonic VW Polo. Spark = Peugeot 107/ Kia Picanto /Hyundai i10

[zeobandit]

No shock. CR is, and always has been, biased towards the imports. That mag has no credibility in my eyes.

[RoyG]

Ho. Hum.

Expect trouble from CR's ratings of GM vehicles due to the CUE and MyLink systems being rolled out. Like Ford's MyFordTouch (or whatever it's called) expect CR to ding every GM vehicle offering these options.

[Al465]

Must be everyone else's fault, right? Folks, CUE is horrendous. At least in my personal, hands-on experience and is enough to put me in a new 335Xi (iDrive which I don't love either has a fully independent HVAC system with buttons and knobs and the Radio has designated buttons and knobs, so you only have to futz with iDrive for NAV and Radio display). Quite a shame actually b/c Caddy is throwing the system in every vehicle they make and I really liked the ATS, but I can't live with CUE. I know I am in the vast minority on this forum and probably the only person here who does not think there is a massive conspiracy against GM or Ford. The systems simply stink.

Now that CR has voice it's dislikes to the Cue, watch it spread like wild fire by the bloggers who call GM, Government Motors.

[Dr. Show-Me]

Meh... its CR. I rate them poor.

It's time we provide a GMI Rating of CR auto reports. Consumer Reports is rated "Unacceptable" because of their lack of automotive knowledge and known bias.
If CR down-rated all new models on the basis of no reliability data, that would equalize things a bit, but apparently thar applies to American cars but not others.
Perhaps there should be "letters to Consumer Report?" Nah, don't waste your time!

[roy219]

But sluggish acceleration, stiff and jittery ride and very noisy cabin dropped the Spark’s overall score to 34, the magazine said.

This makes the Spark the highest rated U.S. market city car it has tested. The other two- Daimler's Smart fortwo and Toyota's Scion iQ - couldn't manage to even reach a score of 30 in CR's road tests.

It's worth repeating: Chevy Spark is the best city car currently sold in USA.

[roy219]

It's time we provide a GMI Rating of CR auto reports. Consumer Reports is rated "Unacceptable" because of their lack of automotive knowledge and known bias.
If CR down-rated all new models on the basis of no reliability data, that would equalize things a bit, but apparently thar applies to American cars but not others.
Perhaps there should be "letters to Consumer Report?" Nah, don't waste your time!

Perhaps one should actually read and understand CR's automotive evaluations and their methodologies before providing commentary about them on GM Inside News Forums? Nah, forget it about it!

[Beau Tie]

If the name Toyota was on the XTS & Spark, CR would have rated it the greatest. Those morons at Consumer Reports should not be able to get away with that kind of reporting. I know in this country we have freedom of speech, but that should not give anyone the right to maliciously try to destroy companies.

True Very True. They are very biased.

Agreed with the above. CR is biased garbage.

[vrocks]

The overly convoluted touch UI doesn't belong in a car. However, If they insist on using them, the performance needs to be far more snappy and intuitive. There's no excuse for such slow running UIs in modern cars. They're basically a pain in the ass to use.

[roy219]

If the name Toyota was on the XTS & Spark, CR would have rated it the greatest. Those morons at Consumer Reports should not be able to get away with that kind of reporting. I know in this country we have freedom of speech, but that should not give anyone the right to maliciously try to destroy companies.

Toyota does make a competitor to the Spark, and as I mentioned previously, CR rated it lower. The magazine has not yet published road test results for Toyota's XTS competitor, the 2013 ES 350.

Whatever malice is exuded here is solely on your part towards Consumer Reports.

[Stéphane Dumas]

Fit and Rio = Corsa/ Sonic VW Polo. Spark = Peugeot 107/ Kia Picanto /Hyundai i10

Does the Spark is also compared to the Fiat 500?

[steve333]

The Spark is a little city car, what the heck is CR looking for?
Need I say anything more about Touchscreens? If they're not ready for primetime they don't belong in a vehicle.

[DirtyMoney]

Wow. I just look at their comparison chart. 4 out of 5 of those cars are NOT in the same class and they cost thousands more. How can you give a car an objective non-bias review if you don't even compare it to cars in its class? By the way, it faired better than the iQ. Crazy