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Consumer Reports & BMW X3 Reliability

2 messages,  Last post on Apr 11, 2007 at 1:50 PM

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#1 of 2 Consumer Reports & BMW X3 Reliability by hb3749 Apr 08, 2007 (8:58 pm)
Consumer Reports lists the BMW X3 on their "Do not recommend " list, even though it gives the car pretty high marks almost everywhere else. They refer to their subscriber reliability ratings as the reason - but nowhere on their website can I find specifics. Can anyone enlighten me on this? We drove the car and loved it but were taken aback by the negatives on reliability. Replies to this message: anon3 (Apr 11, 2007 1:50 pm)
#2 of 2 Re: Consumer Reports & BMW X3 Reliability [hb3749] by anon3 Apr 11, 2007 (1:50 pm)
Replying to: hb3749 (Apr 08, 2007 8:58 pm) Consumer Reports strikes again. I put very little faith in their reliability recommendations on any vehicle that is less than 3 years old. They don't publish the criteria/formula that they use to arrive at the "not recommended" reliability rating and there are glaring flaws in their rating methodology. For example, one annual car edition designated the 2002 X5 as "not recommended". On another page in that very same magazine, they stated that they had "insufficient data" to rate the 2002 X5's reliability. That is very poor analysis methodology.   My family drove a 2004 X3 for 18 months. It never went back to the dealer for repair. It was completely trouble free. Granted that was still a relatively new vehicle, but 18 months trouble free is a good sign. Similarly, my personal experience completely contradicts Consumer Reports' rating of the X5. We've had 5 X5's. All but the very first one (BMW's very first SUV model) have been completely trouble free.   If you're looking at a brand new X3, the warranty covers everything - even wiper blades - and you can get a free loaner while your car is in service. So your risk is very low for the first 50,000 miles.   Also note that a car can have an average of less than 2 problems per vehicle and still receive a below average rating. New vehicles are so reliable that even a single problem on average will ding their ratings.

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