Confession #51: There's never going to be a VW GTI like the first VW GTI

Photo: VW

For the third week in a row, Consumer Reports' Talking Cars segment has decided to bring up the 2015 Volkswagen GTI. It's not a car I thought of as being particularly controversial, considering it sticks to a similar format as its immediate predecessors.

But CR has made it controversial because of remarks by one of its auto guys who thinks it's a "thumbs down." Why is that? He thinks it's just not fun enough, not engaging enough and, crucially, not enough like the original GTI.

I think he's going to be waiting a long time for VW to make another Mk 1 GTI.

Confession #41: Don't hate it just because it's pretty, unreliable

You don't have to read too deep to find Consumer Reports' biases when it comes to testing cars. They place heavy emphasis over value and practicality over things like styling and emotion, things they probably say, "We leave to the enthusiast rags." Rightly so, since Consumer Reports also reviews things like TVs, laptops, butter and similarly prosaic products.

Don't get me wrong, I read their Cars blog religiously. And if someone who buys cars like they do microwaves, I base my recommendations off of some CR reviews. But if I, or anyone who puts emotion and style on a level with practicality, were in the market, I'd take CR's data with a grain of salt. 

The chronicles of their troublesome Fisker Karma then leaves me a little puzzled. First of all, who of their Prius-loving clientele is really interested in the Karma's gorgeous exterior and six-figure price tag? And it's such a low-volume vehicle, who, other than enthusiasts and celebrities, are really considering such a car? Those people are probably uninterested in reliability anyway, and they're tired of looking environmentally conscious while driving around in a Prius.