The review on performance and reliability were decent, but it got a terrible grade for body integrity. Anyone care to enlighten me? Thanks.

 

Rattling and cheap materials. The paint is also very low quality, but the tC creaks, rattles, pops, etc. That is a body integrity problem. I agree with them 100%.

 

yeah i already have a small chip on the rear bumper and its an '07

 

i have had to have my spoiler replaced as the paint had lost its clearcoat and already started fading.

 

My paint has held up better than any car I've had before. Hardly a single mark on it in a year and a half.

But the rattles...I've just about had all of those I can handle!

 

I don't think the paint is all that bad, I just make sure to keep it clean and coated in wax. But rattles...yeah, that's what the stereo is for right?

 

Ever heard a bat squeek? I thnk my iPod Pioneer Scion stereo makes that sound when playing a CD...

 

... and maybe since the roof is all glass, if the car rolls... it shatters... ?
I think we've seen several pictures w/ that example :X

 

I think the real problem here is that you read Consumer Crap

 

If the exact same car had a BMW or Lexus badge on it... CR would have given it a better review. I dont pay much attention to thier crap reviews and statistically invalid numbers

 

No they wouldnt, you obviously don't read it if you said that. They show that some of the higher end cars arnt reliable etc..they are non profit I beleive, and have nothing to gain from lies.

As for the rating on body integrity I totally agree. creaks, rattles and all those other weird noises I can't pinpoint isnt GOOD integrity. Not to mention the paint is soft on these cars and scratches are near impossible to avoid.

 

scratches are scratches... you ahve bmw to a scion all will scratch... without lead paint is weak...
to consumer reports.. you have to read the fine print... their bad doesn't mean that it is a bad quality.. it just means compared to some other cars they tend to have more problems in those areas... well, of course compared to a lexus or bmw a scion will have more problems in those areas... it's about 20000 dollars cheaper...

 

CRap has proven that it is a politically active organization; and if it doesn't get its way, it likes to knock the product/company/whatever on future reviews. Just look at how it rates cellular networks.

Sorry, but unless I'm buying something like a washer, I wouldn't even touch CR.

If I'm looking for a car review, I'll go to a better source that actually knows what they're talking about, like www.thetruthaboutcars.com

 

I do not know how they accumilate their stats but 1 thing I do notice is that they hardly ever recommend a German car now adays.

 

I don't agree with everything that CR writes, but they said the body integrity on the tC was not as good as the average car, but most other aspects are better than average. What are my issues with the car? Body integrity. Am I having any other problems with the car? No. So in my case they didn't write anything about the tC that wasn't true. And if I remember correctly, they still recommended the car, so it's not like they were ripping on it.

 

CR is pretty good towards toyota makes and honda for that matter...so maybe read it over a little bit. just one review doesnt mean much, as CR has recommend the tC in their annual book.

 

I htought it was me.but i find the paint a real hanful to keep nice. even after wax one wrong wipe and it spiderweb city all over again. I have a 2006 and it is quiet,guess i'm lucky,I drive it hard but can't say i have any rattles. but these cars do make you aware they are not expensive, i hate the cheap material they call "rugs" and that speaker cloth in the trunk area,i wish they would have offered=better materials and better brakes. consumers is a rag1 but i am wondering as to why most mags don't include the tc in any tests at all. I have enjoyed this a hell of alot better than my civic right out of the box,from fit and finish to ride,for the money ,tc is good.

 

Just because something is more expensive doesn't make it better necessarily. I drove a 2005 Ford Excursion Diesel 4x4 prior to this car. It's MSRP was over $50k and it was in the shop 5 times in the first 6 months. I've had my car since August 06 and it has had no problems at all. Not knowing the service crew by first name is priceless.

 

BMW NOT CR recommended: 7 Series, M3, X3, X5
Lexus NOT CR recommended: LS, LX

German cars which ARE CR recommended:
Audi: A3, A4, A6, S4
BMW: 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, Z4
Porsche: Boxster

Now I know all of these cars and SUV's are not in the same category as our car. Point is CR doesn't rate a car based solely on the mfr or its' country of origin - which is getting harder & harder to pin down (BMW builds cars in U.S. now, as do Mercedes, Toyota, Mitsubishi, etc.)

 

I'm shocked to see how many people are against consumer reports. They are one heck of a reliable magazine with wonderful results. They are yet to let me down. Their reports are based on substantial evidence and gathering of empirical data. I'm not here to convince anyone to like them, but some of these faceless comments need to be backed by some good hard evidence.