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Overview

Your letters

Last reviewed: June 2010
June issue cover This article appeared in
June 2010 Consumer Reports Magazine.

Tow ratings

In the April 2010 issue, I wish you had stated tow ratings for vehicles. I have a TrailManor 26-foot camping trailer, and it's hard to know which vehicle would be useful to me.

P. Marrs
San Jacinto, CA

We don't include tow ratings in the April issue because they depend on many variables. Our Top Pick, the Chevrolet Traverse SUV, can easily handle your trailer. In our monthly Road Test reports, we list the tow ratings for vehicles that are designed to tow.

 

Wagon wars

I'm looking at station wagons and was very excited to get the new April car issue. But I am surprised that the overall rating for the Mazda5 is 95. When I compare it to the Subaru, which scored 79, I can't see the 16-point difference. Is this a typo?

Frank Hershkowitz
Liberty Corner, NJ

The addition of electronic stability control to the 2010 Mazda5 microvan notably improved its emergency handling, helping it post a very good 55-mph maximum speed in our avoidance maneuver, compared with the 48.5 mph of the Subaru Outback. Other advantages are six-passenger capacity, more cargo space, easier access, and a little better acceleration and braking, leading us to make it a 2010 Top Pick as a family hauler.

 

Toyota troubles

Regarding Toyota's sudden-acceleration problems, did your annual survey reveal complaints about the sudden acceleration or brake problems with the Prius? If so, why didn't it get some serious attention from government regulators? If not, are all the claims really true?

Morton Susman
Tucson, AZ

Our survey didn't reveal such complaints because the problem rate for unintended acceleration is extremely small—roughly 1 in 10,000 vehicles. By contrast, the least-reliable vehicles (available to subscribers) in our survey have problem rates that exceed 3 in 100. The Prius brake issue affected 2010 Priuses, which would show up only in our 2010 Annual Auto Survey, which we're fielding now.

We have called out other problems when we've found them. The 2007 Toyota Camry and Tundra, for example, were below average for reliability, based on our 2007 survey. We also reported on a recent slipping in interior fit and finish. Usually, though, Toyota builds very good, reliable cars.

 

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