I had my heart set on a particular make/model - partner was also keen - AA reviews good, Top Gear reviews great, Dog and Lemon - terrible - not recommended. Now he's gone off that vehicle - am gutted. Who do we trust?
daryl14,
Feb 23, 11:10am
Burn the dog and lemon and don't mention it in here again. Thankyou.
tamarillo,
Feb 23, 11:11am
Not dog and lemon, it's a load of old tosh. Been running cars for many many years that they say never touch with no problems, easy part etc. what is it? If you tell us here there are some very expert posters who can tell you if it is a lemon and has a problem, though really very few cars are lemons these days.
gmphil,
Feb 23, 11:15am
lets see feed a dog hole lot of lemons, collect wot come out other end bind in a folder . and that's wots in that book acid crap toss the book ! edited to say wot car? bunch of people be along if u put wot with some real inform reading
whqqsh,
Feb 23, 11:18am
Dog & Lemon doesn't 'review' cars, they print one mans very biased view then print 'Dog & Lemon' on the cover. & not for the title of a book that reviews cars but it's an actual description of the book itself
feever,
Feb 23, 11:19am
the Nissan quashqai (sp?) around 2007-2012 models
tamarillo,
Feb 23, 11:41am
Fromm what I hear these have fine reputation and are hugely popular. Are you aware it has cvt box which can be odd (but is now reasonably common) and cvt is not good for towing often. Try one just to check you are good with it, personally don't like CVT but plenty do and plenty don't know what their auto is. Subaru use them exclusively now. Otherwise ignore Dog guide, these have good rep, Google them in UK where (I think) they build them, and certainly love them. For a soft roader they're not bad (I'm not a soft roader fan so that's big praise from me).
westwyn,
Feb 23, 11:48am
In many cases, take whatever the Cat and Sour Lime Book says and do the opposite.
The Quashqui (export name for the Nissan Dualis) is an excellent soft SUV that has done well in both home (Japan) and export markets, with very little bad press. They're not my personal cup of tea, but I'd have no hesitation in recommending them.
Parents of good friends of mine have a 2007 Dualis- one of the very first to come to NZ (was imported as-new) and have had an excellent run out of it- still have it.
A business colleague has a NZ new Quashqai (2012 model) and same story- he loves it, no problems.
If you buy on the basis of what D&G tell you, you're in for a miserable life.
kazbanz,
Feb 23, 12:09pm
The D and L is very very good ---at selling the D and L --the second edition makes good loo paper
countrypete,
Feb 23, 12:44pm
That's the first time I have seen you use sarcasm! But the occasion merits it entirely.
The Dog and Lemon guide is absolute tosh!
richardmayes,
Feb 23, 12:47pm
If there was a Dog & Lemon guide for countries, New Zealand would be a deeply corrupt, subsistence wage, high crime, hell hole of a place wracked by constant deadly earthquakes, prone to volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and bird flue epidemics. The police are all corrupt rapists and most towns are controlled by the gangs. Only a complete idiot would live here, 'avoid like the plague'.
WHERE the D & L guide lists specific known faults and weaknesses with certain specific vehicles, it would be foolish to just dismiss these without doing a bit of further research of your own.
However, he does have a habit of overblowing things, making mountains out of molehills, and in general the book should be read with a grain of salt.
Otherwise, the only car you should ever drive is a late 90s or early 2000s, manual Toyota Corolla with airbags.
ALL other cars are woefully unreliable, desperately unsafe gas-guzzlers designed by Hitler when he was trying to impress someone's wife. Or something.
daryl14,
Feb 23, 12:59pm
Ewwwwwwwww! Mayes has read the dog and lemon!
bumfacingdown,
Feb 23, 1:01pm
Does the D&L actually recomend anything? Last time I flicked through one every appraisal ended with "Not recommended" Everything had problems from front to back bumper, gems like "Auto gearbox prone to fail at under 100,000kms" So, did any vehicle escape as good?
daryl14,
Feb 23, 1:18pm
Who cares? With my last two car purchases, I paid for a car jam report and purposely declined the free D&L review for the two cars. Its a crock of shit. I say again: who cares?
gmphil,
Feb 23, 1:32pm
apparently the Hillman hunter gets a super review not read my self to honest
A D & L guide was given to me by my acupuncturist, as Clive wotsit wotsit was also one of her clients. I reluctantly flipped through it and it rubbished every car I have ever bought - but there again, most of the posters on here have also rubbished every car I have very bought.
Never stopped me buying what I wanted and I have never had a dog or a lemon. Far from it in fact. Heck, I have even bought another 1998 Rover K series powered car and am more than happy with it!
budgel,
Feb 24, 7:25am
Maybe a subscription to Masochist Monthly is in order.
socram,
Feb 24, 7:43am
LOL - you could say that!
Strange, but I seem to have had fewer problems with any of my daily drivers than any of my friends with stuff ranging from Lexus 4WD, to Honda CRV, Commodores and Falcons, Toyota Surfs and RAV4's etc,. all of which the critics claim are better and more reliable than my stuff, yet all have spent time in the shop having work done, whereas all of mine have only ever had normal servicing other than with two with steering rack issues, over the last 30 years.
Older classics, different story, as to be expected with 40 - 50 year old cars.
tgray,
Feb 24, 10:56am
D & L has a vested interest in trying to convince you that three quarters of the cars out there are inherently bad. The fact that three quarters of the cars out there are inherently good, does not sell many car review publications.
kazbanz,
Feb 24, 12:04pm
socram wrote: LOL - you could say that! Strange, but I seem to have had fewer problems with any of my daily drivers than any of my friends with stuff ranging from Lexus 4WD, to Honda CRV, Commodores and Falcons, Toyota Surfs and RAV4's etc,. all of which the critics claim are better and more reliable than my stuff, yet all have spent time in the shop having work done, whereas all of mine have only ever had normal servicing other than with two with steering rack issues, over the last 30 years. [quote] I have a job for you then matey. I'll start stocking that stuff we talk about and you come here and take "ownership/bless" each one of them. heck this could lower my warranty bill to nothing
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 24, 12:30pm
Don't panic. Jazz's guide to selecting the correct VW. * cough * I mean selecting the right car. Will be at the publishers soon. Just waiting on final editing from my legal team (apparently at least two pages of text have survived intact) and then securing safe passage out of the country before it hit's the shelves.
richardmayes,
Feb 24, 12:38pm
I always wonder why Wilson Matthew-Clive is so often trotted out by the news media whenever there is ANY motoring or roading issue.
It's like he's their general-purpose "car guy", for any situation where motoring is in the news and they need an expert with a leftist, more-taxation more-regulation-will-fix-this sort of bent. ?
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 24, 12:47pm
There is a place you can list yourself as an "expert" for media to call upon which I assume he has done. That and they consider him "reputable" and "knowledgeable" because he has written a book, as do most of the general public. So he is a good candidate from their point of view.
BTW. I can't wait until my book is published, then I can finish every post with "Author of. " or "Motoring writer". It's going to lend so much more credence to my drivel. I mean "quality motoring advice"
tamarillo,
Feb 24, 1:27pm
Hey I had a column in the now defunct driver mag, and some work for nz classic car. Does that count? Or does it just mean I talk rubbish more.
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