Getting More Out of Car Reviews

When you’re in the market for a car, reading car reviews can be a great way to learn more about the vehicles your considering. While there are so many different resources available online to read car reviews, you need to know where to look, what to look for and how to make the most of your time while getting all the necessary information. In this article, we’re going to talk about how to get the most out of car reviews. 

Consider the Source

There are thousands of car review sites across the internet but it’s important to know that not all reviews are equal. The first thing you should consider is who is writing the review. Is it a consumer talking about their experience or is it a mechanic talking about recurring issues or flaws within a certain car model? Both of these perspectives can be helpful and should be considered for different reasons. A consumer reviewer may be talking about how great her Toyota Sienna is for her family of 6 and you have a family of 6 so this makes you want to read more about the Sienna. From here, maybe you find a car reviewer who works as a mechanic and see what he/she thinks about the mechanics of the Sienna and whether or not they think it’s a reliable car. 

‍Find the RELEVANT Information

Even if the person who wrote the car review is knowledgeable on the car or topic, they may not write in a short and concise way. Save yourself some time and look for key parts of information so you can save time in your research. A good way to do this is to make a list of all the information you want to find about each car. For example, maybe you want to know about the car’s reliability, its fuel economy, driving performance and warranty options. Now that you know these are the four things you care about most, you can skim through any articles or reviews to find these answers. 

Look for Common Themes

Once you’ve read through enough reviews and have narrowed down your search to a handful of cars, it’s time to look closer at the reviews of each car. For example, if you’re interested in a Dodge Ram 1500 and you see four different review sites talking about how great it handles, it’s safe to assume the handling really is great. On the other hand, if you can’t find many commonalities on one car between multiple reviews, maybe you need to do more research on that vehicle. 

‍Reviews DO NOT Replace a Test Drive

As helpful as car reviews are, they cannot replace the things you’ll learn about a car through a test drive. Until you get behind the wheel of a vehicle, you really can’t say for sure that you’re going to love the way it drives. This is why all of your online review research should end in a test drive. 

Resources of Canadian Car Reviews

These are some of our favourite places to find car reviews online in Canada!

• https://driving.ca/ 
• https://www.wheels.ca/car-reviews/ 
• http://www.canadianautoreview.ca/  
• https://www.consumerreports.org/ 
• http://www.autos.ca/ 
  

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