Shop Talk

Check Out Line: Consumer Reports lifts warning for Lexus SUV

Check out Consumer Reports lifting its ‘Don’t Buy: Safety Risk’ designation for Toyota’s 2010 Lexus GX 460 sport utility vehicle.

The well-known consumer magazine said it was changing the rating for that SUV after recall work corrected the problem it displayed in one of its emergency handling tests.

Last month, Toyota recalled nearly 10,000 of the Lexus SUVs, which had only been on sale for a few months, after its engineers replicated the Consumer Reports test.  Two weeks later, Toyota, which has seen its reputation for quality tarnished in a series of recalls and incidents, resumed selling the SUV.

In a test called “lift-off oversteer,” as a vehicle is driven through a turn, the driver quickly lifts his foot off the accelerator pedal to see how the vehicle reacts. Consumer Reports said it found that the Lexus SUV’s rear end slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways, raising concerns of an accident including a rollover.

While Consumer Reports was not aware of any reports of injury related to this problem, tall vehicles with a high center of gravity like the GX 460 concern the magazine.

Dealers received a software fix for the vehicle’s electronic stability control last week and began notifying owners to bring in for repair their SUVs, which sell for $50,000 or more. Consumer Reports brought in its test vehicle and found the repair work took 90 minutes, after which the SUV passed the driving test it had previously failed.

Also in the basket:

Check Out Line: Duke wins, but there’s another bracket to fill

Check out a different kind of tournament bracket still underway.

The Duke Blue Devils may have won yet another college basketball title Monday night, but consumers can still make their “Sweet 16″ picks in Consumerist.com’s annual “Worst Company in America”  tournament, which runs through April 26.

In its fifth year, the website, owned by Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, lets consumers vote for their least favorite companies in matchups much like the NCAA tournament. Starting with 32 “teams,” the tournament pairs companies in votes in which the “winner” (think about it, in a worst company vote you want to lose) advances to face the next competitor.

In the first round this year, Bank of America beat Citibank, GM beat Toyota and in an “upset” Cash4Gold beat defending “champion” AIG. Other companies that advanced included Walmart, Ticketmaster, United Airlines, Best Buy, Apple and Comcast, which has lost in the title game the last two years.

In addition to AIG, past winners have included Halliburton, Recording Industry Association of America and Countrywide. In last year’s final, AIG whipped Comcast 3,528 to 1,968 as voters took their frustration over the recession out on a company that was bailed out by the U.S. government.

“They were just constantly in the headlines,” Consumerist.com co-managing editor Ben Popken said of AIG. “They became a real focal point for what went wrong with the economy.”

Consumers nominate companies to compete in the annual tournament, which was created as a tongue-in-cheek way for shoppers to “bite back” using social media and the Internet, according to Consumerist.com. To be considered for inclusion the website now requires that companies must regularly provide products or services to consumers.

Check Out Line: Holiday tips to take hit

Check out the probable lower level of tips for service providers during the holidays.Chalk up tips for cleaning people, school teachers, barbers, mail carriers and others as another probable victim of the weak U.S. economy, according to a new poll conducted by Consumer Reports magazine.  The magazine polled Americans about their tipping habits during the 2008 holidays and again in October and found 26 percent of Americans who usually tip or give a gift to a service provider said they would spend less this holiday season. Just 6 percent planed to spend more.”Families are looking for ways to balance their financial concerns with the need to thank people who have helped them during the year,” Tobie Stanger, senior editor at Consumer Reports, said in a statement. “This year, tipping is more of a challenge than ever, but CR’s survey shows that people are still trying to do it, for the most part.”The average value of tips (i.e. some were gifts instead of cash or gift cards) varied by occupation, with a cleaning person at $50, a child’s teacher and a hairdresser at $20, and a manicurist at $10, according to Consumer Reports.Some readers told the magazine they plan to still say thanks with a card or homemade gift.Also in the basket:Food the focus as Wal-Mart starts holiday givingKraft quarterly results could make a case to CadburyADM profit soars past Wall Street estimatesPolo 2nd-qtr profit tops Street viewWalgreen October sales up a bit more than expectedEnergizer quarterly profit falls(Reuters photo)

Check Out Line: What goes around comes around

Check out what’s coming around again this holiday season.

It’s that gift you gave someone last year.

According to a holiday shopping poll conducted by Consumer Reports in October, 36 percent of Americans say they have “recycled” a holiday gift. That’s up from 31 percent in 2008 and 24 percent in 2007.

Those more likely to re-gift include women, adults under 55 years old, residents of the U.S. West and people with children under the age of 12.

Want to prevent your gifts from making the rounds again?

Skip presents like socks, slippers and ties, which were on the list of most disappointing 2008 holiday gifts, according to the survey.

Or, for a virtually fail-safe bet, try cold hard cash.

Check Out Line: Tastes great, less costly!

Check out Consumer Reports’ latest taste test.

The magazine found that 23 store-brand foods tasted as good as or better than their big national brand competitors in blind tests of 29 food products.  The store-brand foods tested cost an average of 27 percent less than their big-name counterparts, allowing consumers to trim their shopping bills. 

“Our tests should erase any lingering doubts that store-brand packaged goods aren’t at least worth a try. In many cases, you’ll save money without compromising on quality,” Tod Marks, senior project editor for Consumer Reports Shopping, said in a statement.

“Today’s store brands are not the no-frills generics folks remember from the ’70s. They enjoy more prominent placement on shelves, snazzier packaging, more promotion, and, in general, higher manufacturing standards than in years past,” he added.

For example, Consumer Reports said its tasters preferred Archer Farms Chewy Soft Baked cookies (Target), Kirkland Signature Organic Medium Salsa (Costco) and Great Value Whipped Topping (Walmart) to similar products from Pepperidge Farm, Old El Paso, Betty Crocker and Kraft.

In the most recent supermarket survey by Consumer Reports National Research Center, 70 percent of respondents said they were highly satisfied with the quality of store brands.

Not every store brand finished on top in the survey, however. Tasters still preferred Ocean Spray Craisins, KC Masterpiece Original barbeque sauce, Oscar Mayer precooked bacon, Quaker Natural Granola Oats, Honey & Raisins cereal, and Kellogg’s Pop Tarts to the store brands.

What’s on your toilet paper roll?

Consumer Reports is watching your behind.

The magazine, which rates everything from televisions to coffee, has taken on toilet paper and found that shoppers could save up to $130 a year by switching brands.

Consumer Reports rated Georgia-Pacific’s Quilted Northern Ultra Plush, which costs 29 cents per 100 sheets, best for strength and softness, but said that store brands Kirkland Signature (Costco) and White Cloud (Wal-Mart) offer the most performance for the price of 12 to 15 cents per 100 sheets.

“Either of these CR Best Buy rolls could save a family of three roughly $130 per year,” the magazine said.

Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle Ultra also scored well in tests for strength and softness, but at 37 cents per 100 sheets, it was not the best value, Consumer Reports said. The company’s Scott 1000 brand sells for about 6 cents per 100 sheets — delivering the most sheets for the lowest price — but “its individual sheets were thinner than that of most other brands tested.”

The jury is still out on Scott Naturals, an eco-friendly paper with 40 percent recycled fiber that hits stores this month.

Now that you have the facts, will you be switching?