Betsy wrote:
The problem as I see it is that people need to know much more about the
longevity of the purchase. CR gives some guidelines, but no actual polling
of actual owners. Nor is there any consistent followup of the product
performing in a real-life situation.

Yes they do. Every year they survey their subscribers. You can see
stuff like car reliability data going back 10 years. Where did you
think they got the brand reliability numbers they put in most reviews?