A former member of Consumers Union's board of directors (publisher of Consumer Reports), Edmonston has produced versions of the Lemon-Aid car guides for almost 30 years, with this year's model reaching almost 500 pages of intelligent and oftentimes impassioned reviews of used cars and minivans made between 1982 and 2001. The bulk of the book includes ratings and reviews of imported and domestic vehicles, divided into sections on small, medium, large cars/wagons and luxury vehicles, and he more than meets his stated goal to inform and protect consumers in an industry known for its dishonesty and exaggerated claims. Edmonston provides useful and clearly written information in areas including maintenance/repair costs, strengths and weaknesses, safety and recall summaries, and an overall rating. But unlike other consumer or collector guides, Edmonston offers provocative arguments on a range of issues illustrating automaker duplicity, if not outright evil. The reader may disagree with some of Edmonston's contentions, such as his statements that "airbags are killers when they work properly," but they will be pleased to see that he works hard to present all the evidence.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
