While things were going gangbusters for the little Suzuki in its first few years, automotive journalists picked up copies of the vehicle for testing and review. Most dedicated automotive journalists, such as those from Car and Driver, walked away from their testing impressed, citing some shortcomings but generally reporting a positive impression of the Samurai. However, when Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine at the time, bought one for independent testing, their reports came back with some huge red flags.
Consumer Reports uses its own labs and evaluate tracks to evaluate new products. To remain independent and free from manufacturer influence, it does not adopt cars from the manufacturers, opting instead to buy them outright for testing. After a couple of years of growing sales, Consumer Reports tested a 1988 Suzuki Samurai and published its findings. The report claimed that the Samurai was highly prone to rollover and determined it to be unsafe, giving it a Not Acceptable rating. However, 120,000 Samurais had already been sold and the findings received broad media coverage, causing alarm to owners and potential buyers of Samurais, killing sales overnight.
