I love what the intertubes have done for the plugged in consumer. Sure, Google gives you 1.5B search results, but the first few are usually all you need. And online shopping has reduced the need to hunt the elusive parking spot at the mall before Christmas. I've recently started using two sites in particular that are there to serve the modern consumer.
The first one is called The Consumerist, and they post all kinds of tips and stories from ticked off consumers, then follow up with CEO/upper mgmt contact info and escalation tips and techniques. It's the internet version of your local news media lambasting a business for poor treatment of a consumer. Unfortunately, I'd also rate it "R" for strong language at times, so use at your own risk. Still some good info there.
The second one, and the one I find myself sucked into for hours on end, is Consumer Search, and while they've been around since 2000, I never stumbled across them until recently. I was looking for reviews on pressure washers, and of course was stonewalled by the subscription-only Consumer Reports when I found Consumer Search (CS). CS does the research for you, and presents it in a well-thought and well laid out format for easy decision-making. They hit Consumer Reports among others, and also take the user-supplied feedback on sites like Amazon.com and epinions.com into account. They are kind of hit-and-miss for some of the items I wanted to see research on, but they had a lot of good stuff, too. And most of it is pretty up to date. For example, I looked at their "best used sports cars" page and found this:
The following report was originally published on ConsumerSearch to cover new cars manufactured and sold in the 2005 model year, and so can offer a good guide as to which cars from past model years are good bets as used vehicles. We are keeping this report on our site as a convenience to our readers who may be shopping for a used car.
Although they didn't take reliability into account for the used cars, the above statement tells me they don't let their older reviews languish as new content is added. Highly recommended.