Credibility is like virginity: once you lose it, you never get it back. Therefore, motoring journalists try to be as objective as possible (well, most of them, anyway) and report all their findings, good or bad alike when they take a car for a test drive.

However, Consumer Reports [CR], asks a rather intriguing question concerning this issue: are the press cars driven by motoring journalists the same as the ones bought by the public?

It’s true that, despite quality control, two cars of the exact same make, model and specification that roll out of the same plant may differ in certain aspects such as fit and finish or actual engine output by a few ponies, but those differences are most of the times imperceptible to the human eye.

Earlier this summer, Volkswagen gave Consumer Reports a 2012 Passat from its press fleet for a first drive. CR’s Jon Linkov noticed at the time that, unlike the Jetta, the U.S.-built 2012 Passat sedan’s trunk hinges were dressed up in plastic.

For a complete test of a vehicle, Consumer Reports always goes and buys retail samples of the car in question. In the 2012 Passat’s case, CR bought three cars: a 2.0 TDI, a 2.5 SE and a 3.6 SEL Premium.

Much to Linkov’s surprise, the plastic covers of the media car were absent in all three Passats. Instead, there was only a cover for the wiring loom hinge.

Maybe you think that a plastic trunk hinge cover is not such a big deal. But if a carmaker pays special attention to such a small detail, it makes you wonder what else it might have changed in the press car to get a more positive review?

On the other hand, maybe between the media launch and the car going on sale there was a last-minute redesign. While a plastic hinge may seem like penny-pinching to you and me, the carmaker, which produces hundreds of thousands of models annually, can actually save a lot of cash with such a small change.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard allegations about press cars. Much more disturbing is British road test editor Chris Harris’ allegations about Ferrari media test cars. You can read his account on Jalopnik. We have no way of knowing if the story is true or not but it does make you wonder…

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