What's also noticeable is that the review scores drop as the cars get older, and not always because (e.g. the mk VII Golf) they start to get lots of faults either. Maybe its because some are just average when compared, dynamically speaking, as well as specs, to the latest models. Mine (Mazda3 mk1) dropped from a 4 star to a 3, though that might've been (not confirmed) due to problems with some of the diesel engines in the Mazda range even back then.

The problem the OP may be experiencing might be due to an add-on ad blocker or cookie controller on their browser - some seem to stop genuine web page content by perhaps being overly aggressive in how they work. Worth a check if they haven't been looking at the road tests as RobJP says.