J. D. Power 2006 Report

[VetLegion]

As you know, J.D. Power (wiki) (link to the report on official site) is a company which does large scale surveys on car owners to find out satisfaction levels for different car models and brands. The 2006 Report is out.









Any comments?

[RGBVideo]

I'm pleased to see that my prejudice for Lexuses and Toyotas, and against Land Rovers and Hummers is satisfied.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

It bears little resemblance to the British JD Power results. Skoda always do extremely well as a manufacturer, yet are based on VW underpinnings.

[VetLegion]

Well, quality control is where it's at, it seems.

[Asher]

Initial quality is completely meaningless, as problems are solved under warranty.

Their "long-term reliability" survey is completely meaningless, as it's still under warranty.

[Sava]

I've always wondered... who the **** is JD Power... who are his associates... and why should I care what he thinks?

[Asher]

The findings are always suspect because JD Power's studies are funded by auto makers...

Consumer Reports > JD Power.

[Urban Ranger]

I am surprised to see VW and BMW are that bad.

[Richelieu]

Hyundai
Hyundai Elantra

[Dinner]

Wow, big changes since last year. It looks like everyone got better but Porche and Hyundai took a quantum leap in quality.

[Dinner]

BTW the intial quality survey is worth while to look at but you have to understand exactly what it says. The Intial quality study simply measures the number of defects (I.E. parts which aren't put on entirely correctly) which a car has at the time of delivery at the dealership. That doesn't measure long term performance of how well a car holds up but it is still useful information.

The Long term reliability measures the number of things which break on a car and how much they cost to fix during the first 3 years of ownership while the dependability rating measures the number of things which break on a car over a five year period (cost independent). They're all useful studies but you need to keep in mind exactly what each one is looking at.

[Dinner]

It appears that starting this year old JD also mixes in a bit of personal opinion on the "Intial Quality Study" in that it doesn't measure just quality but also ease of use. Thus BMW gets knocked down because JD's men are to stupid to figure out how BMW's Idrive system works even if said system is working flawlessly.

From CNN Money:

Porsche rises to the top in a new J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey. The survey was revised this year to take into account inherent design issues as well as malfunctions and manufacturing defects. ... Vehicle brands can vary widely in the two quality measures. "For example, BMW vehicles have among the fewest defects and malfunctions, along with Toyota," said Ivers. "But BMW approaches controls and displays in a way that creates some problems for customers, leading to more design-related problems overall than Toyota incurs." BMW ranked well below average in the survey with 142 problems per 100 vehicles.

Can you say, "iDrive stinks"? Or "Bangle bungles"?

http://professorbainbridge.com/2006/06/jd_powers_porsc.html

[Asher]

Originally posted by Oerdin
The Long term reliability measures the number of things which break on a car and how much they cost to fix during the first 3 years of ownership

The vast majority of cars are under warranty 3 years after purchase...

[Dinner]

Did you miss the part about the five year study?

[Asher]

Yes, because that's not how it's actually done.