Can We Use JD Power Studies To Become The eHarmony of the Automotive World?

Are the statistical experts at JD Power, and the matchmaking experts over at eHarmony.com more alike than different?

Before you think that 009 has truly flipped out, let me explain. The whole premise of eHarmony is that, through their patented 29 step evaluation process, they promise you will meet the mate most compatible for you. Sounds good on the surface, and if you think about it, buying a car is a bit like picking a potential mate

First you weigh the attractiveness of the candidate, and factor in the known negative values, and then determine if this relationship is worthy of a long term commitment. Basically, it is a statistical analysis weighing emotional factors with real life consequences.

Just like buying a new car.

First the right side of the brain kicks in and the emotional appeal of the vehicle entices your senses. But now the left side of the brain factors in and reliability and quality issues to counterpoint those emotions. Who wins? Sometimes we make a wrong choice the emotions rule, and we buy a car that turns into a nightmare. On the other hand if we allow logical to always prevail, then are we missing out on the thrill of taking it to the next level? After all you can’t always live in a cocoon can we?

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could give us all of the steps needed to find the perfect automotive match? Maybe JD Power surveys can show us the collective light? The three main reports released by the Power network actually may do just that.

First off is the annual APEAL study which quantifies the same basic emotional tendencies that eHarmony addresses for match making. Then the Initial Quality Study and the Vehicle Dependability Studies if subtracted are available to bring us back to reality.

So let’s take two examples and run them through the paces and see what we get. In this example we will take the overall APEAL scores as a basis of our computations.

First off we will take Lexus, for many the benchmark of excellence in all areas. Lexus scores rather highly in the APEAL rankings with a score of 836 points. Next we will subtract the excellent IQS and VDS scores of 94 and 136 respectively, and we get a grand total of 606 points. Not too bad overall. Now on to example number two, Land Rover.

Land Rover too ranks in the upper end of the APEAL rankings with a score of 815 points but this time when we subtract out the IQS and VDS scores of 170 and 428 we get an over total of only 218 points. A big difference compared to the Lexus. It seems reliability and quality issues can really take their toll in the exercise.

Can these reports be combined in a meaningful manner? No doubt scientifically the results are probably off by quite a margin, but the theory at least is correct. With that in mind I applied the formula across the board to let you see how everyone stacks up against each other The idea here is to see who matches best wit the target consumer

Now looking at these rankings how do you think they stack up. Are you where you think you should be?

 

APEAL–IQS-VDS=Match Compatibility?

 

APEAL	VDS	IQS	Overall
836	136	94	606	Lexus
818	163	135	520	Cadillac
841	210	112	519	Jaguar
849	248	91	510	Porsche
847	212	133	502	BMW
815	184	130	501	Acura
844	240	111	493	Mercedes-Benz
823	215	117	491	Infniti
810	220	100	490	Lincoln
743	151	113	479	Mercury
776	194	108	474	Honda
761	179	112	470	Toyota
750	153	127	470	Buick
772	227	125	420	Industry Avg
829	279	136	414	Audi
754	224	120	410	Ford
776	242	132	402	Nissan
768	239	131	398	GMC
762	232	133	397	Pontiac
763	241	129	393	Chevrolet
792	272	129	391	Volvo
766	253	125	388	Hyundai
777	243	163	371	Mazda
724	232	133	359	Subaru
740	232	151	357	Chrysler
770	260	155	355	Mitsubishi
800	299	160	341	Volkswagen
757	289	132	336	Saturn
784	326	133	325	Saab
737	258	156	323	Dodge
742	310	125	307	Kia
773	307	162	304	HUMMER
718	264	161	293	Jeep
738	318	153	267	Suzuki
816	428	170	218	Land Rover

Note Mini, Scion, and Isuzu were not computed due to too small of a sample size.

Agent009 - 7/11/2007 2:19:00 PM

+2 Boost

I am not a BMW fan by any stretch....

Just challenging to look at another side of the reasons why we like what we do....

Agent009 - 7/11/2007 2:53:24 PM

+1 Boost

I emailed you about that submission, thanks!

Agent009 - 7/11/2007 2:52:51 PM

+3 Boost

I nearly fell out of my chair reading a compliment from you! LOL

The reasons I did it the originally way was to allow reason (reliability & quality) to weigh in more in the overall score and give more than a minor impact on the emotional value.

Too many times we discount or exaggerate real values.

For example, is a car with a VDS score of 100 twice as reliable as a car with the score of 200. Technically it is, but in the overall scheme of things most people would never even notice.

I see nothing wrong with your formula, The VDS and IQS are scores based off of 1 per 100 vehicles sampled and the APEAL is not in that format. Without specific details from JD Power we will never know if it could ever correlate, but your math makes about as much sense as mine.

The real person to ask would be cdoke he is "da man" when is comes to statistics. But then again he would probably be laughing at my feeble attempts to make reason of this unrelated data.

Agent009 - 7/11/2007 4:57:50 PM

+2 Boost

XeroK00L- The reason really don't agree on the 100 vs 200 scenario is that many times when a car goes to the dealer it maybe for two issues. One of the main problem with VDS and IQS is we never see how many time it went to the dealer for issue resolution.

If you had only one problem and it went one, to me it would be the same as having two minor issues that were service at the same interval. Basically the same down time.

rg12345 - 7/11/2007 3:02:32 PM

-2 Boost

Whatever! So, which car is the One for me??? How do I find that out?? I see numbers, what do I do with them?

Agent009 - 7/11/2007 3:40:40 PM

+2 Boost

the higher the number the more of a chance you will be eternally happy with a long term relationship.

david989 - 7/11/2007 3:17:50 PM

+2 Boost

Good to see Lexus in first place as usual.

chuck717 - 7/11/2007 3:57:21 PM

+4 Boost

david> I'm not a Lexus owner nor do i care to be one i like my German cars and Infiniti but i must say that when a person in genaral is ask about their car almost all Lexus owners praise the machine and look forward to buying another one. I can't say the same for the German cars. People of course like their status look but all usally qualify it with a " I wish it held up better, at the dealer to many times, very touchy cars etc. So you are right it is not a shocker to see Lexus always do well in survey's, Lexus customers for the most part are their best advertisers.

Will_ - 7/11/2007 4:41:33 PM

0 Boost

Survey number crunching is never appealing in my opinion. What has been proven or disproved here?