West Bloomfield, MI (PRWEB) November 13, 2007 -- Truedelta.com, the automotive website that provides fast, accurate vehicle reliability, pricing, and fuel economy information, has announced the latest results of its Vehicle Reliability Survey (VRS.)
The results capture owner experiences through the end of September 2007, and reflect TrueDelta's ability to provide car buyers with reliability information in a more timely manner than competitors.
"Our primary competitor's latest reliability ratings are based on data that is already half a year old," explained Michael Karesh, developer of TrueDelta.com. "And their data will only grow older over the coming year. When considering a car, do you want to know how reliable it was a year ago, or how reliable it has been recently?"
Results show margins of difference
When reliability information is reported in terms of relative "dot" ratings, the actual size of differences is unclear.
"As a result, people often think cars without stellar reputations require far more repairs than they actually do," says Karesh.
TrueDelta.com reports reliability as an absolute number - or VRS score -- based on repair trips per year. These results demonstrate that the difference between models is often slim.
"We're not talking about the difference between 'never breaks' and 'in the shop all the time'," Karesh explained. "Instead, we're often talking about the odds of a single repair trip per year."
Some car buyers will choose to avoid this usually small number of additional repair trips, while others will decide other factors outweigh these differences in reliability. Either way, TrueDelta's information makes the car buying decision clearer.
Superior research process yields bad news, good news for GM's Lambdas
This release includes far more models than ever before, among them the first 2008s.
Three months ago, TrueDelta released results for GM's new large "Lambda" crossovers, the 2007 GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook. Their repair rate was worse than average, with owners reporting a broad array of problems.
The current update confirms the moderately high repair rate for the 2007 versions of these crossovers; there has been no improvement. Common problem areas include a valve within the air conditioning system, the front seats' lumbar support adjustersLatest Study, and the lid for the storage compartment on top of the instrument panel.
Based on survey responses, the repair rate for the 2008 Buick Enclave, along with the 2008 GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook, is substantially lower than that of their 2007 counterparts: 38 successful repair trips per 100 vehicles per year. This compares to 98 successful repair trips per 100 vehicles per year for the 2007s at a similar age.
This much lower repair rate suggests that, in the five months from the launch of the Outlook and the launch of the Enclave, GM identified and corrected common problems with the vehicles.
The 2008s are still new, and their repair rates could increase as they accumulate miles.
In addition to the 2008 Lambdas, the February update will include additional 2008 models four to eight months ahead of any other consumer source of vehicle reliability information.
About TrueDelta.com
The most innovative auto-owner survey website, TrueDelta uses the Internet to connect with a broad spectrum of vehicle owners. These owners join TrueDelta as "panelists" and provide TrueDelta's data through brief online surveys. In exchange for their participation, these vehicle owners receive full access to TrueDelta's quarterly results free of charge.
These vehicle owners provide a base of more than 20,000 vehicles that has been growing rapidly. This growth is due in part to enthusiastic support from owner forums such as EnclaveForum.net, which was essential in quickly building a sufficient sample of Buick Enclave owners.
Consumers can view the latest VRS results and become involved at TrueDelta.com.
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