Survey results show 63,000 car buyers can be wrong

Every year, vehicle shoppers are showered with reports and advice, but much of it needs to be treated with skepticism.

Reports by the well-known consumer research company, J.D. Power and Associates, are a good example.

Inside the auto industry, Power's highly watched initial quality study, which measures consumer reactions during the first 90 days of vehicle ownership, has been criticized because it can muddle vehicle quality and customer satisfaction, two very different issues. Nor has Power weighted customer-reported problems based on their severity; bad wipers count the same as a bad engine. Power says it plans to improve the methodology.


Read Article

chewy - 7/11/2006 4:04:49 PM

0 Boost

There are so many surveys out there, I don't pay atttention to them that much. Half (at least the unknown ones) might be basically "sponsered" by some manufacturer to have their car win.

Spidey - 7/11/2006 6:35:08 PM

+1 Boost

It needs to be considered what the study (survey) is trying to measure. With J.D. Power and Associates, their studies are all based around customer satisfaction. The quality related studies measure how satisfaction is effected by quality. In the example you use, wiper blades may be a less significant problem mechanically, but it is upper there in dissatisfaction with a bad engine. You, like J.D. Power, have to be careful that you give facts, not opinion or hearsay.

MercBasher - 7/12/2006 2:42:25 PM

+1 Boost

The more surveys and the more clarification around the methodologies of the surveys the better. It can only help the consumer who's willing to spend half an hour researching vehicles before making a specific purchase decision