Every time an automotive research firm releases the results of a reliability survey, the focus is the same: who “won.” Firms like J.D. Power only publicly release model-level results for the top performers. Even where these firms release scores for all contenders at the make level, journalists focus on the winners. After all, John Q. wants someone to tell him which car to buy in as few words as possible. In the process, any car buyer truly interested in identifying the best car for their needs and wants gets left in the dark.
Yet few people realize this. It seems so natural to focus on the winners, whether the topic is an election, the NBA playoffs, or vehicle reliability. But let’s play “which one of these is not like the others” for a second. If someone wins an election by one vote, they get the office. If a team wins a deciding playoff game by one point, they get to move on to the next round. And if you buy the car that won an award by one point, you get…what?
In most cases, you do not get the car that best suits your needs. When evaluating a car, most people care about more than whether or not it’s the least likely to break. They’re also likely to be concerned about how it looks, how it drives, how well the seat fits their rear and more. Often the award winner isn’t nearly as attractive, as fun to drive or as comfortable as a competitor. Tradeoffs are a necessary part of the purchasing process.
Most reliability surveys provide dot ratings– with unspecified ranges of reliability– for the non-winners. But without the actual, precise scores for all the contenders, trading off quality against other factors is impossible. Buy the award winner and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how much style, performance, or comfort you’re giving up. But you won’t know how much “quality” you’re gaining in return. Say it’s one dot’s worth. Well, how much is that? Unfortunately, to make a wise choice, you need to know.
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