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residentEvil · Sep 21, 2005, 02:36 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/09/21/...eal/index.html

I'm guessing they should say where these people where surveyed as this has to be based on a certain region. This poll wouldn't have the same results if the people were from Detroit (or even Michigan).

I mean, I would like to know of the 115,000 polled, how many were from a state that has a Big 3 influence (GM, Ford, Chrysler name plates not the other company names they own).

turtle777 · Sep 21, 2005, 03:23 PM

Biased.

-t

residentEvil · Sep 21, 2005, 05:32 PM

That is what I'm thinking. I bet you ask 115,000 people in different areas of the country and the results would be different every time.

iMOTOR · Sep 21, 2005, 07:53 PM

Top Premium luxury car: Lexus LS430

Uh, no.

I call shenanigans.

Railroader · Sep 22, 2005, 12:31 AM

These surveys are near meaningless. And this is why:

J.D. Power's Automotive Performance Execution and Layout study was based on surveys of 115,000 new vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. They were asked about their satisfaction with aspects of their vehicles including the engine and transmission, ride and handling, comfort and convenience and styling.

They are not objective, but entirely subjective upon the owner's opinions.

It is nice to see GM high on a lot of the surveys though.

willed · Sep 22, 2005, 04:06 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

These surveys are near meaningless. And this is why:

They are not objective, but entirely subjective upon the owner's opinions.

It is nice to see GM high on a lot of the surveys though.

Right, so customer satisfaction is meaningless? Okay... These surveys are run in the UK every year by Top Gear and JD Power. Japenese cars often tend to come out on top, mainly because of their reliability, while cars such as Mercedes have been dropping down the list recently due to their recent poor build quality. Granted, it's not an entirely scientific test, but then there's no entirely scientific way to compare two different cars! Objective is a much over-used and little-understood word. In the UK version though respondants come from all over the country and rarely have localised car alliegences.

Railroader · Sep 22, 2005, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by willed

Right, so customer satisfaction is meaningless? Okay... These surveys are run in the UK every year by Top Gear and JD Power. Japenese cars often tend to come out on top, mainly because of their reliability, while cars such as Mercedes have been dropping down the list recently due to their recent poor build quality. Granted, it's not an entirely scientific test, but then there's no entirely scientific way to compare two different cars! Objective is a much over-used and little-understood word. In the UK version though respondants come from all over the country and rarely have localised car alliegences.

Did I say "meaningless"? Nope. I said "near meaningless". Big difference. One is absolute and the other has a margin of usefulness.

So, nowhere in the UK are there localized car alliegences? I HIGHLY doubt that.

macroy · Sep 22, 2005, 08:13 AM

"he Kia Amanti was the top-ranked "Premium midsize car" in the survey and the Kia Sportage was the top-ranked "Entry SUV." (The discontinued Pontiac Aztek placed third, after the Nissan Xterra, in the "Entry SUV" category.)"

Something's fishy there.... People actually volunteered to buy that thing?

willed · Sep 22, 2005, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Did I say "meaningless"? Nope. I said "near meaningless". Big difference. One is absolute and the other has a margin of usefulness.

So, nowhere in the UK are there localized car alliegences? I HIGHLY doubt that.

Oh right. Meaningless, 'near' meaningless. Either way, it's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the importance of consumer satisfaction, something which I would say was one of the most important factors in whether or not a car is worth buying.

As to local alliegences in the UK - there are no indigenous volume car manufacturers left in the UK with the closure of Rover recently. The Mini factory (owned by BMW) is in Oxford but I didn't notice that making much difference to the locals, as people all over the UK like Minis. So yeah, I don't think there are many local alliegences that would be of significance in the JD Power survey here. And anyway, like I said, the UK JD Power survey takes responses from all over the UK.

Thorin · Sep 22, 2005, 10:28 AM

You see a lot of Peugeot's in Coventry, because there's a plant here, and they employ a massive number of people, so I suspect a lot of that is down to company cars. I would imagine you would see a lot of Toyota's in the Burton/Derby area as well, for a similar reason.

When averaged across the whole country though, I doubt that has a significant impact on the survey.

olePigeon · Sep 22, 2005, 11:34 AM

J. D. Power & Associates was invented in 1996. I'm still convinced there was never a "J. D. Power" and that all they do is get paid a crap load of money by companies just to say that their products are the best.

Railroader · Sep 23, 2005, 03:19 AM

Originally Posted by macroy

"he Kia Amanti was the top-ranked "Premium midsize car" in the survey and the Kia Sportage was the top-ranked "Entry SUV." (The discontinued Pontiac Aztek placed third, after the Nissan Xterra, in the "Entry SUV" category.)"

Something's fishy there.... People actually volunteered to buy that thing?

I can't stand to even look at the thing, but I know a few people who bought it and they love them. I know one family with two of them.

One great thing about owning one is you never have to worry about someone stealing it!