TrueDelta doesn’t gather its data from a random sample of vehicle owners. Worse, many people join TrueDelta after reading about it on a forum, and many people only visit automotive forums when they have a problem with their car. For these two reasons, I’m often asked “Don’t you think your research is going to be very biased?. The short answer: no… More →
Month: February 2007
Blurring the lines between editorial and advertising
Car and Driver has been conducting events for automakers for a few years. At these events, a few hundred people drive the client’s car and those of its competitors, then declare the client’s car the winner and praise it lavishly. Now Automotive News reports in this week’s issue that both Car and Driver and sister publication Road & Track will create… More →
Reliability results, most improved: Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle
Panel members received a sneak preview of the latest Vehicle Reliabiity Survey results last week, and these can now be reached from the home page. While going over the data, a few things struck me as notable. Among them, the Ford’s large sedan and crossover / wagon appear to have improved greatly from their first year to their second.
The cars pictured in the header
I’ve been charged a few times with being biased against domestic cars simply based on the cars depicted in the header: an Acura TL, a Kia Sportage, and a Honda Odyssey. I suppose an explanation of how these cars were selected is long overdue.
Proper maintenance – the key to reliability?
Time and time again, most recently in this thread over at VWVortex, I’ve come across the claim that caring properly for a car makes all the difference. Care for a car, and it’ll be reliable. Don’t care for it, and it won’t be. While there’s some truth to this, it’s far from the whole truth.
Sale extended–get yours before they’re all gone!!!
Earlier this month I posted that GM wants to make my life harder by having incentives that change every two weeks rather than monthly or quarterly (which is the norm). Most recently, they ran a one-week “Presidents Day Sale.” Which was supposed to end on the 20th. So the night of the 20th I removed the Presidents Day deals from… More →
The anti-hybrid “dust-to-dust” cost study that just won’t die, but needs to
To me, hybrids make intuitive sense. Why not recover some of the energy that will otherwise be converted to heat by the brakes? But some people hate hybrids. And for them CNW’s ‘Dust to Dust Automotive Energy Report’ has been a godsend. It claims that once you consider all of the energy costs that go into a vehicle, from development… More →
Reliability stats from Warranty Direct
A month or so ago extended warranty provider Warranty Direct released claim rates by manufacturer. Since it was largely (or even entirely) based on UK policies, this study only received attention across the water. Then, yesterday, Mazda USA decided to tout its top ranking. And I’m being asked what I think of these results. On the face of it, an extended… More →
Do virtual cars ever break down?
Pontiac bought an island to display and sell cars in the virtual world of Second Life. Fellow island-owner Scion recently held the first simultaneous real word / virtual world press conference to introduce two new models. While the Mark Templin with a pulse gave a speech in front of me, his avatar gave an identical speech in Second Life. To an audience composed of virtual Scion… More →
Launching weak
For years enthusiasts have asked GM to offer its European cars in the U.S. (An Opel Omega rebadged as a Cadillac Catera didn’t count.) This fall they’ll start to get their wish, when the Opel Astra goes on sale as the Saturn Astra, with more German-engineered Opels rebadged as Saturns to follow. I fear that the Astra will not sell… More →