Archive for March, 2007

Currently TrueDelta publicly posts Vehicle Reliability Survey results when there have been responses for at least 20 vehicles owned for at least 80 total months. In comparison, Consumer Reports’ minimum sample is 100 vehicles, with no minimum number of months of ownership. One hundred sounds a lot more impressive than 20. And they do love to brag about the size of their sample. But 20 is far more sufficient for what we’re doing than 100 is for what they do.

(more…)

“Don’t Coach Me on how to Answer your Stupid Survey,” Mrad writes over at Volksbloggin, a VW-focused blog. The object of his ire: dealers that ask you to give them perfect marks on sales and service satisfaction surveys conducted by the manufacturer. I’ve come across this myself, and read about it often on various forums. Why is this survey process so corrupt, and what could manufacturers possibly learn from it as a result?

(more…)

I just learned over at Infiniti forum G35Driver that Infiniti has bumped destination charges by $15. While $15 isn’t much in itself, it’s just the latest in a long string of such bumps. Remember the story about the frog who sat in the pot while the water temperature was raised by one degree each minute? It’s kind of like that.

(more…)

As the May results draw near, I am increasingly excited that TrueDelta that they will include some 2007 models. While the sample sizes will not be large, and the number of models small, I see this as a “proof of concept,” an early demonstration of what TrueDelta’s research process is capable of. After all, Consumer Reports won’t have reliability information on these models for six more months.

The models likely to make this list: the Saturn Aura, Nissan Versa, Honda Fit (where CR uses illegitimate data to provide a result), Acura MDX, and (maybe) GMC Acadia / Saturn Outlook. I’ve also already released two set of results for the Dodge Caliber, and one set for the Toyota Camry. The panel already includes between 40 and 65 of each of these for a simple reason: their owners participate actively in forums, and reacted enthusiastically to this research when I posted in these forums.

Which begs the question, why do some models have much more active forums than others?

(more…)

Earlier today I posted a blog entry suggesting that GM made a mistake showing the Volt. And now I’ve come across an instance where GM showed a promising concept three years ago, but has let someone else be the first to actually offer such a product.

(more…)

It’s becoming clear that the biggest news at this years Detroit auto show was GM’s introduction of the Chevrolet Volt. I didn’t pay much attention to it myself, figuring that no matter how you look at it this introduction was a mistake. An article by Sharon Terlep in yesterday’s Detroit News suggests that at least some people inside GM thought the same thing.

(more…)

My top priority, by a wide margin, is growing the panel to a point where TrueDelta can provide solid reliability information on all popular models. This was a major reason I started this blog, because a few people suggested it would make the site more attractive to potential members.

(more…)

Based on members’ suggestions, I have added two questions to the Fuel Economy Survey. One asks about the amount of time spent idling after a cold start, the other asks about the distance driven between cold starts. I was initially reluctant to lengthen the survey, because the shorter it is the more people will participate. However, some research found that both members’ cases were too strong to ignore.

(more…)

Many people continue to find the site difficult to use. So based on one member’s advice (with which the site’s designer concurred) I read Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think, a classic in the website usability genre. It’s a quick read, and I picked up some useful tips. I’ve spent the last couple of days improving the organization of the site and the layout of various pages. What do you think?

(more…)

The automotive blogs are all picking up Dan Lienert’s Forbes piece on “Value-Losing Cars,” a list of the cars that depreciate most quickly according to multiple sources. What all of them, including Mr. Lienert, fail to note is that these depreciation figures, like nearly all I’ve ever seen, are misleading.

(more…)