J.D. Power got its start performing reliability research, which is also what TrueDelta has been focusing on. But some critics mused, “Enough about things gone wrong. What about things gone right? Perhaps some cars are so pleasurable to own and drive that a few extra problems are of little consequence.” And so research firms started conducting a second type of… More →
Month: June 2007
Hyundai plays “The Pricing Game”
Last year I wrote about what I like to call “The Pricing Game.” In this game, manufacturers raise sticker prices very little–and might even cut them–while raising the invoice prices paid by dealers. As a result, the prices paid by consumers go up even though the sticker prices changed very little, or not at all. It’s a hidden price increase.… More →
Option prices, then and now
As I noted in an earlier blog entry, nearly every car is “loaded” these days. A quarter-century ago only a minority of cars were equipped with things like power windows, power locks, and cruise control, and even air conditioning was rarely standard. These days all of these features, and then some, are standard on nearly every car. One big reason… More →
The hardest thing to evaluate during a test drive: long-distance seat comfort
Over at MazdaForums someone recently posted that they might have to sell the $40,000 CX-9 they just purchased because the seat became very uncomfortable for them after a few hours. They ended up getting an upholstery shop to trim back some excess material in the seams and add some padding, which helped some. But the fact remains that a seat… More →
The pig has cleared the python; have a photogenic car?
Ever since the current site design went up a year ago there has been a space reserved for photos at the top of each Model Information page. Getting these photos has long been on my to-do list, but other things always seemed more critical. Well, in late May I finally got down to the task of finding the most appropriate… More →
It’s not enough to develop a great product
Chevrolet has instructed its dealers to buy a Camry and put it in showrooms next to the redesigned 2008 Malibu this fall. Saturn dealers will soon be offering three-way test drives pitting its Aura sedan against the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. In both cases, the thinking is that if only car buyers recognized how well the GM sedans compare, they’d… More →
Why are so cars so much more expensive outside the U.S.?
Lately I’m reading many forum threads like this one where the poster wants to know why car prices are so much higher in Canada or Europe than in the United States. The simple answer: taxes and exchange rates. The former can be far higher in other countries. I’m going to focus on the latter here. The U.S. dollar has been falling… More →
J.D. Power’s 2007 IQS: tightest spread yet
J.D. Power has released the results of the 2007 version of their Initial Quality Study (IQS). This study surveys car owners about problems esperienced during the first 90 days of ownership. As in the past, it is important to look beyond who won to what is being measured and the size of the differences. With these things understood, J.D.’s latest… More →
How many Camrys can Toyota sell?
Supposedly the vehicle market has been fragmenting. This is why Ford chose to replace the Taurus with two different models, the Fusion and the Five Hundred (soon to be renamed Taurus). Sedan sales have been steadily declining as people switch to an increasingly broad variety other, more multi-functional vehicle types. And there are more brands to choose from than in decades… More →
Proof of concept: reliability results for the Nissan Versa and Saturn Aura
With frequent surveys and fast analysis, TrueDelta’s research process has been designed to provide reliability information soon after a new model launches. And so the May results include the first reliability statistics you’ll find anywhere on the Nissan Versa and Saturn Aura.