TrueDelta

Hyundai has released pricing for it’s Lexus LS 460 competitor (some might say knock-off–but then the same could be said of the first LS), and I rushed the figures into TrueDelta’s pricing database. I believe this makes TrueDelta the first site where you can configure–much less compare–pricing for the Genesis.

A few results:

Compared to a similarly loaded BMW 550i, the Genesis is $24,630 less before adjusting for feature differences, and about $25,900 less afterwards. And this is before an upcoming price increase at BMW.

Doing the same with a Lexus LS 460, we get differences of $28,200 (before adjusting for feature differences) and $28,600 (after).

Running the same comparison with an Infiniti M45, probably the least expensive direct competitor, we get differences of $11,400 (before adjusting for feature differences) and $14,100 (after).

I am not sure I have a complete list of Genesis features, as I only have the list Hyundai has released. If someone notices an omission, please contact me. For example, I’m assuming that the wood in the Genesis is not real.

Perform your own comparisons here.

And if you want to discuss the car, head over to partner forum GenesisOwners.com

We’re in the process of developing a number of new features for the site, with the making it more interesting, useful, and relevant while buying a car and–the big challenge–in between purchases.

So when I first rolled out the “Why (Not) This Car?” survey in last month’s email, and 20,000+ members submitted only 136 reviews in the following two days, I began to wonder if all of this effort would be for naught. Maybe members just wanted the site to be about the numbers topics: reliability, fuel economy, and prices?

But then I listened to initial feedback, and made some changes and improvements to the review process. Also, I had stuck the introduction at the bottom of a lengthy email–there was a lot of news last month. It was the classic case of “burying the lede.” (One member informed me that “lede” is more proper than “lead” in this usage.) This time around, I put “Why (Not) This Car?” at the top, and made it the focus of the email.

Big difference. Over 1,000 reviews were submitted the day that email went out. And another 400 the next day. There are now over 1,700 of them, enough for many models that I’ve reorganized the results into three sections: comparisons for, comparisons against, and single-car reviews.

As a result, my confidence in the upcoming new features has been restored. In the future, the big news goes at the top of the email.

The latest results for the Vehicle Reliability Survey have been posted. These cover member experiences through March 31, 2007, and include 122 models–238 if you include those with marginal sample sizes.

This is the third set of results to include 2008 models; no other source has provided even initial results on the 2008s yet.

In an earlier blog post I talked about how TrueDelta’s results could be used to tell how soon it is safe to buy a new car design, since they are promptly updated four times a year.

Now I can name some names. Most new 2008s in the survey have been relatively problem free so far. This includes the Honda Accord, Mercedes C-Class, Nissan Rogue, and Scion xB. (The Mercedes might be trending upward; the August results will be more conclusive.)

Not doing so well: the Cadillac CTS and Saturn VUE. Consider that the 2007 Saturn Aura and large GM crossovers also had relatively high repair rates, and GM seems to more consistently have messy launches. The Aura and crossovers are doing much better in their second year.

Ford has generally been doing better. However, we detected one exception this time around. TrueDelta reports separate results for different powertrains if the data warrant it. With the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, we’ve learned that the all-wheel-drive version’s power transfer unit (PTU) has a tendency to leak.

When the front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles are analyzed separately, the former checks in at a respectable 40 successful repair trips per 100 vehicles, while the AWD racks up 105.

When you have a panel of over 28,000 vehicles, some of them are going to be officially lemons. As in bought back by the manufacturer when some problem could not be repaired.

The current analysis includes only successfully completed repairs, for a number of reasons. One limitation of this approach: the worst cases of all, these lemons, appear to have no problems in these results.

So I’ve considered counting any buy back as a successfully completed repair. But there are two problems with this.

First, I don’t want to give manufacturers another reason to resist buying back a lemon.

Second, in many cases the car owner has to agree to say nothing about the settlement as part of the settlement. Essentially, manufacturers are paying hush money so that news of problem cars does not get out.

This can happen with any manufacturer. Most recently I heard of it with Honda concerning a 2008 Accord. That owner can no longer discuss the issue. But he supplied some information months before the settlement. Putting the pieces together, his Accord has a problem with the variable cylinder management and/or active noise cancellation that could not be fixed. The symptom was an irritating low frequency noise. So Honda bought the car back, and had him agree to saying nothing else about the car to anyone.

Very few completed repairs have been reported for the Accord. But there does seem to be a problem with the VCM. Beyond the car that was bought back, I noticed a similar noise during my own test drive of a V6 Accord. And one other panel member is reporting that the dealer says there’s simply nothing that can be done to fix a similar problem in his car.

What I’ll do for now: place a comment on the 2008 Accord in the May results.

Over the past decade manually shiftable automatics (and more recently, automated manuals) have become increasingly common. And yet there’s no standard way to operate the things. With BMW and Mazda pushing the lever forward downshifts, and pulling it backward upshifts. With other makes (and I believe even older BMWs), it’s the opposite.

With paddles on the steering wheel, somtimes you push to downshift and pull to upshift. Or the left one downshifts and the right one upshifts. Or some other combination.

There is no standard. I’ve often thought there should be one.

Or maybe not. In the comments on today’s BMW 128i review over at The Truth About Cars, ash78 suggests:

There is no reason Tiptronics shouldn’t give the driver the option on how they want the paddles/lever to react.

If Nintendo can offer this sort of option on sub-$100 consoles, surely huge auto manufacturers can do the same.

Brilliant. But is any manufacturer paying attention?

When the initial emails for the April survey went out, I set some goals. I wanted a response rate of at least 40 percent. At the time, I estimated that, based on the rate at which the panel has been growing, this would require 6,300 responses. I also estimated that this would enable full results on 120 model / model year combinations.

Tomorrow we move on to the May survey. As I write this, there have been 6,350 responses, for a response rate of 40.8 percent. This will enable us to provide full results for 122 model / model year combinations, and asterisked results for another 114. This is up from 92 and 96, respectively, in the February results.

No models is a single response short of a full result, and only one is a single response short of an asterisked result: the 2007 4Runner.

Everyone who has responded, thanks, you made this possible.

And those of you who didn’t respond (who are unlikely to be reading this): if you had, we’ve have full results for over 300 model / model year combinations.

But that’s just not realistic, so I try not to think about it…

Better to remind myself that a response rate of over 40 percent is far better than any other vehicle reliability survey.

With a new or thoroughly revised design, there’s always a chance of bugs. No new information there. This can happen with any manufacturer, even Honda or Toyota.

In the past, it’s been necessary to either take a chance with a new model, or wait a year.

But TrueDelta is changing this. When enough owners sign up quickly, we’re providing an initial reliability result four to six months after a model goes on sale. We reported on the 2008 Honda Accord back in February–Consumer Reports won’t until October. Right now I’m working on having results for some early 2009s in August.

And what if a new design has a high initial repair rate? (We’ll be reporting on one manufacturer with a consistently poor record in this area soon.) In the past, it’s been necessary to wait a year to see if the model’s reliability has improved. But TrueDelta updates four times a year. So if the initial result is discouraging, just wait a few months. In many cases it gets better because the manufacturer has identified problems, and fixed them.

TrueDelta’s process provides this information well before anyone else. So you can buy a new model while it’s still hot, without nearly as much worry.