TrueDelta will soon post repair rates for the year ending December 31, 2006. The data are at the analyst, and the results will go up as soon as he gets them to me.

Once the panel is larger, perhaps as early as next year, TrueDelta will provide initial results for new models introduced in October as early as this February release. Consumer Reports will provide its initial results the following November, seven months later, for the year ending March 31. At which point TrueDelta will be releasing results for the year ending September 30th.

This is the smallest the lag between our results and their results will ever be: six months. From August through October, key car buying months, TrueDelta’s lead will be largest: March 31 of the previous year vs. June 30 of the current year. Fifteen months.

On average, TrueDelta’s results will lead CR’s by over ten months. We’re updating results quarterly, and posting results less than two months after the reporting period ends, because freshness counts. When you’re looking at reliability ratings for three-year-old cars, do you want them based on two years of ownership, or nearly three? Put another way, do you want to know how reliable the car was a year ago, or how reliable it has been recently?