Vehicle Reliability Survey Results: "Times in the Shop"

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These are the results from TrueDelta's Vehicle Reliability Survey (VRS) for the year ending June 30, 2007. The survey itself can only be accessed through links in an email sent to panel members.

At this early stage, many sample sizes are small. So only one stat is provided, Times in the Shop, the average number of successful repair trips per year per 100 vehicles (yellow column in the table).

However, results are updated every three months, and each time both the sample sizes and the number of models grows (list of models in the pipeline). When the sample sizes permit it, TrueDelta will report additional stats.

Members can log in to see results for 46 additional models on which 15 to 24 owners responded. These are marked with asterisks in the table.

Not a member yet? Read about TrueDelta's research and how to participate by clicking here.

Important: TrueDelta grants limited rights to republish the following results. The results for a maximum of three models can be included in an article or thread without our written permission.

Car you're interested in not listed? Then not enough owners participated. You can help by telling others about this research. More participants = more information for everyone.

Definitions

• Trips/year per 100 (VRS Score) -- average number of successful repair trips per year per 100 vehicles; number of successful repair trips reported by owners divided by months of data, then multiplied by 12 (to annualize), then multiplied by 100
• Graph -- pointer shows how the model compares to others from the same model year
• Vehicles -- number of vehicles for which owners provided data
• Months -- total number of months for which these owners supplied data
• Mon/veh -- average number of months of data per vehicle
• Odometer -- average odometer reading during these months, in miles

General Notes

Models marked with an asterisk* have very low sample sizes. At best, the results for these models, which are visible only to logged-in members, provide a very rough estimate of their reliability.

Ultra-low repair rates: Any result under 20 repair trips per 100 vehicles is likely a result of the small sample size or cars too new to have experienced many problems, and should be expected to increase to at least 20 in future updates.

New models often start out with high repair rates, and then improve during the model year as the manufacturer identifies and addresses common problems. The next set of results, which will be posted in November, should indicate any changes.

In general, the absolute differences are not large. The most reliable models tend to require a repair trip once every three or four years, while the average model requires one about once every two years and the least reliable models average about a trip a year.

Model-Specific Notes

2006 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum: Without a trunk fit issue that affects only the Charger, the result would be about 85.

Hummer H3, Jeep Wrangler, Toyota FJ Cruiser: Many owners ventured off-road, which subjected their vehicles to much additional stress.

2007 Infiniti G35: Nearly all repairs involved either detached sunroof trim or the passenger seat heater. Both are known issues covered by TSBs, and should not affect more recently produced cars.

2006 Mazda6: About 40 percent of responses were for the MazdaSpeed6, which likely has a higher repair rate than the regular Mazda6. Sample sizes are too small to provide separate results for each.

2007 Toyota Camry: Reliability appears to vary by powertrain, though the sample sizes are too small to post separate results. That said, the repair rate for the conventional four-cylinder (33 responses) appears to be about the same as the overall repair rate, while the V6 (13 responses) has double the repair rate (owing to transmission issues), and the Hybrid (12 responses) has a lower repair rate.

2004.5 Volvo S40 / V50, 2005.5 VW Jetta, and some others: TrueDelta's analyses place half-year cars in the following year.

Methodology

Description of the research process.

Two refinements have been made to the data analysis process:

1. Values for extreme outliers were adjusted downward
2. Trips where parts were ordered are now included in the total until a follow-up trip is reported

Each refinement affected only about ten models, and the impact is only larger than 10 repair trips per hundred in a handful of cases.

The accuracy of TrueDelta's results will increase as the sample sizes and the number of months per vehicle grow (confidence intervals).

Thank you

Everyone who helped make this fourth set of results possible, thank you.

The previous set of results can be viewed here.

You can help provide more comprehensive and more precise future results by joining the panel.

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