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… More →
Category: Research Methods
Research Methods
Getting to 40 (percent)
For six previous sets of results, the response rate has been just over 40 percent–much higher than the average survey. So when this month began, the goal was again a response rate of 40 percent. Response to the initial email was strong, but that to first and second follow-ups was not. So a week ago I feared this would be… More →
Serious mods: how common are they?
From time to time someone will suggest to me that TrueDelta’s results might be distorted by the popularity of vehicle modifications–mods–among forum members. After all, many people learn about TrueDelta’s research through my forum posts. In response, I’ve been planning to ask panel members about how much they’ve modified their cars, and adjust the analysis accordingly. The resulting questions were… More →
Why I hate half-years
March 2008 is just now ending, and already a number of 2009 models are available. Legally, a car can be a 2009 as soon as the 2008 calendar year begins. Some people will take exception with this. Why can’t the model years match the calendar years, or at least come close? Well, before make this request, consider the alternative. Some manufacturers… More →
What does it take?
When the Vehicle Reliability Survey first goes out near the beginning of the month, over 1,000 people responded in the first two hours. Now we’re at the end of the cycle, and I’ve been pushing to get six models that are just a single response short over the hump. Nearly 200 emails were sent this morning to panel members who own… More →
Upcoming results for 2008 models
With J.D. Power and even more with Consumer Reports, it has not been possible to buy a new model while it was still new without taking a chance on reliability. J.D. Power releases its results in early June (based on data collected early in the calendar year), while Consumer Reports releases its results in late October (based on data collected… More →
This research is a team effort
I decided to include a “pep talk” in the first follow-up email that went out to members who didn’t respond to the initial email. It went like this: This research is a team effort. It isn’t conducted for corporate clients. It’s conducted for those who participate in it–you. As with other teams, if too many members rely on others to… More →
No repairs? Still just as important to participate.
Every once in a while someone will resign from the panel and, when I ask why, they’ll respond that their car hasn’t been having any problems, so their participation hasn’t been of any use. No doubt many people think that cars with problems provide more valuable information than those without any problems. But this just isn’t true. The primary goal… More →
First 2,000 responses in just under 12 hours
The Internet is an amazing instrument for survey research. As long as vehicle reliability research was conducted by snail mail, firms conducted surveys only one a year and took months to release the results. I developed TrueDelta’s reliability research process to take advantage of the much quicker turnaround times enabled by online surveys. And yet I didn’t imagine how rapidly… More →
Cleaning and lubing – should they count as repairs?
I’ve started to review the survey responses for the quarter, in preparation for releasing preliminary results to members in a few weeks. As always, this process leads to tweaks, as I refine the rules of what does and does not count as a repair for the purposes of this analysis. A tweak I’m currently considering: excluding cleaning and lubrication as maintenance… More →