Every once in a while when I follow up with a participant in TrueDelta’s Vehicle Reliability Survey, I’ll be told that the car in question required “no significant repairs.” At which point I ask, what about the insignificant ones? Unlike with Consumer Reports, every repair beyond routine maintenance and wear items (which are explicitly listed) should be reported. Even if… More →
Category: Research Methods
Research Methods
Which 2008s might be included in the February results?
A few weeks ago I posted that including as many 2008 models as possible in the next set of results was a top priority. I’ve even put the header into the pot–the 2008s with the most responses will replace the current vehicles in the header. (Maybe this will become an annual thing.) So, who’s in the running? Buick Enclave –… More →
What’s a serious rattle?
TrueDelta’s results currently include all shop trips that included a successful repair (unless this repair was a simple reflash). We don’t yet distinguish between “serious” repairs and minor ones. Often this is suggested. But doing this can be very tricky. As I first reported back in June of 2006, Consumer Reports’ method contains a serious flaw: they ask that only… More →
Getting those quarters to drop…
You know those arcade games where you drop a quarter in, and if it lands just right a bunch of previously dropped quarters–that appear to be teetering on the edge–will fall into the trough? Well, TrueDelta’s Vehicle Reliability Survey is much the same way for me. As people respond at the end of the quarter, I watch as the number… More →
Including more models in the VRS results
When TrueDelta first started posting results a year ago, we posted an “official result” with a minimum of 18 responses that included 72 months of data. Asterisked results were provided with at least ten responses that included 40 months. These numbers were chosen based on where the results seemed to stabilize. In subsequent result sets the minimums were increased because… More →
Reporting repairs might actually help your resale value
Over on Bimmerforums.com, someone recently asked, “If my vehicle had problems, how would it benefit me to report it? It would only cause my resale to drop later if I had problems.” No doubt this question has crossed many people’s minds. Seems logical. But there is a major flaw in the logic: TrueDelta isn’t the only one reporting vehicle reliability… More →
The current survey, and the weakest link
The latest survey email went out yesterday, and in the first 24 hours nearly 1,900 responses have been received. This is a bit better than in the past. The goal for this month: 3,600 responses. This will compare with 2,835 responses three months ago, 811 responses a year ago, and 153 responses in November 2005, the first month of the… More →
Analysis now includes some repair trips where parts were ordered
No part of TrueDelta’s Vehicle Reliability Survey (with the exception of email delivery) causes more trouble than the process of reporting a repair trip where parts were ordered and then another when the parts are installed. Often people only report one and not the other. How should this be handled when analyzing the data? To date, analyses have only included… More →
Filling the gaps
Each quarter, after data collection ends, I send emails to those with a gap in their responses seeking to close said gap. This time around, these emails went out to 50 members who responded for June and in earlier quarters, but who missed either December or March. Just a couple percent of the total, but still well worth doing. For… More →
Data collection has ended for June 2007
Data collection is now complete for June. I held the data collection open for a few extra days, in an attempt to include a handful of models that were a single response short, but to no avail. These included the 2004 and 2005 Cadillac CTS. Even so, the August results will include 52 models, up from 33 in May. There will also… More →