Currently TrueDelta publicly posts Vehicle Reliability Survey results when there have been responses for at least 20 vehicles owned for at least 80 total months. In comparison, Consumer Reports’ minimum sample is 100 vehicles, with no minimum number of months of ownership. One hundred sounds a lot more impressive than 20. And they do love to brag about the size of their… More →
Category: Research Methods
Research Methods
Corruption in dealer satisfaction surveys
“Don’t Coach Me on how to Answer your Stupid Survey,” Mrad writes over at Volksbloggin, a VW-focused blog. The object of his ire: dealers that ask you to give them perfect marks on sales and service satisfaction surveys conducted by the manufacturer. I’ve come across this myself, and read about it often on various forums. Why is this survey process… More →
How soon can the reliability of a new model be known?
When a new model such as the Saturn Aura sedan comes out, many people wait until reliability information is available before taking a chance by buying one. So TrueDelta intends to provide such information as soon as possible. But how soon is possible?
Assumptions made by the CNW “lifetime energy cost” report
A few weeks ago I posted a critique of CNW’s lifetime energy cost report, which controversially concluded that a Prius uses up more energy per mile over its lifetime than a Hummer. My critique then was based simply on the ridiculously high cost per mile figures the report included. From this I inferred that some untenable assumptions were made by… More →
Without a random sample, aren’t TrueDelta’s results biased?
TrueDelta doesn’t gather its data from a random sample of vehicle owners. Worse, many people join TrueDelta after reading about it on a forum, and many people only visit automotive forums when they have a problem with their car. For these two reasons, I’m often asked “Don’t you think your research is going to be very biased?. The short answer: no… More →
The anti-hybrid “dust-to-dust” cost study that just won’t die, but needs to
To me, hybrids make intuitive sense. Why not recover some of the energy that will otherwise be converted to heat by the brakes? But some people hate hybrids. And for them CNW’s ‘Dust to Dust Automotive Energy Report’ has been a godsend. It claims that once you consider all of the energy costs that go into a vehicle, from development… More →
Reliability stats from Warranty Direct
A month or so ago extended warranty provider Warranty Direct released claim rates by manufacturer. Since it was largely (or even entirely) based on UK policies, this study only received attention across the water. Then, yesterday, Mazda USA decided to tout its top ranking. And I’m being asked what I think of these results. On the face of it, an extended… More →
Fresh data
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… More →
Changes to the Vehicle Reliability Survey
In response to member feedback and continued learning on my part, beginning this month there will be a few tweaks to the Vehicle Reliability Survey Form. (The more extensive revision three months ago is discussed here.)
Challenges: the response rate
Yesterday I sent out the second follow-up to this month’s survey email. Each time I send these, I get nervous. How many people will respond? How many will decide that supplying an odometer reading is too much trouble, and that they aren’t interested in participating after all?