TrueDelta only recently started collecting data on the 2007 Acura MDX. So far, the 32 owners who have responded have reported only one trip to the shop that included a successful repair. This repair trip would be included in the analysis, except for one thing: the repair was reported for January, and the owner in question did not respond for March. With TrueDelta’s system, only owners who respond at the end of their quarter have their responses from that quarter included in the analysis.

Now, showing no repairs for the new MDX doesn’t sit well with me, because it’s not accurate. While this indicates that the reliability of the new MDX will be good, it certainly won’t be flawless. I expect the stat will be around 0.3 trips per year the next time results are reported, in August.

Still, while including that January repair trip might make the results more accurate in this single case, overall it would make the results less accurate.

Let’s say we have 200 owners. 100 respond consistently, while 100 respond only when they have a problem. Let’s say that 10 in each group have a repair.Including all 200 owners in the analysis would make the estimated problem rate 16.67% (20 problems divided by 120 responses), when the actual is 10%. Including only the 100 consistent responders will yield a much more accurate result.