In the past, results to the Vehicle Reliability Study have first been posted a couple weeks after the end of data collection, or about 45 days after the end of the quarter.

This month I’ve decided to try something different. Most people who respond to the survey do so in the first week of data collection. So this time I started cleaning the data after the second follow-up. A few hundred more people will still respond before the end of the month, so the results could change. But the results at this point should generally be close to the final results.

So, on a trial basis, I’ve gone ahead and posted preliminary results. They will only be visible to people who’ve already responded to the surveys, to avoid potentially biasing the final results. They are not to be shared with anyone else–wait for the official results to do that.

All along I’ve only finalized the official results about a month after their release, to include any late additional responses or corrections.

So, with the new preliminary results, we’ll have three stages:

1. Preliminary results–October for this set

2. Official results–November

3. Final results–December

Then repeat

So, new numbers every month, and way ahead of anyone else’s results. Enjoy!