Up-to-date repair rates for dozens of popular models.
Detroit, MI (PRWEB) September 7, 2007 -- Truedelta.com, the new automotive website that provides fast, accurate vehicle reliability, pricing, and fuel economy information has announced the latest results of its Vehicle Reliability Survey (VRS.)
The results capture owner experiences through the end of June, 2007, and reflect TrueDelta's ability to provide car buyers with reliability information in a more timely manner than competitors.
"Our primary competitor's reliability ratings are based on data that is well over a year old at this point," explained Michael Karesh, developer of TrueDelta.com. "When considering a car, do you want to know how reliable it was over a year ago, or how reliable it has been recently?"
Results Show Margins of Difference
When reliability information is reported in terms of relative "dot" ratings, the actual size of differences is unclear.
"As a result, people often think cars without stellar reputations require far more repairs than they actually do," says Karesh.
TrueDelta.com reports reliability as an absolute number - or VRS score - based on repair trips per year. As these results demonstrate, the difference between models is often slim. For relatively new cars, the average VRS score is about 0.6, meaning that ten vehicles will require a total of about six successful repair trips over the course of a year. In comparison, the most reliable models score 0.3 or lower - three or fewer trips for every ten vehicles--while the least reliable models score 1.0 or higher - ten or more trips for every ten vehicles.
"So, while one can say that from "best" to "worst", the repair rate roughly quadruples, we're not talking about the difference between "never breaks" and "in the shop all the time"," Karesh explained. "Instead, we're often talking about the odds of a single repair trip per year."
Some car buyers will choose to avoid this usually small number of additional repair trips, while others will decide other factors outweigh these differences in reliability. Either way, TrueDelta's information makes the car buying decision clearer.
Initial Results for Acura MDX, GMC Acadia, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Nissan Altima
This release includes far more models than ever before, among them a number of vehicles that were new or redesigned for 2007. New product launches are always tricky. Will initial quality suffer? Should car buyers avoid the first year?
In the case of the Acura MDX, the initial answer is no. Very few owners have reported repair trips so far, yielding a VRS Score of 20 successful repair trips per 100 vehicles.
The same cannot be said for the GMC Acadia, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Nissan Altima, all of which earned a VRS Score of 80 to 100 successful repair trips per 100 vehicles. While these models still average less than a single repair trip per year, the reliability of these models needs to improve to meet current consumer expectations.
"The big question," suggests Karesh, "is whether their reliability will improve, and how quickly. This will depend on how promptly each manufacturer identifies and successfully fixes initial problem areas."
Three months ago TrueDelta predicted that the high repair rate then reported for the new Nissan Versa, 105 successful repair trips per 100 vehicles, could decline substantially if Nissan quickly addressed common problem areas. This appears to have happened, as the updated repair rate is 70 per 100. Since each update includes the previous year of data, this represents a dramatic improvement in the most recent quarter.
With TrueDelta's quarterly updates, any such changes in a model's reliability will be promptly reported--there's no need to wait an entire year for the next set of results. The next update, covering owner experiences through September 30, 2007, will be announced in early December.
TrueDelta's Membership Continues to Grow
TrueDelta uses the Internet to connect with a broad spectrum of vehicle owners. These owners join TrueDelta as vehicle information "panelists" and provide TrueDelta's data through brief online surveys. In exchange for their participation, these vehicle owners receive full access to TrueDelta's quarterly results free of charge.
These vehicle owners provide a base of more than 18,000 vehicles that has been growing rapidly. This growth is due in part to enthusiastic support from owner forums such as AcadiaForum.net, AcuraMDX.org, and NICOclub.com, which serve GMC Acadia, Acura MDX, and Nissan / Infiniti owners, respectively.
Consumers can view the latest VRS results or become involved at TrueDelta.com.
About TrueDelta.com
TrueDelta.com is the Internet's most innovative auto-owner survey website. With more than 18,000 vehicles currently enrolled, TrueDelta.com is fast becoming the Internet's premier pricing and reliability resource.
| 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
