What say you?
What say you?
Nobody has a monopoly, IMO. I use a variety of sources, JD Power, Consumer Reports, TrueDelta, etc. Usually if there's an issue, you will see a pattern.
I'd argue Consumer's Reports. While pretty imperfect it's a more rigorous process and over a period of time. JD Power is mostly focused on initial quality and their results seem to have wild swings year to year, hinting at low accuracy of measurement. Do you really care about "initial" quality if it's a knob falling off or a rattle? Somewhat, but I bet you weren't looking at the data for that reason. Rarely do major components fail so early on.
"Initial Quality" has always seemed like a near-worthless metric to me personally. I want to know if it's going to fall apart on me down the road.
I use CR. For all their faults and questionable testing of other appliances, the way they aggregate reliability data on cars is about the best system I've seen. If someone has a better method, I'd love to see it.
Consumer Reports has the most data, but I find the details from TrueDelta to be very helpful.
I don't know, I've never owned a car that doesn't have a "common problems" thread on an owner's forum.
I like to look at forums. Ask around a forum dedicated to your car to get a real idea. IMO CR has some serious biases towards some products and away from others that haven't panned out in my real life experiences, so I no longer trust them.
Snrub wrote: I'd argue Consumer's Reports. While pretty imperfect it's a more rigorous process and over a period of time. JD Power is mostly focused on initial quality and their results seem to have wild swings year to year, hinting at low accuracy of measurement. Do you really care about "initial" quality if it's a knob falling off or a rattle? Somewhat, but I bet you weren't looking at the data for that reason. Rarely do major components fail so early on.
JD Power also does "Vehicle Dependability" on 3-year-old cars.
I like (and contribute data to) True Delta. The folks that run that site have made some nice enhancements over the past months on how data is displayed, accessible, etc. Best part from my perspective is that - as a data contributor - access is completely free. I think anyone can sign up in this same manner.
As a mechanic for the last 50 years, I found CR reliable in their dependability/concerns projections. Working on all makes of cars every day will give you insight into cars/trucks to buy or not to buy. Want to know about a particular brand or model, ask someone that services/repairs them.
Tom_Spangler wrote: JD Power also does "Vehicle Dependability" on 3-year-old cars.
Exactly zero cars should have any dependability concerns when they are 3 years old.
I'm concerned about 150k+ miles and 10 or 20 years down the road. For that I turn to GRM or forums specific to the car.
Your local parts house. See how many and what kind of parts they stock for the car you are considering. There's your sign.
Matt B wrote: "Initial Quality" has always seemed like a near-worthless metric to me personally. I want to know if it's going to fall apart on me down the road. I use CR. For all their faults and questionable testing of other appliances, the way they aggregate reliability data on cars is about the best system I've seen. If someone has a better method, I'd love to see it.
The very definition of "quality" indicates something lasting, so I've never thought much of the "initial quality" metric. It would be better off being called something like "initial defects". Back in 1991 I took my two week old CRX-si back to the dealer because the glove box door was warped, a problem I knew about and discussed with them when I bought the car. I suppose something like that would ding that car as far as initial quality goes, but then the car never went back to the dealer thereafter.
"Initial Quality" is based on the first 3 months of ownership. Although having a low rating for "initial quality" is certainly a bad thing, that's a pretty damn worthless metric.
CR is good at following models for years after purchase. Next step is specific forums to see how they last in long term conditions.
Tow truck drivers, especially ones that contract through AAA or something can tell you a lot about what they would stay away from.
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