Re: Ford Beats Toyota in Quality for 2007

Probably.

Initial quality means NOTHING....

Talk to me in 15 years and let me know how a vehicle is doing.

That is a scary thought.

Human perceptions are a large part of how happy they are with something. A person could have a potentially large problem, like the truck leaks when it rains, and not perceive it as a large problem because he can have it fixed with the next oil change or have a minor wind noise be a large problem because the dealership can't fix it.

With this comes things like brand names and dealership experience.

This same sort of thing is true for other things. One might perceive the time it takes to get up to speed as too long if one has a 2.5 liter V6 engine but as pretty fast if one has a 2.5 liter 4 cyl engine (yeah, I know, it should take the same time if they have the same power). Likewise, if one bought a cheap computer, a long boot time when turning the power on might seem to long, but a long boot time might be unacceptable for a more expensive computer.

We act on our perceptions, which may or may not jive with reality.

That's why we might think of an American car as a good quality car compared to an identical Daewoo but a piece of doodoo compared with a Honda or Toyota. How we perceive the different cars depends on our experience with them.

Jeff

Dunno about you, but I perceive great gas mileage and not hauling my car to the shop regularly to be way better.

Natalie

So do I. But, in the end, it is the perceptions that matter and are what we act on, not the fact. If I perceive a Brand Y car is reliable, what I think about the car's breakdown will be different than if I perceive the car as unreliable. I remember watching a Nextel Cup race when a driver (Jack Sprague) ran into another driver causing a crash. He had a reputation for causing crashes. When there was a crash that he causes, the announcer said, "What a surprise." But, if it were one the Hendrick drivers, I think that the announcer would have said something different.

Jeff

So if the manufacturers and media have convinced the consumers that domestic is crap and imports are great that's going to be the "consumer opinions and perceptions" that get reported to JD powers. IOW, their surveys are little more then eyewash.

Pretty much. What is not published with these reports in the newspaper is just what the problems are with the cars. The defects per hundred vehicles does not mean much, really.

Car A is reported to have one defect per hundred vehicles Car B is reported at two defects per vehicle.

Based on those simple raw numbers, Car A is far superior to Car B.

Scenario No. 1. Car A has a lot of defective camshafts, about one per hundred vehicles in the first 500 miles driven. When it goes bad, you have to have the car towed to the dealer and repairs can take up to 10 days.

Car B has a problems with the dome light burning out and a loose screw on the door panel.

Is Car A still the superior car?

They also us 90 days as he point of survey. Do you buy a new car every 90 days? You probably keep it for a few years.

Scenario 2 Car C sets all records, not one car made the past model year had a defect in the first 90 days. Great car; let's all run out and buy one. Oh, after one year, they have a 50% failure rate on transmissions. But it still has that J D Powers award for the best quality car ever.

Yes, I'm exaggerating, but unless we know the defects, unless we know the long term reliability, the numbers are just good for advertising hype. The actual facts may be available, but the general public is not going to dig very far to find it, we just read the headlines and see where or brand of car ranks.