Subaru not making owners happy

Interesting that it is an American survey taken in the 'Land of the Automobile' but look at the country of origin of the winners ! ! !

I read that, too. However, the following excert was enough to discredit the entire story and ranking system as far as I'm concerned:

"The Kia Amanti was the top-ranked "Premium midsize car" in the survey and the Kia Sportage was the top-ranked "Entry SUV." (The discontinued Pontiac Aztek placed third, after the Nissan Xterra, in the "Entry SUV" category.)"

Another BS survey. Murano a mid size SUV?????

I am guessing that WRX owners might be skewing Subaru's satisfaction numbers.

What would you call it?

Here's what the industry calls "Midsize SUV's":

The odd thing about that survey is that several cars with fanatical followings came out on top. These include the Mini Cooper and Honda Ridgeline. The Honda Ridgeline has sold only 22,000 units.

The WRX owners I know would skew Subie _UP_. I'm surprised Jeep Wrangler owners didn't cause the same effect.

My own experience with my 2001 OBW, was that I was thrilled with it for about a year or two. I slowly fell out of love for the car as unresolved clutch issues, undersized brakes (especially when towing within Subies recommendations), and poor headlights slowly annoyed me into selling it. I still own my POS 1999 Wrangler, because as I've slowly eliminated Chrysler parts, the vehicle has actually become reliable, but's still appealing.

Happily, my Subie retained a really nice resale value.

Read before you stumble to conclusions. This is an owners overall satisfacgtion survey. This means that if a person is in love with their vehicle they overlook a myriad of things. Land Rovers are plagued with QC issues and yet they ranked 2nd as overall satisfaction. If you can readily afford a porshe, covette, land rover, or the like youre probably not as concerned with quality, just take it to the shop. The Kia's are cheap and people feel like they got a good deal and hence overlook a few quality issues. Hey I think Subaru's quality over the years has dropped, but that doesnt phase me a bit, Ive gotta drive a subie, I dont care what it is.

I read something recently that the WRX had the most complaints of any car. Maybe the link was posted here?

That doesn't seem to be reflected in too many sources I'm familiar with. Though, one has to wonder, how do you seperate the 'daddy's little 17 year old STi driver' that does 6K clutch drops on saturday night or runs NOS, then whines about broken trannys and holes in pistons vs. some 50 year old guy that wants a sporty daily driver but never races.

Carl

What kind of owners are being surveyed here? Certainly not car enthusiasts. That's my point. Any survey of ownership satisfaction that results in Kias and the Aztec coming out on top in their respective categories is meaningless survey as far as I'm concerned.

I have no doubt that the people complaining about the WRX are abusing their cars. I was simply trying to put the original data point in perspective.

Keep your eye on Kia and Hyundai.

You'll be surprised.

Once upon a time, weren't the same things said about Toyota, Honda, and of course Subaru?

Look what happened there.

The Koreans are getting their automotive act together.

Yup. Revenge is a powerful motivator.

I'll give you that. Still, Kia and Hyundai aren't there yet. The Aztec never will be.

Of course, for that survey, the people rating Kia and Hyundai were the sort of people who would buy a Kia or Hyundai.

-- Mark

They actually a lot further along than most of us would suspect.

heh, kinda like the Saab(aru) 9-2x and 9-3 :) Impreza and Legacy for those not willing to google.

Hi,

Didn't GM drop the Aztek? At least as a Pontiac--the Buick Rendezvous sure looks like they rounded the corners and rebadged it, no?

Rick