Brit_in_Japan

How reliable do you think the JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index survey is in telling you how reliable your new car is likely to be?

Consider the following:
1. The survey sample is not scientifically chosen. It is a voluntary survey, so typically only those with something good to say, or something bad to say will tend to take the time to complete it. This exaggerates the difference between cars.
2. It is subjective. The whole aim of the JD Power survey is to find out how people "feel" about their car, their dealers etc. There is no objective measure how good a car actually is.
3. The survey is retrospecitive. It tells you how reliable cars bought 1 to 3 years old is, not how reliable your new car will be. Whilst you can infer future reliability from past performance, it is no guarantee.

So is a Skoda (Ranked 2 in 2005) really better than a Subaru (ranked 13) or a Mercedes Benz (ranked 20)?

Dracoro

It's not saying a given car is 'better' is it. It's saying that Skoda drivers are more satisfied with their cars than Subaru.

Regardless, it's one of those surveys where people with the lowly placed cars criticise it. Funny that. If Subaru did well (and they did a few yrs ago) then everyone here will (and did a few yrs ago) sing the praises of these surveys.

Look at all the surveys, word on the street, warranty figures etc. It's no co-incidence that, currently, Lexus, Honda & Toyota are always at the top and the likes of Peugeot and Alfa etc. are at the bottom. They simply ARE more reliable and also a more pleasant ownership experience. That's not to say the others will be crap/unreliable etc. Depends on the particular car you get. They too may also be a great ownership prospect. However the odds of a good one from Lexus/Honda/Toyota etc. is higher than getting a decent pug or alfa. For example, my mate and g/f have had a few pugs over the years and have had little trouble with any of them.

Nick

There is also the expectation of the owner. I used to be involved with the Customer Care dept of a mass manufacturer. We always got a significantly higher percentage of complaints for the executive models rather than the compact models. However the executive models did not have any more problems than the compacts.

As well as expectations within a manufacturer, there is a case to consider the Merc owner having a higher expectation than the Skoda owner.

Dracoro

True, however, you're paying 2/3/4/5 times the price for a Merc. It SHOULD meet all the expectations as they are paying a premium. You pay so much more so it shouldn't break at all, else why are you paying so much more? You get what you pay for but not with a Merc these days. Regardless, you don't compare the stats of a merc against a skoda. You compare the stats of a merc against the bmw, audi, lexus's of the world. These marques also have 'high' expectations. They seem to have happier customers than Mercedes.