In all fairness, it must be noted that during a long interview the executives at J.D. Power were not terribly impressed with my theory that their famous Initial Quality Survey (IQS) was of almost no use to the individual consumer.
They were a lot more supportive of my theory that the 19-year-old annual survey had a lot to do with making auto company executives work overtime to improve quality so they wouldn't look bad in the results each year.
They were most impressed with my theory that J.D. Power had done more for the overall quality of cars in North America through its surveys than any other factor in the history of the industry.
But if you're a consumer, the big benefit to this survey is that the auto industry takes it so seriously and is so anxious to do well on it that all vehicles have improved to a level that was unthinkable 20 years.
According to the 2005 IQS survey, a vehicle from the brand with the best score has less than one problem (.81, to be precise) when the consumer takes it home and the worst brand has less than two problems (1.51). On average, according to this survey, every new vehicle in the U.S. has an initial problem rating of 1.18.
This is of course not the way that Power reports these numbers. For reasons that might have made some sense when the survey started but are no longer germane, the quality measurement firm uses problems per 100. This creates bigger and undoubtedly scarier numbers like 81 and 151 and tends to make their survey results seem critical to the consumer, when they're really not.
On top of that, most of these things are no longer problems in any sense that a rational person would recognize. Consider for example that for most of the respondents to the survey wind noise was the biggest problem with their new vehicle, even though it's never a big enough deal to hinder talking or listening to the stereo and is a completely subjective rating.
Other hot contenders for ''problems'' included fuel economy in a vehicle that weighs almost 3000 kg, new stereo and heater controls that were hard to figure out, and the completely subjective area of ride and handling.
When it comes to something really critical, like the vehicle's ability to keep moving when the customer wants it to, ''consumers report that the transmission causes the least number of problems.''
What good, then, will the news that the four vehicles a customer is considering have less than one initial quality ''problem'' be to a smart consumer? Add it to the mix of information gathering for sure, but pass up on a car that suits your needs better because it scored almost immeasurably higher on a totally subjective survey, I think not.
It's interesting that many people at the car companies feel exactly the same way, but they'll never talk about it on the record because it makes them look like whiners if they do badly and diminishes their accomplishment if they did well.
Having said all that, it must be noted that Toyota and General Motors took 15 of the 18 top model segment awards, with the Japanese firm earning 10 and the American firm five.
They were a lot more supportive of my theory that the 19-year-old annual survey had a lot to do with making auto company executives work overtime to improve quality so they wouldn't look bad in the results each year.
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| J.D. Power and Associates |
But if you're a consumer, the big benefit to this survey is that the auto industry takes it so seriously and is so anxious to do well on it that all vehicles have improved to a level that was unthinkable 20 years.
According to the 2005 IQS survey, a vehicle from the brand with the best score has less than one problem (.81, to be precise) when the consumer takes it home and the worst brand has less than two problems (1.51). On average, according to this survey, every new vehicle in the U.S. has an initial problem rating of 1.18.
This is of course not the way that Power reports these numbers. For reasons that might have made some sense when the survey started but are no longer germane, the quality measurement firm uses problems per 100. This creates bigger and undoubtedly scarier numbers like 81 and 151 and tends to make their survey results seem critical to the consumer, when they're really not.
On top of that, most of these things are no longer problems in any sense that a rational person would recognize. Consider for example that for most of the respondents to the survey wind noise was the biggest problem with their new vehicle, even though it's never a big enough deal to hinder talking or listening to the stereo and is a completely subjective rating.
Other hot contenders for ''problems'' included fuel economy in a vehicle that weighs almost 3000 kg, new stereo and heater controls that were hard to figure out, and the completely subjective area of ride and handling.
When it comes to something really critical, like the vehicle's ability to keep moving when the customer wants it to, ''consumers report that the transmission causes the least number of problems.''
What good, then, will the news that the four vehicles a customer is considering have less than one initial quality ''problem'' be to a smart consumer? Add it to the mix of information gathering for sure, but pass up on a car that suits your needs better because it scored almost immeasurably higher on a totally subjective survey, I think not.
It's interesting that many people at the car companies feel exactly the same way, but they'll never talk about it on the record because it makes them look like whiners if they do badly and diminishes their accomplishment if they did well.
Having said all that, it must be noted that Toyota and General Motors took 15 of the 18 top model segment awards, with the Japanese firm earning 10 and the American firm five.