I got my annual Consumer Reports survey in the mail. You know the one where they ask about, mainly, issues with your cars over the last 12 months. In this one they also want to know about prescription eyeglasses and, as usual, I get to vote on the board of directors. I found it interesting for a couple of reasons.
First, I'm no longer a subscriber, haven't been for a few years. Why am I still getting these things?
Second, they aren't interested in my Odyssey anymore, no vehicles older than 2000, taking my 1999 Odyssey EX out of the picture. It seems to me that older vehicles can tell us a lot about an automaker's commitment to quality, perhaps more so than new ones.
Third, inside was a special little slip marked 'Important Note'. In it, CR basically asks me to pay for the privilege of submitting the survey. It's expensive to send these out (especially when you're sending it out to non-subscribers), so please send $6.75 with your survey to "help us continue this valuable service". Pay to join and and pay to play?
Fourth, I find it a little bit of wishful thinking to expect the average car owner to remember everything that broke on their car over the last 12 months. I'm a bit over the top in my maintenance records and I still would have to go back and look. At least I have the records, most folks likely don't keep that stuff. How many folks are going to get it right when they report?
Last, since I think that their auto issue was just published, the results from this survey won't hit the stands until 2010. By the time it does, the data will be nearly a year old covering things that happened up to a year before that.
Add to that the confusing (what's the difference between 'top picks' and 'good bets'?) and vague (what is the real difference between a red dot and half a red dot?) nature of their data, and I think that CR, at least in terms of auto data, has out lived it's usefulness. If I need a new blender, dishwasher or lawn mower, they are great, but not so good anymore for cars.
I've been participating in a new automotive research effort from True Delta for a couple of years now. They are doing several things, including real world fuel economy, simple price comparisons and why people choose not to buy a certain car, but the biggie is their reliability research. They have members submitting data on 43,000 cars with more joining all the time. How is it different than CR?
First, the survey comes via email, monthly. All I have to do is follow a link and enter in whatever the car went into the shop for last month. No shop time? Then most months I simply click a link to check in and I'm done. The monthly survey means it's easier to remember for me (and therefore the data is better) and having it online makes it easy to do.
Second, they are still interested in older cars. I still enter info on my '99 Odyssey, in fact they're actively looking for more.
Third, if I participate I get full access to the results. Non-participants will pay, I won't.
Fourth, I get fresh results every month. True Delta already has results on brand new models like the 2009 Jaguar XF that CR won't have info on until next April.
Last, their goal so to provide quantifiable results, not vague colored dots. Their ratings show the average number of trips a car model has spent in the shop per year per 100 cars making it easy to compare two vehicles. For example, I'll be replacing my Odyssey in a a couple of years, likely with a newer Odyssey. True Delta shows that a 2008 Odyssey has 32 trips to the shop per 100 cars while a 2008 Dodge Caravan has 99 and a 2008 Hyundia Entourage has 60. Valuable information. Turns out buying the Caravan almost guarantees a trip to the shop each year while only 1 in 3 Honda owners get to visit with their mechanic.
If you've ever been frustrated with the inability to find solid info on which cars are more reliable than others, I'd encourage you to join True Delta. It's simple, free and you get access to valuable reliability information that you can't get anywhere else (and no, I didn't get anything for writing this, I just like what they are doing).
Consumer Reports' data was great when it was all we had, but now it isn't good enough. True Delta is better.
Didn't know there was such a system out there. Sounds cool.
I just finished putting the upper/lower intake manifold gaskets on my 97 chevy.
Hey there. I didn't think you still had that truck.
Sold my 2002 Ody last Sunday. 47K miles. $8K. It served us well, although we barely used it. We are now out of the toddler/stroller years and we could no longer bear the thought of getting 12-14 mpg in the city. We bought a VW Jetta TDI wagon to replace it--30 mpg in town, over 40 on the highway.
This ironically brings my faith journey full circle, and on Easter Sunday none the less.
Hope you are well.
Yes, things are generally well. How's the teaching?
I kinda wish I had known you were selling yours. For $8K I might have bitten on it. It's only got 7K more than mine had when I bought it back on '01.
It's really too soon for us though, need to wring another couple of years from ours. At 10 years old and 181K, it's still going and getting ready for camping season. A little rough around the edges, but still going.
Hope that Jetta serves you well. I love those VW TDIs.
Yeah. I've had a few lookers so I've been fixing it up but not sold yet. I use it almost every day to take my girl up our 1/4 mile driveway to the bus. Better that than the diesel for such a short distance.