Driver Power Survey

[grober]

Best cars to own: Driver Power 2017 results | Auto Express

 

[merc85]

Hell the devil did a Peugeot 2008 make it into the top 16???

 

[PobodY]

Probably says more about the demographic of the people they've polled than anything else.

Also, are they aware that a "Nissan Pulsar Mk 1" is from the 1970s? - Mine is a Mk4 and it was built in 1990, the Mk5 was probably the first Almera.

 

[grober]

Perhaps MK1 as its the first time the Pulsar name has been used in Europe for a European manufactured/designed car?

Nissan Teases Premium Pulsar For European Market Page 1 of 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pulsar#C13_.282014.E2.80.93present.29

 

[PobodY]

I'll only start paying attention when they release a new GTiR or at the very least a Nismo version with a turbo.

 

[developer]

Wot - no GLC in the top ten .

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Wot - no GLC in the top ten .

Cheeky.

The GLC should come up well as there's only about 3 owners who are (very vocally) unhappy.

 

[whitenemesis]

Lexus seem to fare well ...

 

[tron]

Gosh, what a depressing old load of grey porridge. The Jag and C class are the only things there recognisable from the amorphous mass of characterless (but doubtless worthy, efficient and reliable) appliances. No wonder kids today lust after telephones instead!

 

[merc85]

Lexus seem to fare well ...

Got beat by a Renault tho lol

 

[markjay]

For those of you who find the results perplexing... it's actually quite expected, if you think about it.

This is because it's a subjective survey, measuring owners' satisfaction. It's not an objective test of the cars' design or build quality.

Put simply, satisfaction is the difference between expectations and reality.

For this reason it is difficult for the more prestigious marques to do well in owners' satisfaction surveys, while it is much easier for the more mundane marques to excel.

In that context, it is hardly a surprise that Skoda did well: they are good cars, but the marque has little cred and owners are pleasantly surprised when the car actually turns out to be 'better than expected'.

Merc owners on other hand expect - as they have been promised - 'The best or nothing' - and when they buy a car full of sophisticated technology they have very little patience for things that go wrong.

The other issue is after sales care: we all know that MB perform very poorly in this area. A minor issue can be resolved quickly and efficiently and end up with a happy customer, or it can drag on endlessly infuriating the customer in the process.

The one brand that truly shines in all these surveys is Lexus. It makes sophisticated cars, promised excellence, and evidently delivers, as customers are not disappointed. Hats off to Toyota for this achievement.

 

[tron]

That is true but a point in favour of MB is parts back up. I called on Monday for a transmission part for a 20 year obsolete car. "Sorry, we don't have it on the shelf. If you don't need it right away, we'll have it on Wednesday morning." They did, and it was under a fiver.

 

[whitenemesis]

And Lexus cars don't require parts












I know it's not true, just joshing

 

[190]

Quote "For the first time in 2017, we asked owners to tell us if they’d had any faults with their car."

Frankly that means all previous surveys have been worthless.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

It's all subjective and what an owner expects -

Skoda superb 1st place- has it gone wrong - yes 20.1%

Lexus CT 8th place - has it gone wrong - yes 2.0 %



What a load of old tosh.

 

[grober]

Quote "For the first time in 2017, we asked owners to tell us if they’d had any faults with their car."

Frankly that means all previous surveys have been worthless.

A bit harsh maybe , in so far as previously faults were dealt with under the 9 category ratings in particular the reliability and build quality section . If the survey has a weakness its perhaps with the age group of the cars it covers. Some cars in the past seemed to major on longevity but now an increasing number seem to have a sell by date. In the past what often determined longevity was structural body rust, now its more likely to be expensive failures of electrical gadgetry/components that are likely to place older cars beyond economic repair.
As long as folks remember the survey refers to nearly new cars its surely still a useful if incomplete adjunct to knowledge of the various marques?

 

[markjay]

There is only one accurate reliability scale and that's the one based on the manufacturers' warranty repairs during their cars' first 3 years.

Unfortunately, this data is a closely guarded secret and manufacturers won't part with it.

So in short, we have to rely on general perceptions, brand image, people's views, personal experience, mechanics' opinions (often made while sucking air through gritted teeth), and... car journals' reliability surveys. Not great, but this all we have to work on.