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MNBoxster · 09-22-2005, 06:09 AM

@limoncello

Hi,

Hey, don't take it personally. Just because JD Powers ranks a car #1 doesn't mean it isn't, but it doesn't mean that it is either.

That's the point, a JD Powers Survey or Award (they have these too) doesn't mean anything!

They are a Shill for Auto Manufacturers, so that they (Manufacturers) can quote some important sounding Survey Institute in their advertising. The Manufacturers Pay them to come up with positive results about their car(s).

In the 1970's, American cars were pretty much ******************** when compared to the Japanese and German cars of the day. It was well known in Marketing that people responded to surveys by known groups such as Consumer Reports, Gallop, etc. So, the Big Three found this small Advertising company - JD Powers. They built it up to sound very omnipitous and all-knowing. Together, they started conducting rigged surveys to use in their Advertising so they could compete with cars from overseas. It worked, sales of American cars began to rise.

Since then, JD Powers has expanded their Market to include overseas manufacturers as clients also. I can not be certain today, but in the past, JD Powers only conducted Automotive Surveys for Manufacturers, they did no other type of surveys. In fact, if you weren't an Auto Manufacturer, you couldn't even contract with JD Powers to have them do a survey.

Consumers, American ones especially, it seems, are willing to believe just about anything so long as it sounds very Official. If they didn't, JD Powers would have folded years ago.

One example was a survey done for the Toyota Corolla, it was ranked #1 of all the Japanese, 4-door sedans w/ 1.3L Engines, Front-wheel Drive having 6.8 ft³ of Trunk Space. Well, not surprisingly, the only car being sold that year which matched these exact criteria was the Toyota Corolla, it was a Race of One, no wonder the Corolla came out on top.

It is very deceiving, but as I said, totally legal. There is no law or statute which mandates how objective a survey must be. So, by manipulating the questions or in compiling the data, JD Powers always gets the answer they are being paid to come up with. Whichever manufacturer's car comes out on top in a JD Powers survey is the company which paid JD Powers to conduct the survey.

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

09-22-2005, 06:09 AM	#8
MNBoxster Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA Posts: 3,308	@limoncello Hi, Hey, don't take it personally. Just because JD Powers ranks a car #1 doesn't mean it isn't, but it doesn't mean that it is either. That's the point, a JD Powers Survey or Award (they have these too) doesn't mean anything! They are a Shill for Auto Manufacturers, so that they (Manufacturers) can quote some important sounding Survey Institute in their advertising. The Manufacturers Pay them to come up with positive results about their car(s). In the 1970's, American cars were pretty much ******************** when compared to the Japanese and German cars of the day. It was well known in Marketing that people responded to surveys by known groups such as Consumer Reports, Gallop, etc. So, the Big Three found this small Advertising company - JD Powers. They built it up to sound very omnipitous and all-knowing. Together, they started conducting rigged surveys to use in their Advertising so they could compete with cars from overseas. It worked, sales of American cars began to rise. Since then, JD Powers has expanded their Market to include overseas manufacturers as clients also. I can not be certain today, but in the past, JD Powers only conducted Automotive Surveys for Manufacturers, they did no other type of surveys. In fact, if you weren't an Auto Manufacturer, you couldn't even contract with JD Powers to have them do a survey. Consumers, American ones especially, it seems, are willing to believe just about anything so long as it sounds very Official. If they didn't, JD Powers would have folded years ago. One example was a survey done for the Toyota Corolla, it was ranked #1 of all the Japanese, 4-door sedans w/ 1.3L Engines, Front-wheel Drive having 6.8 ft³ of Trunk Space. Well, not surprisingly, the only car being sold that year which matched these exact criteria was the Toyota Corolla, it was a Race of One, no wonder the Corolla came out on top. It is very deceiving, but as I said, totally legal. There is no law or statute which mandates how objective a survey must be. So, by manipulating the questions or in compiling the data, JD Powers always gets the answer they are being paid to come up with. Whichever manufacturer's car comes out on top in a JD Powers survey is the company which paid JD Powers to conduct the survey. Happy Motoring!...Jim'99 Last edited by MNBoxster; 09-22-2005 at 06:22 AM.