Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Pricier cars repaired more often???

Auto News: JD Finds Pricer Cars Repaired More
Power Survey Finds Pricier Cars Repaired More

The latest quality-related survey from J.D. Power and Associates finds that many of the high-priced cars and trucks sold in America are more frequent visitors in the repair bays. The survey measured the percentage of service visits that involved repairs, not just maintenance. Power results as reported by USA Today indicate that about two-thirds of its luxury brands scored worse than the industry average of 35%. Land Rover stood out with 62% of visits being repair-related. Buick was the best brand ranked by the survey, with only 21% of service calls involving a repair. The survey polled 106,000 owners of three-year-old vehicles.



Carmaker 1999 2003

Buick 38% 21%

Honda 31% 22%

Toyota 25% 22%

Lexus 36% 24%

Acura 30% 25%

Mitsubishi 37% 28%

Suzuki 39% 29%

Saturn 39% 31%

Infiniti 29% 31%

Mazda 35% 32%

Isuzu 53% 33%

Pontiac 46% 33%

Lincoln 35% 33%

Mercury 34% 34%

Chevrolet 44% 35%

Nissan 36% 35%

INDUSTRY 41% 35%

Dodge 47% 36%

Plymouth 46% 37%

Ford 43% 37%

Oldsmobile 40% 40%

Kia 58% 41%

Saab 52% 42%

Cadillac 42% 42%

GMC 48% 43%

Subaru 41% 43%

Hyundai 46% 44%

Jaguar 49% 45%

BMW 55% 47%

Volvo 52% 47%

Porsche 46% 47%

Daewoo NA 48%

Mercedes 43% 48%

Chrysler 54% 49%

Jeep 48% 49%

Audi 58% 51%

Volkswagen 45% 53%

Land Rover 73% 62%

Source: J.D. Power and Associates/USA Today

I would suspect there are a couple of reasons pricier cars are repaired more often. One is that costly cars are generally more complex, with more options to give problems. For example, Land Rover, which ranks at the bottom of the survey, is available only in four wheel drive, and as a general rule, regardless of manufacturer, four wheel drive vehicles will require repair more often than two wheel drive vehicles.

Secondly, folks who can afford pricier cars are probably less tolerant of problems, and they can afford to have the vehicle repaired any time something goes wrong, whereas the rest of us learn to "live" with car problems until they become serious.

Plus, people who have expensive cars usually view them as a major investment and are more particular in following maintenance schedules. Usually, they usually don't do any of the work themselves, so the dealer does ALL the maintenance. I remember having wealthy neighbors who took their Cadillac to the dealer for anything, including adding windshield washer fluid and just having the oil level checked. I think the dealer's service department even washed the car for them when it needed it!

Or maybe its cuz they drive like sh*t and dont care. "look at me i got a mercedes i own the road blah blah blah" At least thats how it is over here.

I agree pretty much with what Beachboy said. I was thinking more along the lines of this survey was of the percentage of shop visits that are for repairs rather than maintence. Us po' folks NEVER take our vehicles in for maintence and rarely for repairs (only if we can't handle it) therefore we would have had 100%

Not a surprise considering it would cost more to replace them than to fix them!

-Andy

One phrase I heard about Porsche repairs,
"If you want to play Porsche you have to pay Porsche."

I agree with what a few of you have said. The data is flawed because people with pricier cars tend to use dealer service more often or exclusivly. I, for example, even with ESP will sometimes do my own repairs. It's just more convenient.