Argh!

Oh man, I just can't believe this.  It's really not that big a deal I suppose, but it still kinda burns me up.

I've never thought much about the J.D. Power and Associates automobile ratings.  Mainly because one of their major studies, the Initial Quality Survey, is used so often to try to make one manufacturer or another look good.  In that survey, they ask people if they are happy with their vehicle or have had any problems after a (whopping) 90 days and then try to say that is some sort of guage for "initial quality".  I'm sorry, but after 90 days quality simply can't be determined on any level.  The assumption here is that anything major that goes wrong is likely an anomaly.  Anyway, that's the side rant.  Now for the main one...

From this article...

The study also finds that five of the top 10 problems reported industry-wide in the 2008 Vehicle Dependability Study were also among the top 10 most frequently reported problems in the 2005 Initial Quality Study, suggesting that the problems are identified by owners during the initial ownership period, but have not been rectified by automakers during the three-year ownership period.
The problems include:

1. Excessive wind noise
2. Noisy brakes
3. Vehicle pulling to the left or right
4. Issues with the instrument panel/dashboard
5. Excessive window fogging

 

Chew on that top 5 problems list for a couple of seconds...

...

...

Now, think about the fact that those complaints are the most popular after 3 years of ownership...

...

...

OK, now HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT??!!!

How can you say "excessive window fogging" is a quality issue?  Or "excessive wind noise"?  Um, what is the definition of "excessive"??  The only one that kinda makes since to me is the instrument panel issues.  And I guess maybe the "vehicle pulling to the left or right" issue if it is within the first 30 days.  After that, any number of factors can cause that type of behavior.  Hardly a quality issue in my opinion.

I'm glad J.D. Power gave a little bit more details on the problems that people are reporting, but they definitely didn't make me feel any more confident in their survey.  I'm sure that stuff like "excessive wind noise" or "excessive window fogging" or even "noisy brakes" bothers people, but unless there is an actual problem with the windows or the brakes, those are hardly quality issues that must be addressed by the manufacturer ASAP.

Just plain ridiculous....