http://www.truedelta.com/pieces/cr_survey.php

Even then, the key source of differences between the results of Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, and my own at TrueDelta.com–and there aren’t that many large differences–is that all three surveys ask different questions.

Consumer Reports: “problems you considered serious” over the past year

J.D. Power: just about any problem, even very minor ones, during either the first 90 days or the third year

TrueDelta: repair trips during which something was successfully fixed

I think your description of the timing is just about right as well as the point you make about attraction to foreign goods. Too bad we have forgotten the days of huge wings and jet-engine facsimiles as bumpers and grills. When those were big, everyone wanted to own American.

I believe THE most popular car line in China is Buick.

Quality is intangible and is a subjective by it’s nature. Sure we try to throw in some things that seem objective, but in the end when it is used in the more global sense it’s pretty subjective.

I beleive that the Big 3’s quality perception problems trace back to about 1973-74. Given the double whammy of a gas crisis and new pollution control requirements, about 99.9% of engineering effort was focused on meeting the near impossible requirements of meeting the new EPA rules. Which if one recalls, the EPA had the power to block ANY sale of ANY vehicle that did not meet the pollution requirements.

As a result pretty much Every car sold in america from 1975 to 1978 is a real piece of junk. Suppose you bought an american car during this time period, by the time you were ready to buy a new car, you would already have been pissed of at your own brand of junk and ready to try another brand. Since mileage was still of importance, you would naturally gravitate toward a japanese model. Low and behold it’s a lot nicer than your POS american car. (It does not matter that the American cars had improved too). Too late the damage has been done.

One thing that is left out in these discussions is part of human nature. There are in some things a tendency to have an unfounded attraction to imported goods. French wine vs California wine, Italian shoes, German Engineering, Foriegn Oil, vs the crap they pump out of Texas Gulf coast. There is no sex appeal to the domestic equivalent.

John

That’s not to say that Japanese cars are of poor quality, although some are. Just that their comparisons are somewhat invalid.

As Lorne says, above, perceptions created by reality – let’s face it, Detroit did make some questionable stuff in the 80’s and early 90s – or through incorrect analysis – like CR – are going to be difficult to turn around.

In any serious statistical study, this would be impossible since the sampling would be random.

The huge discrepancies between JD Power and CR tends to prove this point.

Convenience sampling:

“Sometimes called grab or opportunity sampling, this is the method of choosing items arbitrarily and in an unstructured manner from the frame. Though almost impossible to treat rigorously, it is the method most commonly employed in many practical situations.In any serious statistical study, this would be impossible since the sampling would be random.

The huge discrepancies between JD Power and CR tends to prove this point.