Car reliability, better info

[mkaresh]

Thanks, K J, for suggesting that I post something about my research in this forum.

I wanted more up-to-date auto reliability information that included actual repair rates. So in late 2005 I started getting people together to make this possible. TrueDelta now reports absolute repair rates that make the differences between cars much clearer. Results are updated four times a year, so it's possible to provide reliability stats on a new models well ahead of other sources, and to track cars closely as they age.

Participants simply report repairs the month after they occur on a one-page survey. When there are no repairs, they simply report an approximate odometer reading four times a year, at the end of each quarter.

To encourage participation, participants receive full access to all results, not just those for your car, for free.

For the details, and to sign up to help out:

Car reliability research

Click to read more...

 

[Bru]

Interesting. Do you take into consideration cars that have been altered or modified in reliability reports? Is that part of the questionnaire?

 

[mkaresh]

Vague questions about mods are part of the questionnaire. Participants are also asked not to report problems that were caused by mods.

 

[Yaj Yak]

this is an awesome site for sure... for the common car buyer.

 

[mkaresh]

Thank, KJ.

Additional participants always helpful. Updated results next month.

Car reliability research

 

[Alacran]

manufactures keep track of their own cars and have reliability numbers as well.

 

[Smoke]

Its a good resource, but ive always found reliability to be highly variable between individual used cars.If you saw my car in person you wouldnt guess by looking that it has almost 200K miles on it, whereas ive seen GA's with 50K that look like shit.Its all about maintenance.

New cars I can see this being usefull, simply because MFR's have a bad habit of hiding defects until someone sues.See GM LIM gasket, Mitsubishi DSM crankwalk,BMW early M3 conrod issues, etc.

 

[mkaresh]

It's definitely the case that the older a car gets, the more important how it has been treated becomes. As a result, the stats do become iffier with older cars, but people have asked me to cover older cars anyway, thinking that some stats are better than no stats at all.

 

[mkaresh]

Updated results again next month.

We're going to start providing new stats for the odds of requiring no repairs and the odds of getting a lemon. These require larger sample sizes, so additional participants would be helpful.

For the details, and to sign up:

Car reliability research

 

[mkaresh]

Recently enhanced the related repair history survey so that it can (optionally) be used as a personal car maintenance record for cars 2000 MY and newer.

As always, more participants would be helpful. Updated Car Reliability Survey results in May.

Car reliability research

 

[Yaj Yak]

yo- I have a suggestion- when the emails go out- have links directly to do whatever- im not a computer/internet programmer at all so i dont even know if it is possible or not.

but basically when the email gets there- have it know the person/log in id- so there are links like "no problems for the month of may" or "report problem"

i think more people would respond this way- because it would be much quicker and easier for the users- to log in, and then record everything- takes a while- and I bet not everyone is doing it. have it just be a link- shabam all done.

 

[mkaresh]

I don't think I can make it quite this simple, but the link in the email already automatically logs you in. There's no need to manually log in when responding to the survey.

 

[Yaj Yak]

ahha just got the email.

I didnt realize that I didn't have to log in. do you get what I am saying tho? I wonder if it would be possible... quite advanced of course- i just think you'd get more replies for situations when it was quicker...

maybe just have the link take you right to the odometer form if there were no repairs?

 

[mkaresh]

I used to have it more like what you suggest. But if someone has two or more cars you end up with a lot of links in the email, and a longer email regardless. Seemed better to have a very short email then have one more click on the site itself.

The other, related issue is that to best handle this I need HTML emails. Which are planned. But many people disable HTML in email, or use email clients that mangle the emails, etc.

So I don't think I could ever have enough control over what people actually see in their inbox. Which is why I've tried to just have a single link in a text-only email so far.

Some super hot shot programmer who focuses on email might be able to solve these problems, but I'm not that guy and haven't found him.

 

[Yaj Yak]

I understand, sorry I was just making a suggestion.

 

[mkaresh]

Sorry if I came off wrong--I actually wish I had more suggestions!

Yours is a good one, I'm just not sure how to make it work. My life would be a lot easier if everyone used the same software to read their email, but they don't.

 

[Tuner World]

I signed my car up but am confused. I'll try it again on my computer

 

[mkaresh]

I signed my car up but am confused. I'll try it again on my computer

Thanks for signing up. What are you confused about?

 

[CrunkMaro]

checked out the site...a lot better than before IMO.

gj!

 

[bodydesign]

I have checked the site and its providing a great information regarding car reliability. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[mkaresh]

Our reliability stats now cover through the end of March 2013. The more car owners participate, the more precise and comprehensive future updates will be.

For our latest info, including descriptions of all reported repairs:

Car Reliability Comparisons

 

[Burtonrider10022]

I signed up, but it won't let me take any of the surveys because "there aren't enough registered owners".

It will let me input fuel economy info, but is there a way to just input my info from Fuelly? I've been tracking my fill-ups on there for over a year now, and I'm obviously not about to re-enter all that data, but I'd imagine that much info might be helpful to you guys.

I know other sites I've used allow you to upload a .csv sheet from MS Excel (Comma Separated Variables) and it will input all of your past fill-ups. This is helpful because Fuelly allows you to download your history as a .csv file. So, if you guys added a way to do that it would be easy for me to add my 40 prior fill-ups.

 

[mkaresh]

I signed up, but it won't let me take any of the surveys because "there aren't enough registered owners".

It will let me input fuel economy info, but is there a way to just input my info from Fuelly? I've been tracking my fill-ups on there for over a year now, and I'm obviously not about to re-enter all that data, but I'd imagine that much info might be helpful to you guys.

I know other sites I've used allow you to upload a .csv sheet from MS Excel (Comma Separated Variables) and it will input all of your past fill-ups. This is helpful because Fuelly allows you to download your history as a .csv file. So, if you guys added a way to do that it would be easy for me to add my 40 prior fill-ups.

Thanks for joining.

The only survey with a minimum is the main reliability survey. Repairs can still be posted using the repair history form (separate drop down in My Garage). We'll be better integrating the two.

We are also working on a way to import/export fuel economy records. Stay tuned!

 

[Burtonrider10022]

I've never had any repairs lol. New tires at 48k, but that's it.

 

[mkaresh]

I've never had any repairs lol. New tires at 48k, but that's it.

What do you have?