JD Power: Cars Owners Love The Most

NYSpeed Automotive
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Survey reveals cars owners love best
J.D. Powers survey ranks cars by overall owner satisfaction. Mustang, Corvette, Mini top lists.
September 21, 2005: 1:43 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Kia, sister-brand to Korea-based Hyundai, topped two categories in the latest J.D. Power and Associates APEAL survey.

The Honda Ridgeline was the most-liked midsized pickup and the Ford Mustang was the most-liked sporty car in the survey, which asked owners of brand-new cars to rate eight different aspects of their vehicle’s appearance, design and performance.

The Kia Amanti was the top-ranked “Premium midsize car” in the survey and the Kia Sportage was the top-ranked “Entry SUV.” (The discontinued Pontiac Aztek placed third, after the Nissan Xterra, in the “Entry SUV” category.)

“As more and more new designs hit the market, manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to make their new models stand out,” said Chance Parker, executive director of product and research analysis at J.D. Power.

“While vehicle styling is still vital in setting a model apart from the pack, consumers are increasingly attracted to vehicles that offer innovative storage options and other features that make the driving experience more comfortable and convenient,” he said.

J.D. Power’s Automotive Performance Execution and Layout study was based on surveys of 115,000 new vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. They were asked about their satisfaction with aspects of their vehicles including the engine and transmission, ride and handling, comfort and convenience and styling.

There were many all-new or redesigned models topping various category rankings in the survey, including the Pontiac G6 as top “entry midsize car,” the Chevrolet Corvette as top “premium sports car” and the Ford Mustang as top “sporty car.”

While it scored a top rating in two individual product categories, Kia ranked below average as a brand overall with a score of 845 out of a possible 1,000. The top auto brand overall was Porsche, with a score of 908. Land Rover was second with 906, Lexus third with 905 and Jaguar fourth with 902.

General Motors’ Hummer and Cadillac divisions were the two highest placing U.S.-based brands with scores of 897 and 896 respectively.

The lowest-scoring brand overall was GM’s Saturn with a score of 827. Suzuki and Subaru were second and third worst, with scores of 828 and 830 respectively. DaimlerChrysler’s Jeep brand was fourth worst, with a score of 833.

Compact car: MINI Cooper

Entry midsize car: Pontiac G6

Premium midsize car: Kia Amanti

Full-size car: Toyota Avalon

Entry Luxury car: Lexus IS300/IS300 SportCross/Mercedes-Benz C-class

Mid luxury car: Lexus GS300/GS430 (2006)

Premium luxury car: Lexus LS430

Sporty car: Ford Mustang

Premium sports car: Chevrolet Corvette

Midsize pick-up: Honda Ridgeline (2006)

Light-duty full-size pick-up: Cadillac Escalade EXT

Heavy-duty full-size pick-up: GMC Sierra HD

Entry SUV: Kia Sportage

Mid-size SUV: Nissan Murano

Full-size SUV: Nissan Armada

Entry luxury SUV: Lexus RX400h (2006)

Premium luxury SUV: Land Rover Range Rover

Midsize van: Honda Odyssey

Full-size van: Chevrolet Express

:eekdance: lotsa lexuses. or is that lexii?

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Full-size car: Toyota Avalon

:bsflag:

MAXIMA ALWAYS

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The Ridgeline isn’t that Avalanche looking thing is it? :lol: Who the hell did they survey that actually like that?

And the Nissan Murano looks like a Chuck Taylor sneaker on wheels…

Saturn has really taken a tumble. They used to be very high on the list of owner satisfaction, and alot of that was because the dealer treated you much better than most dealers do. Looks like they’ve now dropped into mediocrity like most dealers. :roll:

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How did they take that survey? Of COURSE corvettes are going to be up there… if 1000 people take the survey 997 of them have corvettes…

and you don’t buy a sports car you dont like… its a leisure vehicle… if you don’t like it get something you like…

its not like a winter beater… where you can dislike it… but you deal with it because its transportation…

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that is one crazy list.

cant say i agree, i mean KIA??? come on that shit sucks ass.

and whats up with this:
Light-duty full-size pick-up: Cadillac Escalade EXT

thats not a full-size pick-up, its an esclade without a roof over the trunk, how is that a full size pick up truck??

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That’s a bad survey.

No Accord or Civic…hmmm…doesn’t seem to make any logical sense.

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sweet… mustang made the list :smiley: lol

I agree with the Ridgeline comment too. When I first saw an Avalanch I thought to myself “man, no one could build an uglier truck than that”… I was wrong lol

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:word:

and no subarus!?!! that’s bullshit. :smiley:

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J.D. Power’s Automotive Performance Execution and Layout study was based on surveys of 115,000 new vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. They were asked about their satisfaction with aspects of their vehicles including the engine and transmission, ride and handling, comfort and convenience and styling.

based on owner’s takes on 8 areas. :shrug: take it as thou wilt.

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sweet, atleast my car is on there.

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the Mini is legit. It’s like a cult following with those owners.

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Sometimes i think the auto manufacturers “pay” these companies to rate their vehicles, how can kia be in the list twice!?! and no BMW’s:jawdrop: :cry:

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because this was taken after 6 months of ownership lol

the people who hopped into the kia’s were probably like “this is gonna be a piece of junk, but it’s cheep” and were pleasently supprised.

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:word: this is true people are pretty cheap… my friend angela has a kia and 2 years later she had to take it in to get all new rims because there were reports of her rims bending? or something like that, so thats why im not fond of them but there an ok disposable car .

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Keep in mind it is easy to please when people have lower expectations.

Anyone that would buy a Kia is going to be easier to please than someone buying a BMW.

Typical Kia owner… “I love my car, it’s red”! “I give it a ten out of ten”!

Typical BMW owner… “The BMW doesn’t trail brake quite the way I expected.” “I give it a nine out of ten”.

The Kia just got a better rating.:bloated:

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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: so sad but so true

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They sent me one of these surveys for my Nissan. I didn’t fill it out because I didn’t think I could give a real opinion of the car after only a couple of months. What they really need to do is have the survey after about three years of ownership. Then you’d get the truth…

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BAaaaaaaaahahahahahahhahaha

JD Power’s most blissfully ignorant owners…

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this would be fantastic. these 40,000 mile long term-drives and initail quality surveys are nice, but if you hang onto cars until they have just about ended their service life, you’d like to know what to expect around 100k or so.