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Japanese Cars Continue To Dominate Consumer Reports’ Car-owner Satisfaction Survey

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Old 12-03-07, 02:45 PM
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Default Japanese Cars Continue To Dominate Consumer Reports’ Car-owner Satisfaction Survey

PRESS RELEASE

JAPANESE CARS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE CONSUMER REPORTS’ LATEST CAR-OWNER SATISFACTION SURVEY

South Korean Cars Make First Appearance on CR’s Most Satisfying List;
Domestic Models Gain Ground In Family and Luxury/Upscale Categories For The First Time In Five Years

YONKERS, NY - Japanese vehicles continue their domination over domestic and European brands in Consumer Reports’ Annual Car Owner Satisfaction Survey. Of the 39 car models that made Consumer Reports’ latest Most Satisfying car list, 18 toted Japanese nameplates with 10 of those built by Toyota.

For the fourth straight year, the Toyota Prius hybrid was identified by respondents as the most satisfying of any vehicle, with 92 percent of Prius owners indicating they would definitely buy one again. Following closely, were the BMW 335i coupe/convertible and Porsche Boxster, which drew scores of 91 and 90 respectively.

European models accounted for 12 cars on the list-a slight increase from last year. Domestic models remained steady at seven, and for the first time, two South Korean models, the Hyundai Azera (83) and Hyundai Santa Fe (80), made Consumer Reports’ Most Satisfying car list.

For the first time in five years, domestic models have gained ground in the family car category, which has been consistently dominated by Japanese nameplates. The Ford Fusion V6 with all-wheel-drive and Saturn Aura were identified by respondents as two of the top four most satisfying family cars behind the Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry Hybrid. The inclusion of the Lincoln MKZ AWD was also a five-year first for a domestic model to be found among the most satisfying Luxury/Upscale cars.

“These latest results suggest that domestic carmakers are getting better at capturing what people want in the car they drive every day,” said Rik Paul, automotive editor for Consumer Reports.

Individual owner satisfaction scores for the vehicles on Consumer Reports’ Most and Least Satisfying car lists are published in the Consumer Reports January issue, which goes on sale December 4, 2007. The complete report is also available at www.ConsumerReports.org.

European models dominated the sporty car and roadster categories taking 10 of the top 14 spots. While the BMW 335i RWD (91), Porsche Boxster (90) lead the way, the Mini Cooper proved to be a very satisfying vehicle, three versions - the Cooper S (88), Cooper Convertible (81) and Cooper Hatchback (80) all made the list. Performance generates a strong passion amongst owners, of the top 12 most satisfying cars, half were sports cars.

Consumers Reports Annual Car Owner Satisfaction Survey asks subscribers if they would buy the car or truck they own again, considering its price, performance, comfort, reliability, and enjoyment. In all, subscribers rated their experience with more than 415,000 vehicles and more than 300 separate models, in the survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

Among the least satisfying cars, domestics accounted for 20 of the 22 in the lineup, 15 of which are from General Motors. These included the least satisfying vehicles to own: the Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander and Saturn Relay minivans, with only 34 percent of respondents reporting they would definitely buy or lease one again.

There were no European nameplates listed among the Least Satisfying Car list, but several popular European nameplates, including Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Saab and Volvo were absent among the Most Satisfying car list.

Consumer Reports Most Satisfying vehicles are those for which at least 80 percent of owners said they would definitely buy or lease the vehicle again. Consumer Reports Least Satisfying vehicles are those for which less than 50 percent of owners said they would do so. Models are listed within categories in order of most satisfying:

Most Satisfying

* Small Cars: Honda Fit, Volkswagen Rabbit

* Family Cars: Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Ford Fusion V6 (AWD), Saturn Aura

* Large Cars: Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon

* Upscale/Luxury Cars: Lexus LS 460, Acura TL Type-S, BMW 330i/335i (sedan), Infiniti M35 RWD, Lincoln MKZ (AWD)

* Sports Cars/Roadsters: Porsche Boxster, Porsche Cayman, Chevrolet Corvette, Mini Cooper S (hatchback), Honda S2000, Porsche 911 Carrera, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Audi S4, Mini Cooper (Convertible), Ford Mustang (V8), Volkswagen GTI, Mini Cooper (hatchback)

* Coupes/Convertibles: BMW 335i (RWD), Volkswagen Eos

* Wagons/ Hatchbacks: Mazdaspeed3

* Minivans: Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey

* SUVs: Lexus RX350, Ford Edge, Toyota Land Cruiser, Chrysler Aspen (4WD), Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota RAV4 (V6), Toyota 4Runner (V6)

* Pickup Trucks: Honda Ridgeline, Toyota Tundra (V8)

Least Satisfying

* Small Cars: Chevrolet Cobalt (coupe, nonturbo), Saturn Ion (sedan), Chevrolet Cobalt (Sedan), Chevrolet Aveo (sedan)

* Minivans: Ford Freestar, Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander, Saturn Relay

* SUVs: Chevrolet Trail Blazer (6-cyl., RWD) GMC Envoy (6-cyl., RWD), Suzuki Grand Vitara, Jeep Commander (V6), Chevrolet Equinox, Jeep Grand Cherokee (V6, gas)

* Pickup Trucks: Dodge Dakota, Chevrolet Colorado (5-cyl.), GMC Envoy (5-cyl.), GMC Canyon (4-cyl.), Ford Ranger, Mazda B-Series, Chevrolet Colorado (4-cyl.), GMC Canyon (4-cyl.)

Complete Owner Satisfaction Scores for all vehicles are available to consumer reports online subscribers. For more information, Consumer Reports Most and Least Satisfying car list are published in the Consumer Reports’ January issue, which is goes on sale December 4, 2007. The report also available at www.ConsumerReports.org.
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Old 12-03-07, 02:52 PM
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Interesting that the Honda Accord was not on the Most Satisfying List. Car and Driver have had it on their Ten Best List for many years. Few other cars combine so many different functions so well in all-around competence, reliability, safety, and a reasonable price..........the sales numbers alone show that.
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Old 12-03-07, 02:58 PM
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it will also be interesting to see if the new Tundra, in the future, keeps the high satisfaction rating it is now enjoying. The new, full-size models introduced last spring show a noticeable drop in interior quality and body sheet metal from their predecessors. I suspect that the latest Tundra will not be on the Most-Satisfied List a year from now.
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Old 12-03-07, 03:03 PM
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The Azera and Sante Fe are also on the list. Shows how far Hyundai has come. Kudos!
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Old 12-03-07, 03:31 PM
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mmarshall
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Originally Posted by BrianGS430
The Azera and Sante Fe are also on the list. Shows how far Hyundai has come. Kudos!
I've reviewed both. Believe it or not, the new Santa Fe outdoes even the Azera flagship in some ways. Its ride is quieter, with noticeably less road and tire noise.

The Azera, however, has been very reliable in its first year, even more so than the Santa Fe, one reason for its high satisfaction rating.

Reliability alone, however, is not necesarily a factor in owner satisfaction.......witness the high satisfaction ratings of the unreliable Corvette and VW Rabbit/GTI.

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Old 12-03-07, 03:58 PM
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Congrats to the most satisfied owners and their cars! Good to see the RX and LS made the list.
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Old 12-03-07, 10:37 PM
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Geez, the domestics are getting killed.

If you can't make good cars, at least have good service
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Old 12-04-07, 05:12 AM
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Originally Posted by GS3Tek
Geez, the domestics are getting killed.

If you can't make good cars, at least have good service
Yeah, there's a few domestics on the Most Satisfied List (of which the most surprising is probably the Chrysler Aspen), but, in general, American-nameplate cars did not do well. The Corvette and Mustang, of course, satisfy with looks and performance. The Ford Fusion and its twins satisfy with great reliability for an American-designed car.

While it is too new, right now, to have been in service long enough and have compiled any record, I would bet the monthly rent that we'll see the Cadillac CTS on the Most Satisfying List next year.
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Old 12-04-07, 03:52 PM
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10 Toyota's eh? :-)
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