Car Time: Any Mini Owners (or people dumb as a rock)?

[gellar]

Sorry, saw this and had to dig it up again....

Lexus, Honda top J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, Ford plummets

J.D. Power = Racist
 

You realize JD Power is nothing more than a survey firm, right?  There's literally no science or testing behind it - it's just a mailer they send everyone (with a $1 bill) and some people choose to fill out.  As such, it's actual use as statement of fact is extremely limited.

[Devil]

Yeah - But I saw the headline, giggle and wanted to see how long it would take for cheeba to come back and insult me if I posted it.

Didn't take too long but let's see if he can beat it!

[Exodor]

Cheeba works for one of the Big 3 or for a company dependent on one of them for survival.

Keeping that in mind helps make sense of his bizarrely over-the-top defense of American cars.

I ran into the same thing when I posted about buying my Mazda despite mentioning in my OP that I bought (and really enjoyed) a Chrysler 300.

 

[Misguided]

That Mini coupe is suh-weeet! I had not heard about that.
Incidentally, on the subject of sport wagons, my current vehicle is a 2005 Volvo V70R wagon and it has been a blast.

[Nonnahob]

Just to further complicate matters. What you thing are 'foreign' and 'domestic' doesn't really mean much anymore. There are plenty of US cars of high quality, they just don't have the badge you'd expect. The two highest percentage of US made parts and assembled in the US are the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&subject=ami&story=amMade0611&referer=&aff=national

As a matter of fact, go buy an Accord right now perhaps two or three. The Ohio economy needs all the help it can get.

I think this was the most intelligent statement made in this thread so far. How many GM & Fords have plant codes from Canada and Mexico? How many Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans are built in Tennessee and Kentucky? If you guessed a lot, you win.

If you're talking about where the money ultimately ends up as the vehicles deciding "is this foreign or domestic" factor, yeah... but nowadays you're lucky to find a car that had all its parts and assembly completed by one country.

[pr0ner]

Yeah - But I saw the headline, giggle and wanted to see how long it would take for cheeba to come back and insult me if I posted it.

Didn't take too long but let's see if he can beat it!

This.  Is.  Awesome!

[EngineNo9]

Why is trolling awesome?

[Devil]

It was very troll-y of me and that ain't cool.

I do apologize for that. Shouldn't stoop to that level.

But I did chuckle and remembered this thread when I saw it.

I respect cheeba and his opinion (always said that), but I'm still baffled by the name calling and insults for mine.

I want everyone to be happy with the cars they buy, it's s lot of cash to lay out for something that ends up being shitty no matter the company, American, Japanese, Chinese Volvo's, anything!

I just won't go American at this point. It's not an attack, just my opinion. Shouldn't really bother anyone.

Oh well, moving on...

But what really made me come back this time was what gellsy said about the survey, which is true, but doesn't it say that enough people who bought Ford's were angry enough to respond?

I agree that it's not the most accurate way to judge a car company, by any means, but it does say something...doesn't it?

[leo8877]

I like how you said gellsy...that's so NHL culture.

[gellar]

But what really made me come back this time was what gellsy said about the survey, which is true, but doesn't it say that enough people who bought Ford's were angry enough to respond?

I agree that it's not the most accurate way to judge a car company, by any means, but it does say something...doesn't it?

It says exactly why these types of surveys are inaccurate.  People who fill out these surveys:
1) People who are exceedingly happy with their cars and like surveys.
2) People who hate their cars.
3) People who just like surveys.

I've purchased 3 new vehicles over the last 10 years and have at least liked every single one of them, but have never filled out those surveys.  I have not done so not because I did not love or hate my car, but because the fucking things aren't even online and are thus archaic.

It's not enough to call it a representative sample.  The most recent one you are quoting is based upon 73,000 respondents.  In the first half of 2011, 13.25M cars were sold.  Let's say that's 26M vehicles per year.  That's a 0.2% sample rate.  The statistical significance here is shitty.

[Misguided]

Just to throw in my .02 here, I'd like to buy an American car, but in many cases, they don't meet the standards of whatever I'm looking for at the time. Generally speaking, I think the quality control standards and tolerances for most big 3 vehicles are lacking. That's not to say I wouldn't consider one, but I find it unlikely I would purchase one.

[cheeba]

You realize JD Power is nothing more than a survey firm, right?  There's literally no science or testing behind it - it's just a mailer they send everyone (with a $1 bill) and some people choose to fill out.  As such, it's actual use as statement of fact is extremely limited.

There is testing behind survey research, with real numbers and PhD statisticians and 95% confidence intervals all that fancy stuff. And a lot of behavioral science is conducted through survey research. That said, you're mostly right, but not so much from a standpoint that survey research is invalid - it's that it's highly limited and one really needs to look into it or else they sound dumb as a rock. The reason Ford dropped so drastically, for instance, is almost entirely because of Sync. If someone took their Ford in because they didn't understand how to get their Manilow to play on Sync, then that would be a hit on initial quality.

Cheeba works for one of the Big 3 or for a company dependent on one of them for survival.

I don't get it, why would you lie or make shit up about me? I worked for an independent market research firm in Detroit. I don't work there now but still contract with them often. I have done work for every major automotive manufacturer. I did a lot of work for Kia/Hyundai, especially in the beginning when they were just awful. I've done a lot of work with Toyota. Haven't done all that much for Honda, really. I've done a shit ton with Mazda (including taking the only R8 in America at the time out for a spin, that was fun). I've also worked for every major supplier, many of them foreign-owned. The majority of my work is with American manufacturers, yes, but my work with the foreign manufacturers is significant.

When I'm speaking up for the American manufacturers, all I'm doing is correcting the wrong. I'm continually amazed that there are people here and on OO, who tend to be very internet savvy, talk about the automotive industry without doing a single search on it to know what they're talking about (eg., mazda is American, ew!).

[Exodor]

I don't get it, why would you lie or make shit up about me? I worked for an independent market research firm in Detroit. I don't work there now but still contract with them often. I have done work for every major automotive manufacturer.

When you overreacted in my car thread on OO you mentioned you were somehow involved in marketing for the Chevy Malibu.

If I'm mistaken then I apologize - although it makes your bizarre obsession with American cars make even less sense.

[cheeba]

When you overreacted in my car thread on OO you mentioned you were somehow involved in marketing for the Chevy Malibu.

No, I didn't. I used the Chevy Malibu as an example of the quality of present-day American manufacturing.

If I'm mistaken then I apologize - although it makes your bizarre obsession with American cars make even less sense.

I'm not obsessed with American cars. I'm a car guy and love nice cars, whether American or not. If anything I'm obsessed with correcting the dumb things people write. Just so happens people write lots of dumb stuff about American cars.

Btw, I love the Mini and mostly love Mazda - mostly the 3, except for when they screwed it up with the smiley face.

[cheeba]

I respect cheeba and his opinion (always said that), but I'm still baffled by the name calling and insults for mine.

Really? You're baffled why I call you dumb as a rock?

Could be the dumbest thing I've ever seen posted here.

[Exodor]

I'm not obsessed with American cars. I'm a car guy and love nice cars, whether American or not. If anything I'm obsessed with correcting the dumb things people write. Just so happens people write lots of dumb stuff about American cars.

Good luck with that.

[cheeba]

Good luck with that.

Yeah it's a sickness. But I don't know, I think being argumentative is a little better than lying about people and then calling them crazy.

[SkyLander]

I will say that up until a few years ago the big 3 made shitty cars. I drove a 96 crown victoria for a good 6-7 years and in general it was fine. The interior was shit and falling apart and I had to fix the driver side window regulator a good 3 times. But it was pretty solid...surprisingly as I've learned that the transmission from the time frame was considered horrible and crapped out on everyone. In either case I was looking for a car to replace it I kept my mind open to all possibilties. I wanted an AWD sedan that was under 30k, I test drove the subaru legacy and the Ford Fusion AWD. And I enjoyed the fusion more, it had more techy stuff, the interior was nice and it was one of the highest rated sedans out there. The Subaru was fine but I just liked the Fusion more. I would of test drove a Honda or Toyota and a Hyundia if they any AWD sedans.

Basically you should look at all of the cars that meat what you want instead of just turning a blind eye to American brands because there were a couple lemons. Anyway Consumer Reports is now not recommending Honda cars, Toyota has taken an overall hit in there reliability rankings. And German cars are well...German. Pretty well known how much it costs to fix anything.

http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/08/honda-redesigns-is-the-automaker-resting-on-its-laurels.html

http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/08/2012-honda-civic-lx-scores-too-low-for-consumer-reports-to-recommend.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I know it's consumer reports and some people have an issue with them but in general they've been good for me as a benchmark for me to do more research.

[pr0ner]

I respect cheeba and his opinion (always said that), but I'm still baffled by the name calling and insults for mine.

Really? You're baffled why I call you dumb as a rock?

Could be the dumbest thing I've ever seen posted here.

You sure do know how to needlessly escalate.

[loc-nar]

My favorite part of the internet is when some dude drops a completely inflammatory statement into an otherwise normal thread so that it suddenly becomes all about them.

On topic, I think minis are good looking cars.  Devil, I'm certain that if you buy one vaginas will come flocking to your crotch.

[hepcat]

On topic, I think minis are good looking cars.  Devil, I'm certain that if you buy one vaginas will come flocking to your crotch.

Good lord man!  Devil doesn't want numerous, bodiless vaginas flying around him!  That's just an incredibly disturbing scenario!

Could be the dumbest thing I've ever seen posted here.

   that was in response to you trying to tie Devil's beliefs in with supporting racism.  not because of any car debate.

p.s. let me help you with your response to this post:

STFU Toadie

[SkyLander]

On topic, I think minis are good looking cars.  Devil, I'm certain that if you buy one vaginas will come flocking to your crotch.

This man right here, believe these words.

[loc-nar]

On topic, I think minis are good looking cars.  Devil, I'm certain that if you buy one vaginas will come flocking to your crotch.

Good lord man!  Devil doesn't want numerous, bodiless vaginas flying around him!  That's just an incredibly disturbing scenario!

Is it fun being a homosexual Hepcat? I've always wanted to try it, but I just can't stop loving the pussy.

No, I mean I literally can't stop.  Please send help.

[hepcat]

Is it fun being a homosexual Hepcat? I've always wanted to try it, but I just can't stop loving the pussy.

No, I mean I literally can't stop.  Please send help.

7 posts in and you're already making Zeke look like an elder statesman of GT.

[loc-nar]

I didn't even think I was doing as good as that.

Don't worry.  I will go back to lurking as soon as I see something shiny elsewhere.

[rickfc]

I've always wanted to try it, but I just can't stop loving the pussy.

Senator Hinkle, is that you??