Web Site Offers Reliability Data On New Cars Within Months

The West Bloomfield Township-based vehicle reliability Web site TrueDelta.com said Wednesday that it's beginning to see reliability information on some 2008 models.

"With prompt quarterly updates, TrueDelta's Vehicle Reliability Survey is making it possible to buy a new design while it's still new, without gambling that the manufacturer found and fixed bugs during development," said Michael Karesh, developer of TrueDelta.com.

The conventional wisdom is that a new car design should be avoided in its first year. But TrueDelta developer Michael Karesh says his site is already seeing data on new or redesigned models like the 2008 Cadillac STS, Honda Accord, Mercedes C.Class, Nissan Rogue, Saturn Vue or Scion xB.

The latest results, released this week, cover owner experiences through March 31. This is actually the third update to include some results for 2008 models. The next update, in August, will include at least one early 2009.

TrueDelta reported back in February that the 2008 Honda Accord had required few repairs, and this continues to be the case. Additional owner data from the first quarter confirms February's preliminary finding that the Nissan Rogue has had a cleaner launch than other recent Nissan designs, and has required few repairs. The new C-Class appears to be more solid than Mercedes' recent reputation would suggest, and has a slightly better than average repair rate.

Last February, a preliminary result for the 2008 Scion xB suggested that owners might be experiencing more than the average number of problems, especially with exterior trim. But the updated result, based on additional data, finds that these problems were limited to a few early cars. The second generation xB's repair rate is now better than average. With TrueDelta's quarterly updates, people interested in the new xB had to wait only three months to learn that the initially high repair rate did not apply to more recently produced cars.

Redesigned GM models don't fare so well.

A preliminary result for the 2008 Cadillac CTS three months ago suggested a high repair rate. The updated result, based on nearly three times as much data, indicates an even higher repair rate -- the highest for any of the 122 results in the latest update, and about two-and-a-half times the average.

"Most reported problems involve wind noise, interior trim fits, and driveline vibrations," Karesh said. "TrueDelta's result actually under-represents the number of problems owners are experiencing, since our analysis includes only successfully completed repairs and some of the vibration issues are proving hard to eliminate."

The 2008 CTS is not the only new GM design to require more than the average number of repairs. The latest update indicates a moderately high repair rate for the 2008 Saturn Vue, about one-and-a-half times the average. And last year TrueDelta reported similarly high repair rates for the 2007 GMC Acadia, 2007 Saturn Aura, and 2007 Saturn Outlook.

GM vehicles often fare better in their second model year. As reported three months ago for the Acadia and Outlook, the 2008 versions of GM's large crossovers have about half the repair rate of the 2007s. The 2008 Aura also seems to have a much lower repair rate than the 2007, based on a preliminary result.

"GM isn't the only manufacturer to identify and fix problems during the first model year rather than prior to launch," said Karesh. As TrueDelta reported before others, the 2007 Toyota Camry V6 had transmission problems early on, and the 2006 Honda Civic initially suffered from water leaks and warped interior trim. "But for GM rough launches appear to be the rule rather than the exception," Karesh said.

Car owners join TrueDelta as "panel members" and provide TrueDelta's data through brief online surveys. In exchange for their participation, these owners receive full access to TrueDelta's quarterly results free of charge.

Through rapid growth, the number of vehicles in TrueDelta's panel will reach 30,000 in June. This growth is due in part to enthusiastic support from owner forums such as DriveAccord.net, NICOClub.com, SaturnFans.com, EnclaveForum.net, and CadillacForums.com. These forums were essential in quickly building a viable sample of 2008 model owners.