I received my JD Power Survey in the mail yesterday and today I got to rate the new car. It is good to reflect on the positives and negatives. Not that I am at all unhappy, but some aspects are better than others. My most negative comments came in questions about the navigation system. Just think that Toyota can do better. I tried not to be a fan-boy for Toyota, but I have to admit that most of my ratings were at or close to the top of the chart.
I've always wondered about these new car owner ratings. Geez, it's way too early to get a survey while you're still in the honeymoon phase.
I agree. I've had some vehicles I disliked pretty quickly, but for the most part, especially with a brand new vehicle, I wouldn't of bought it, if I didn't initially like it. So it would take a LOT of nearly instant problems for me to fill out a survey in the negative. Which I guess should scare you when you see some vehicles that DO fail the "honeymoon" period.
I still think that's way too early. It would reveal if a vehicle is significantly flawed or a lemon right out of the gate. But in any "normal" situation most people are pretty happy with their vehicles for the 1st 3 months and less than 10,000 miles. I really think it takes a good year of ownership to really get to know a vehicles strengths and weaknesses. 3 months is really the introductory phase. I always like to purposely plan at least one single long road trip with a new vehicle, if only to really get to know it. Sometimes this doesn't happen within 3 months for me.
