Opinion: What's the right way to read an automotive quality report?

Filed under: Etc.

Why No One Quality Report Tells The Whole Story

Quality remains one of the most significant factors for folks buying a new car.

There's no question that fuel economy has become a critical consideration for most folks looking to buy a new car. But quality remains one of the single most significant factors in closing the deal.

Once upon a time, word of mouth was the only way to differentiate between one brand and another, an important yet oftentimes unreliable approach. Then, back in the 1970s, a one-time Ford analyst by the name of J. David Power revolutionized the industry with his first quantitative studies of vehicle quality and reliability. Today, J.D. Power and Associates is the quality field heavyweight, with all sorts of wannabes chasing for a piece of its multi-million-dollar consulting business.

Earlier this month, Power released its 26th annual Initial Quality Study, perhaps the single-most widely quoted survey of its kind, which tallies up the results of a lengthy questionnaire filled out by tens of thousands of recent vehicle buyers. To understand the significance of the IQS, consider that Ford held a separate news conference a day earlier to address the likelihood of its downward slide in the survey. Makers who did well blitzed the media with news releases trumpeting their performance.

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Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.

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Continue reading What's the right way to read an automotive quality report?

What's the right way to read an automotive quality report? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insert Coin: Sensordrone lets your smartphone monitor temperature, air quality, inebriation

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Sensordrome is an attempt to pair a sensor-heavy dongle with your smartphone. The result is something slightly Star Trek, with the device connecting across Bluetooth to share a wealth of data on what's going on around you. Pledging over $149 to the Kickstarter project will net investors a spot on the first production run, while over $99 will land you a beta version for slightly zealous devs and testers. The sensor array includes some standard offerings like temperature and humidity but it also throws in a light sensor, non-contact IR thermometer and barometer. It can also analyze breath alcohol levels, and detect Carbon Monoxide and even gas leaks. Throw in an expansion connector to open up even more options, including medical equipment like blood pressure monitors, and you can see why it's piqued our interest.

Sensors aside, the gadget will hook-up with Android (other platforms will be considered in the future) and will be able to connect to the likes of Twitter and Facebook. Sensordrone can offer up its data in three different ways; call-respond mode will give you immediate read-outs, while streaming mode will send continuous data to your phone. Data logging mode will store the same data in its built-in memory which can be downloaded later as a .csv file -- and should mean graphs abound. Sensordrone's application software will also be open-source, allowing plenty more apps to utilize that sensor medley in the future. We'd still love a built-in radiation detector though. That aside, you can take a tour of Sensordrone's talents after the break. How can you say no to that face?

Previous project update: Motion-controlled sword-em-up Clang has just under a month left to go and has notched up just shy of $160,000 for the project -- all from under 3,100 backers. However, plenty of support is still needed to reach its heady $500,000 target.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Sensordrone lets your smartphone monitor temperature, air quality, inebriation

Insert Coin: Sensordrone lets your smartphone monitor temperature, air quality, inebriation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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