Category Archives: customer satisfaction

Cadillac Matches New Car Warranty on Used Cars

In a move that reflects a growing industry trend of expanding warranty and maintenance plans, Cadillac today matched its new vehicle warranty on certified used cars. Continue reading

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Subaru Recalls Forester for Pedal Interference

Subaru is recalling more than 10,000 2014 model Forester vehicles because the carpeted floor mats were not manufactured properly and can interfere with the gas, accelerator, brake or clutch pedals. Continue reading

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Nissan Recalls Popular 2013 Models for Bad Passenger Airbags

Nissan is recalling numerous 2013 model Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles because the passenger side airbag is defective. Sensors within the so-called passenger Occupant Detection System may have been manufactured out of specification for several months. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppress the passenger airbag on some of Nissan’s most popular vehicles. Continue reading

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Customer Satisfaction Up at U.S. Dealer Service Departments

The CSI rankings are based on dealer service performance during the first three years of new-vehicle ownership, which typically represents the majority of the vehicle warranty period. After the warranty expires, dealerships traditionally have little chance of getting maintenance work as more than two thirds of customers then resort to independent repair shops and mass merchandiser tire, transmission, brake and muffler chains. Continue reading

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Renault-Nissan Open an Automotive Electronics Office

Buyers aged 35 and under who grew up with myriad consumer-electronic-devices are particularly vocal about the design failures of automotive electronics. This is a growing problem for the product development departments of automakers that are largely managed by older white males. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Promotes Family Member Elena Ford to Vice President

Ford Motor Company said that Elena Ford is elected a vice president and leader of the company’s new Global Dealer and Consumer Experience organization starting this March. Ford is the great-great granddaughter of Henry Ford and the granddaughter of Henry Ford II. Ford earned a bachelor’s degree in Business from New York University. Continue reading

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U.S. Vehicle Dependability at All-Time High as New Models Lead

Overall vehicle dependability continues to improve for three-year old models to an all-time high, and for the first time dependability of all-new or substantially redesigned models is greater than carryover models from automakers. This is good new for used car buyers since well maintained off-lease vehicles will likely be durable. This assertion also confounds the conventional wisdom that says avoid buying all new models when they first go on sale. Continue reading

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Second Alabama Cop to Serve Time for I-65 Motorist Thefts

A second Alabama police officer has been sentenced to serve time because of his thefts from motorists on I-65. Former Fort Deposit police officer Carlos Tyson Bennett, 37, was sentenced to 37 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $500 in restitution. Bennett stole money from motorists during traffic stops with another ex Fort Deposit cop, Jessie Alan Fuller, on Interstate 65 in 2009. Continue reading

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Shanghai GM and Audi Lead Latest “Apeal” Study in China

Chinese domestic vehicle brands have narrowed a gap in customer perception, but international brands still lead in a survey based on two to six months of ownership. Models from Shanghai General Motors led in four segments, while Audi rated the highest praise among automakers. Continue reading

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Chevrolet Volt Leads New Owner Satisfaction Report. Again

For the second straight year, virtually all owners of the Chevrolet Volt hybrid said they would buy one again. Fully 92% of respondents who own GM’s Volt – much decried by anti-government extremists – said they would definitely buy it again. This earned the $40,000 four-seat car the distinction of being the top-scoring model in the latest Consumer Reports Owner Satisfaction Survey. Continue reading

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Lexus and Mini Lead in New U.S. Sales Satisfaction Survey

Whether it is possible to draw meaningful conclusions from closely ranked sales satisfaction numbers remains an open question among industry marketing executives and observers. Power maintains, not without considerable economic self-interest, that its study is a “comprehensive analysis” of the new-vehicle purchase experience. Continue reading

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Toyota Recalls 150,000 Tacoma Pickups for Rust and Corrosion

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. is recalling 150,000 Tacoma pickup trucks from the 2011 to 2004 model years because corrosion can suddenly jettison the spare tire from under the bed. While U.S. Tacoma sales for those years are much higher, only vehicles originally sold or currently registered in 20 cold climate states and the District of Columbia will be inspected and have the spare tire carrier assembly replaced if need be. Critics of such limited actions maintain they do not fix all the potentially unsafe vehicles. Automakers use them to cut down on the costs of a full recall. Continue reading

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U.S. Motorcycle Thefts Decrease to One Every 11 Minutes

The National Insurance Crime Bureau today said that motorcycle thefts were down 6% in 2011 from their 2010 total. This means 46,667 motorcycles reported stolen in 2011 compared with 49,791 in 2010. The theft rate, which sounds low, actually averages to one motorcycle theft every 11 minutes. Continue reading

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Chrysler Moves Forward on Eliminating Printed Owner Manuals

Chrysler Group, the first automaker to eliminate the conventional owner manuals from its vehicles and offer industry-first vehicle-information apps in a cost cutting move, will now apparently be the first in the auto industry to offer vehicle-information kits in Spanish for the U.S. market. Continue reading

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Ford Recalls 2013 Escape for Engine Fires, the Third Recall So Far

This is the third major recall on the best-selling Ford crossover SUV, which received a redesign for the 2013 model year, its first major revision since its 2001 model year debut. Ford did not publicize the recall, which became public because of a required legal filing with the Department of Transportation. Continue reading

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