JD Power 2004 - Nissan Tanked

[Jesda]

Great news for GM, Hyundai, and Jaguar. Big drop for Nissan and Infiniti. Cadillac is one step away from reclaiming "standard of the world"

[gabossie]

[base9se]

Well, that sucks. I thought Nissan would be up there. I knew that Toyota & Lexus would be up there but Nissan below. Damn!

[MinisterofDOOM]

There are three auto reports/magazines to watch out for...their salaries are paid by BMW and Toyota and the like:

Motor Trend: absolute paid advertising, not a real review in the whole damn magazine

Consumer Reports: it seems that sportiness is a BAD thing. If a car is reliable, that's good. If its reliable AND fun, that's bad. What the hell? Toyota, MB, and BMW ALWAYS place well, even though all three companies have been going downhill the last couple years and there is no sign of and change for the better. Nissan always places close to last for reasons mentioned above. Even though they are ranked high in initial quality, general quality, and fun to drive factor by the few sources who matter--and more importantly, by the drivers themselves. Nissan is also the second ranked Japanese auto company as far as sales, pushing Honda out of their long-enjoyed spot.

J.D. Power. Pretty much a gussied-up Motor Trend. They basically print what they are "reimbursed" for, and what they know the masses want to hear. Unfortunately for us Nissan people, the "masses" tend to prefer an ugly, boring, slow, bad handling, over priced Camry to an Altima or Maxima.

The message: Don't pay attention to this crap. What matters is the real world, which is a LOT different. What matters more is your personal preference and experience with a car maker. I've had my '93 Maxima since the day it rolled off the lot. You want to know how many problems its had over these 11 years? 5. It's gone through three alternators (two of those were Auto Zone's fault for selling me faulty rebuilt alternators). The cruise control died two years ago. And the rear left window cable broke. So that's one, ONE sever problem that can be blamed on the car itself in 11 years!! Screw J. D. Power. My nissan is an incredible car.

[w1ngzer0]

lol. I think toyota is better. Sorry nissan fantatics but the fact is true. Nissan isn't as great as they use to be. Even back then they were ok.

My family has owned toyotas for years. They don't have major problems like these new nissans.

[SDRonEbay]

J.D. Powers is reputable. The fact is Nissan has started a decline in customer service and quality although sales have gone up. That's all I have to say about that.

OH! And this, if you wonder why I no longer work for Nissan but I'm still an owner and enthusiast, it's because their customer service and quality is on a decline...somehow their sales are going up.

[SmithSR]

http://www.jdpower.com/awards/...tID=1

Any chance to toot my company's horn, I take.Still #1

From the Summary:

Among tire retailers, Les Schwab Tire Centers ranks highest in tire retailer satisfaction for the fourth consecutive year based on its industry-leading scores in each of the four factors that drive replacement tire retailer satisfaction: retailer service, personnel, facility and product offering. The retail experience of more than 25 percent of Les Schwab customers is "substantially above expectations," compared with only 15 percent for all tire buyers.

"Les Schwab continues to dominate in fulfilling and exceeding customer expectations and enjoys a commanding 44 index-point lead over its nearest competitor"

I love it!

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've always been very happy with Les Schwab. They've never given me any crap and even let me watch them work on my car. The only problem I've ever had--and this only from a single store near my house--is that every single time I get tires rotated or mounted they screw up the balancing. I don't know if it's their machine or what...but I always get down the street a ways or onto the freeway, and end up having to go back and get the tires re balanced. The other thing...on the little computers where you can try tires on your car...not one in ANY tire store I've ever been to has either of the cars I drive--the 1993 Maxima or the 2004 Maxima. Why? Some stores even have second gen Maximas, but no third gen...huh? Everything but third? (Obviously, this last part is a rant and has nothing to do with Les Schwab itself. It's also not a question directed at you as a L.S. employee.) I just want to see what some gunmetal Volk LE37's would look like on my '93!

One thing I really like about Les Schwab is their warantee policy.

What do you do for Les Schwab? Does Les Schwab do brake service? My coworker needs brakes on a '93 Subaru Loyale. What would that cost (if you do indeed do brake work)?

[JDMaholic]

Ya, I could belive it. Honda and acura being up there doesn't suprise me at all. When my parents in there upper 50's were going to buy a new car I told them to get a honda accord. The reason, as with every other vehicle they've bought they were paying cash for a new vehicle and wanted one between 20-30g's and would likely keep it along time. Honda onverengineers every process, I can still get almost every part for my 1970 Honda CB750. Yes it's true that the accord they got is slower than a maxima and probably an altima, and it doesn't look as good and may not handle as good, but the thing you have to consider is that that simply does not matter much to the majority of people buying new vehicles. Like with my parents many people, especially older people care about how big the inside is, fuel economy, how dependable its going to be, how many service stations there are, not what I would consider, but the performance oriented audience is a small number.

[SDRonEbay]

FYI-This just in from Forbes.

Nissan Motor Co. said its domestic production in September fell 2.8 percent to 135,945 vehicles because of a dip in production of compact and minivan models. Nissan has an alliance with Renault SA of France.

You see how everything ties in. Like I said, whoever designed the new Quest is looking for a new job. It's time to get out of the minivan market, drop all their money into the compact, SUV, and truck lines. The interior on the Titan needs a polishing and we need to get that new 240 out. I'm talking petition here fellas.

[SmithSR]

Does Les Schwab do brake service? My coworker needs brakes on a '93 Subaru Loyale. What would that cost (if you do indeed do brake work)?

We do brakes and offer best warranty. Have your pal take his car in so they can inspect and give a proper price quote. Good to hear you're happy with the service. Insist they use the Hunter 9700 road force balancer..

[Jesda]

I wish I still lived near a Les Schwab. They always do an awesome job, on time, and for a reasonable price. And they're nice.

[HashiriyaS14]

I never thought I'd see Hyundai come in above Toyota, lol. It's strange that Infiniti is so good and Nissan is so low, just because a lot of Infinitis are rebadged Nissan products (not so much anymore though). Hummer got owned, lol.

I didn't expect Porsche to be so low.

[PalmerWMD]

Last year Nissan and Infiniti did a lot better.The new Z ( had soem teething troubles as well as the new full size truck platforms dropped the Nissan Infiniti numbers.

Also keep in mind that this is an <initial> qulaity study, so a lotof small things go into it.

Long term quality like powertrain and stuff, Nissan/Infiniti strong suit above BMW and MB wont show up in this type of comparison.

Fred..

[MinisterofDOOM]

I want to know what goes into initial quality. My dad's '04 Max has had ZERO problems. NOTHING. Not so much as a broken dinger, or bad dash light. No electrical issues, no problems with upholstry or door seams, there's nothing wrong with that car, and it's driven A LOT, and its driven HARD. I don't think a Toyota or Hyundai could stand that kind of abuse for even a month without severe problems. I have just had a completely different experience with cars than those guys at J.D. Power. Every Bimmer I've ever known is in the shop once every couple of months at least. My neighbors don't have a MB anymore--they had a late nineties C-class. Then suddenly there's a '97 Maxima in their driveway, and they aren't having money issues. Toyota is reliable, I will admit to that, and Honda is too. But no more reliable than Nissan. MY aunt's 1992 Corrolla is one of the crappiest cars I've ever seen. And Mercury...it's a rebadged ford. That's ALL that mercury makes. So how can they be so far away from Ford. same with Buick/Chevy. There's definitely something screwy there.

I'd just like to see the numbers that went into this analysis. There's something not being taken into account that makes a big impact on these scores. I can not beleive that Nissan is that low. Maybe in the mid nineties they were, but they've more than pulled out of that rut.

[Jesda]

Mercury has no version of the recall-ridden Focus.

Initial quality includes everything from broken interior bits and tire noise to exploding motors. Nissan's cheap interiors and tire wear issues and interior rattle/noise problems (caused by cheap interiors) play heavily into their drop in the survey. And, I think, thats about it.

-Jesda

[Cold_Zero]

A few observations (from what I could read from the graphs [too small]):

1. The 350z and the FX series SUV placed 3rd in best quality for Premium Sports Car and Entry Luxury SUV.2. Infiniti as a car maker placed 8th in over all initial quality.3. A lot of Nissan's line up is new. Typically automakers with new line ups experience a lot of glitches and problems that need to be fixed. As the model and line up grown in years, these glitches and problems get worked out. 4. Volume of cars sold by an automaker also factors into initial quality. The more cars that are produced, sold and out on the road increases the probability of something to go wrong. It is certainly a feather in Toyota and Honda's hats that they produce so many vehicles and have good initial quality. Automakers that with lower production and sales numbers that have low quality are definitely makes to stay away from.

Bud

[driverdriver]

Its natural for automakers to get complacent when they have models that are selling. The smart thing to do is to buy a car from an automaker which is desperatly trying to get market share while they are losing market share (i.e. Infiniti in the 90's and Acura currently). In my experience of owning cars, automakers which are trying to get market share will bend over backwards to ensure customer satisfaction, with the hope that (a.) you will come in for service-which helps the automakers bottom line (b.) buy another car from them.