TrueDelta's Vehicle Reliability Survey results for August: a rare preview

[mkaresh]

Normally I do not say anything about future results before posting the results. And I haven't even finished collecting the current round of data yet.

But this forum has been so helpful that I'm making an exception.

I don't want to give an actual number, because there will be additional responses and I haven't even started checking the data for errors. But I can say that the repair rate reported in August for the Versa will be much lower this time, and not far from the average.

When I reported the May results I predicted that the repair rate for the Versa could decline sharply as early bugs were worked out. This now appears to be happening.

But the change is so drastic, I wonder if the latest results are accurate. Is this consistent with what people are seeing on the boards? Are fewer people having problems with their cars lately? Or is my data incomplete? If anyone feels that their survey response was in any way inaccurate or incomplete, please contact me.

Overall, the participation of Versa owners has been exceptional. If you've already responded this month, thanks. And if you're not yet signed up to help out, I hope you'll consider it.

Details on the research:

Vehicle reliability research
Modified by mkaresh at 5:22 PM 7/11/2007

[CodeRed]

Would you like me to replace the one up top with this one?

[mkaresh]

No, please don't. Just wanted a temporary notice.

Thanks for offering, though. You guys are the best.

[ThirstyRoss]

Still have had zero problems with my Versa here in Canada-land (knock on wood)!

[Demonspawn]

MK when i did QA for the company i used to work for very drastic changes can happen with japanese companies very quick!!!

i could see this being a trend on changes in production line procedures!

i am not sure what revision of qs9000 or a varient of that but they do watch data very close and can adapt very quickly!

i know i made alot of trips to all the japanese companies in the us except the west coast we did not make product for those models.

[kc5f]

Also, some of us who had early problems like the airbag cover are still out there, and since that was our only problem and it's been fixed, the recent record looks much better. Mine's now over 30,000 miles, and has done great!

[mkaresh]

Thanks, guys. I predicted this would happen, partly because I've seen it happen with other models that started with high repair rates. But the change is even larger and more rapid than I expected.

Thanks for helping confirm that the change is likely valid.

[jacksan1]

MK when i did QA for the company i used to work for very drastic changes can happen with japanese companies very quick!!!

i could see this being a trend on changes in production line procedures!

i am not sure what revision of qs9000 or a varient of that but they do watch data very close and can adapt very quickly!

i know i made alot of trips to all the japanese companies in the us except the west coast we did not make product for those models.

Most of the times the Japanese companies can figure out quality issues and fix them quickly. For some reason, Nissan just can't get it right with the Titan, Quest, and Armada/QX56....

It sounds like some Tiida production engineers and QA guys had been sent to Mexico to work on the assembly issues for the Versa. The Tiida never had a quality problem, so this was clearly the assembly and part QA matter specific to the Versa. Looks like the problem is being solved!