JD Powers APEAL Scores

[goblue]

Americans love their vehicles. What is it about these vehicles that they really love? More importantly, which cars and trucks do Americans love the most?
The answers to these questions and more can be found in a survey of more than 100,000 car and light-truck owners during their first 90 days of ownership, conducted by automotive research company J.D. Power and Associates of Westlake Village, Calif.

Measuring owner's delight with the design, content, layout and performance of their new vehicles, Power's 2004 APEAL (Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) study showed great improvement among domestic brands.

The 2004 study included 43 new or redesigned models. Among the major redesigns, the Chrysler 300 and Chevrolet Malibu showed dramatic improvement over their previous models. The exterior styling of the 300 and its boost in available power helped it to excel in the study.

"Vehicles that engage customers immediately upon first sight tend to keep those customers around to learn more about the vehicles," said Joe Ivers, partner and executive director of quality/customer satisfaction at J.D. Power and Associates. "A model launch or redesign is a manufacturer's biggest opportunity to take advantage of this during the model's life cycle."

The Nissan Armada, Chevrolet Equinox and Pontiac GTO are completely new models, and all three have debuted at the top of their segments.

General Motors placed vehicles at the top of four categories, the most of any one manufacturer. These included the Chevrolet Malibu (Entry Midsize Car), Pontiac GTO (Sporty Car), Cadillac Escalade EXT (Light-Duty Full-Size Pickup) and Chevrolet Equinox (Entry SUV).

The 18 APEAL vehicle category winners for 2004 are:

Compact Car
MINI Cooper

Entry Midsize Car
Chevrolet Malibu

Premium Midsize Car
Volvo S40

Full-Size Car
Mercury Marauder

Entry Luxury Car
Chrysler 300

Mid-Luxury Car
BMW 5-Series

Premium Luxury Car
BMW 7-Series

Sporty Car
Pontiac GTO

Premium Sports Car
Porsche Boxster

Compact Pickup
Subaru Baja

Light-Duty Full-Size Pickup
Cadillac Escalade EXT

Heavy-Duty Full-Size Pickup
Dodge Ram Pickup HD

Entry Sport Utility
Chevrolet Equinox

Midsize Sport Utility
Nissan Murano

Full-Size Sport Utility
Nissan Armada

Entry Luxury Sport Utility
Lexus RX 330

Premium Luxury Sport Utility
Lexus LX 470

Compact Van
Toyota Sienna

Full article here: http://autos.msn.com/advice/article....c=msn&GT1=5472

This looks great for GM, and the domestics.

[MelvinJ]

Any idea where we can get the full results? I checked out the Powers site but I didn't see the awards posted there.

[dindak]

Nice to see the Malibu up there.

Malibu seems to be catching on, sales are going well in spite of it's shortcomings. My buddy loves his Maxx.

[Ming]

Compact Pickup
Subaru Baja

Sweet for Subie. It's my favorite Subaru, and I'd consider buying one.

[GM_Guy81]

how the BMW's are up there with Idrive is beyond me.

[mrfunji]

Surprised the G6 didn't oust the Malibu. I go to school in NY and I've seen 5 in the past week. I definately saw my share in S.E. Michigan - but it's nice to see people are buying them rather than company cars.

Wasn't this study posted here a week ago? I still don't totally understand the rankings. It must be by appeal of the name - cuz the Subaru Baja has sold about 600 since introduction.

[91 s-10baja]

Originally Posted by Ming

Compact Pickup
Subaru Baja

Sweet for Subie. It's my favorite Subaru, and I'd consider buying one.

I like my Baja better, I had hoped Chevrolet would have kept the rights to that name, but no, they went with ZR2, and left if wide open for Subaru to make a half ass entry (IMO).

[tosil]

I think the G6 was excluded due to model year...G6 is a 2005, not 2004. Just think, Mercury Marauder made it for full size?! Next year should be interesting, 05 Mustang, G6, Solstice, Cobalt, and so on....

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by mrfunji

Wasn't this study posted here a week ago?

Yes, or something very similar.

I still don't totally understand the rankings.

I've wondered the same thing, and this is what I gleaned from several sources, for what it's worth:

The J.D. Power and Associates APEAL (Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) Study is based on responses from new-vehicle owners who were surveyed during their first 90 days of ownership. The APEAL Study measures owner delight with the design, content, layout and performance of their new vehicles.

So the above short paragraph may explain why some seemingly oddball entries (e.g., the iDrive-equipped BMW's making the list) score well. Perhaps it reflects the extreme passion of the persons who actually buy it, so it seems significantly subjective.

I suppose scoring well on the APEAL study says something positive, though.

[quinnp12]

Originally Posted by GM_Guy81

how the BMW's are up there with Idrive is beyond me.

its called being biased.
on the other hand, gm did really well in this study (especially compared with recent years), and its no surprise that the 300 is dominating. i dont know about anyone else, but ive been seeing them everywhere, and here in often icy colorado, high power rearwheel drive is often avoided. but hey, whatever works

[Askani]

It's great to see the Merc up there... Highly underrated if you ask me...

[ponchoman49]

The 04 Malibu didn't have much to improve on in the previous gen Malibu. Those 97-03 versions were plagued from day one with all sorts of strange things. The 02-03 models were better but still suffered from flaws that were part of the design.

[AdmiralViscen]

Why no Cadillac cars?

[cincygoblue]

Originally Posted by quinnp12

its called being biased.
on the other hand, gm did really well in this study (especially compared with recent years), and its no surprise that the 300 is dominating. i dont know about anyone else, but ive been seeing them everywhere, and here in often icy colorado, high power rearwheel drive is often avoided. but hey, whatever works

Well if you go ahead and buy a 5-series or 7-series, knowing it has I-drive and having owned one with the system before or having read about it, you are probably still going to love the car. Maybe? Didn't the Aztec win the APEAL award in it's catagory a while back. If you bought one despite the looks (or even because of), you are probably delighted with the purchase overall.