That may say more about owners’ enthusiasm than the vehicles or their after-sales servicing. As Consumer Reports writes in the article @hill kindly linked, “Some of the brands that score high for owner satisfaction don’t rate well on other measures. For example, Tesla and Lincoln are near the top for owner satisfaction but at the bottom of our reliability ratings.”
“Owner’s Satisfaction” is pretty synonymous with “Owner’s Enthusiasm”. It is an overall satisfaction owners have with their cars. As such, it incorporates reliability, convenience, enjoyment, etc. As you noted, this doesn’t mean every aspect is outstanding, just that the overall satisfaction is still that high in spite of low reliability. Imagine where the Tesla satisfaction survey will be when Tesla does iron out their reliability rating?
I drive a car about which I can document over 30 defects or did this the wrong way for me items. Yet I am satisfied with it because it does what I bought the car for and meets my expectations. I accept that no car is perfect. Satisfaction is such a subjective fuzzy word. Each of us defines it a different way.
I'm looking at AWD RAV4 prime's - for function - even though i hate hate hate how Toyota chose to decorate the 4 corners with junk (fake scoop like light holders) that's in the most likely spot to be damaged in parking lot / careless back up scenarios. Now, those corners get more expensive to fix! Then, there's that hideous overly huge front end 'look' that looks like (from one pro review source) the designer was on an acid trip. Those complaints say a lot about the car's efficiency, reliability & function - in order to overcome the down side. As stated in posts above. "subjective" .
Do I think of the RAv4h as pretty, not at all. Functional. I stopped buying pretty cars 20 years ago. So did my family. 4 Hybrids now. SOlar on one house. Shopping for it on the other.
Huh, but dealers are marking them up $10,000 and still can’t keep them on the lot more that a few days, ugly sells
New car buyers only want trucks and SUVs The rav plug in being the first reasonably priced, reasonably efficient limited supply compliance SUV in the market speaks volumes to where new car buyers are at and why they can get a premium off the early adopters who won’t buy a BEV car BEV is being promoted as the only option but most new car buyers want to own a does it all SUV not a car and not worry about infrastructure. Likewise I think the cybertruck and it’s ilk will be more popular than expected but I would only own one up north as a plug in hybrid. My guess is BEV trucks will primarily sell in specific regions just like standard BEVs do now, probably no change in this regard for many years unless dramatic things change in the north and mid west. See where the dice fall, the only plug in car I would want isn’t being manufactured as I really don’t want an SUV at the moment maybe an Aptera if it ever comes to the market with a multi standard supercharger, CCS and EVSE support. Ah well
Venza is geared to a different buyer, it’s almost Lexus like. RAV4 is more rugged and sporty. RAV4 - No Rarity in California - see them all over.
In one of our Georgetown KY visits to the Toyota plant we saw the early, ICE-only, Venza. It looked like a raised, shortened, station wagon but without a hybrid drivetrain, boring. My understanding it was cancel only to be raised from the dead. Regardless, still no interest on my part. Bob Wilson
^ That. As far as the original post? Science and data. Two things can be true at once. A thing that's fundamentally different than other things can be 'the best' at being that thing, but can also be substandard in build quality and long term reliability. I'm not shocked that EVangelists lean towards EVs, and since CR's 'owner satisfaction poll' is basically a voter approval poll.....the data are probably fairly accurate. heck....they might not have even had to skew the questions. The advantages of a limited sample size. Meanwhile..... I'll keep waiting for the 'droid version. Then? When the Apple version is more democratized, I'll consider buying one of those....maybe. I'll probably even be "satisfied" with it......
I am fortunate to have a Gen 1 Prius owning salesman within driving distance. The local dealer even messed up the first tire rotation and inspection.
Exactly. A portion of past Rav4 buyers weren't buying the new one because they found it 'ugly'. The old one was based on the Camry platform of the time. It was closer to the Highlander in size segment, but lower profile. It was the closest we are likely to get to a true a Camry wagon at this time. The under pinnings of the new one is the same as the Rav4 hybrid. No real size difference of note. Just different aesthetics. I was hoping something like the old one to have something different amoung the sea of SUV sameness, but this is Toyota.
I thought my wife was going to like the Venza but the view out the rear window was, to her, too awful to even consider it.
