March 9, 2005

Toyota Prius tops customer satisfaction survey

Yonkers, New York - Toyota Prius topped Consumer Reports' "Most Satisfying Vehicles" customer satisfaction survey, with 94 per cent of respondents saying that they would definitely buy one again. The Lexus LS430 scored almost as high, at 92 per cent.

Consumers Reports, an independent, nonprofit consumer product testing centre, received more than 250,000 responses to its information request for 2002 to 2004 models, which were used to determine owner satisfaction ratings and its list of Most and Least Satisfying Vehicles. The survey asks subscribers if they would buy the vehicle they own again, considering its price, performance, comfort and reliability.

Asian and European brands filled all but 1 of the 32 slots on the list, with the only domestic being the Chevrolet Corvette.

Domestic vehicles accounted for 12 of the 20 on the Least Satisfying lineup, with Japanese nameplates accounting for 7 of them. The sole European nameplate on the list was the Land Rover Freelander. However, the firm notes that satisfaction does not always match reliability, as the Mini Cooper and Mercedes-Benz SL were listed among the most satisfying although their reliability records are below average.

"Most Satisfying" vehicles scored 80 per cent or higher; "Least Satisfying" scored 50 per cent or lower. In some cases no models made the "Least Satisfying" list.

In "Most Satisfying", the models were:

• Small Cars: Toyota Prius, Scion xB, Honda Civic Hybrid, Mazda3

• Family/Large Sedans: Toyota Avalon, Honda Accord

• Upscale/Luxury Sedans: Lexus LS430, Acura TL, Acura TSX, Jaguar XJ

• Sports/Sporty Cars: Honda S2000, Chevrolet Corvette, Mini Cooper, BMW Z4, Porsche Boxster, BMW M3, Subaru Impreza WRX, Mazda WX-5 Miata

• Coupes/Convertibles: Lexus SC430, Mercedes-Benz SL

• Minivans: Toyota Sienna

• Small SUVs: Honda Element, Subaru Forester

• Midsized SUVs: Lexus RX330, Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Lexus GX470, Toyota 4Runner

• Large SUVs: Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus LX470

• Pickup trucks: Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan

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