Looks like the days of boring family saloons toping customer-satisfaction surveys are over. US-based Consumer Reports’ annual owner-satisfaction survey results are out, and the overall winner with 93 per cent positive response is not the Toyota Camry or the Hyundai Elantra; it’s the Chevrolet Volt. And the Dodge Challenger and the Porsche 911, each with owner-satisfaction scores of 91 percent, have taken the second and the third place respectively.
GM’s electric (plug-in hybrid) car topped the list which drew feedback on 2009 to 2012 model-year vehicles from more than 314,000 subscribers. However, the consumer mag points out that the survey was conducted before the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened its investigation into the Volt for spontaneous combustion issues. Moreover, the respondents had owned the hybrid only for a few months when the survey was sent out.
According to the guys at CR, the survey results confirm the recent trend of consumers tending to give high scores to sportscars as well as those featuring alternative powertrains. That explains the considerably high number of hybrids like the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Lexus CT 200h and RX 450h, Toyota Prius etc as well as sporty cars such as
Audi S4, A5 and S5, Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette, Ford Mustang GT, and Mazda MX-5 Miata finding a place at the top of the list.
Scores were based on the number of respondents who answered "definitely yes" to the question; "Considering all factors (price, reliability, comfort, enjoyment, etc.), would you get this car if you had it to do all over again?"
