Consumer Reports Survey Says Tesla Has Highest Satisfaction Rate

[TMC Staff]

As Jake Fisher of Consumer Reports once told us, that does not mean Tesla had quality improvements though. Tesla is the car brand with the highest owner satisfaction, according to the latest Consumer Reports (CR) Owner Satisfaction Survey. While this is something to celebrate, it is not the first time Tesla achieved this honor. Since...
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[Turlejay]

This can't be real life

 

[PismoPat]

Obviously, Mr. Ruffo does not like Tesla. He probably never owned one.

 

[Magellan55]

I'm just bummed I bought the one model year that didn't get #1...

 

[GSP]

Obviously, Mr. Ruffo does not like Tesla. He probably never owned one.

Yes, he has an extreme anti-Tesla slant to all of his writings. He even seems biased against EVs. I doubt he is an EV owner.

GSP

 

[dfwatt]

CR is basically full of s---. They define 'reliability' so as to include issues with paint and trim, bury the critical owner satisfaction data five clicks deep (I had to spend 15 min. just to find it!), and have their fingers on the scales in a lot of ways that are not immediately obvious.

If you dig down and actually look at what the owner reports on Model 3 really suggest, a composite of those reports (see for example Edmunds website review by owners) make it clear that people are willing to put up with some of the teething pains and some of the quality control issues (famously with body panel alignment, paint quality and other gaffes) in order to get what can only be described as a transformative driving and ownership experience. Add to that the exceptIonal responsiveness of the car, not merely in terms of acceleration but the immediacy and connectedness of its handling (esp. DMP) to the overall driving experience and you begin to get at why Model 3 tops the owner satisfaction data. Even above Model S. But you would never know that they actually get higher ratings from their owners than Model S or that the Model S isn't necessarily for everybody a better car from the CR reports (not knocking Model S as it is a very fine sedan). It's also truly bizarre that they give the Model 3 low marks for handling.

That is why Model 3 IMHO rates higher than any other car in the CR survey history, excepting the 2018 911 (and unfortunately ratings for the Model 3 aren't broken down by class/submodel despite CR having a more than adequate sample size to do so), where you would expect that the DMP is right around the 95% number for the 2018 Porsche 911). You would never know any of this frankly, because CR only displays owner satisfaction data for a given car and its class. So you can't for example find how the model 3 owner satisfaction data compares for example with Porsche, or Corvette, traditionally iconic brands that have had high 80s to low 90s in terms of owner satisfaction, defined by "Would you buy this car again?" You have to manually dig through the reviews to get that information.

I've lost all respect for CR . They simply have their hands on the scale in too many ways. Just like the author of this TMC news clipping.

 

[Magellan55]

I just don't get the CR bashing here. The Model 3 is prominently displayed on the front cover this month! As they made it one of their top 10 vehicles of 2020, saying that the manufacturing issues are behind them. IMO they tell it like it is more fairly than anyone else, and no I don't agree that they put their hand on any scales. They praise things and they ding things, like they do on every other car they rate. Maybe they just use different scales than you would like? Let's keep in mind their mission, which is consumer protection, not automotive enthusiasm, so they care much less about performance or wow factor than they do safety and value. Their target audience are safety-conscious consumers looking for the best vehicle to get them from point A to B with minimal fuss or learning curve. That's why they downgrade autopilot and touchscreen-centric controls - too hard for grandma or a teen to use safely.

They don't go down to submodel on any vehicle, likely because they don't have that kind of budget. No advertising, so they have to get by on magazine/online subscriptions. They anonymously buy each car they test, as they don't accept cars from manufacturers. So no A4/S4/RS4 or 911/4S/turbo split out either. I was actually surprised they bought a Model S and X a few years ago, as typically they stopped around the 5-series / E class price level.

As for the Model 3, they gave it a 98 for driving experience. What's to complain about that? They dinged it for a bit of a rough ride, and my Model 3 owning colleagues at work all agree that that's true, especially compared to a Model S air suspension. The reliability issues they point out in their surveys on both cars align with complaints here on this forum and my own experience on the Model S. My Tesla isn't screwed together nearly as well as my 2010 Lexus nor even as well as my old 2001 Saab 95. Consumers today demand more than just a car that doesn't break down - they expect the paint to be blemish-free, the interior trim to not fall apart, and the audio controls to not be glitchy even on the cheapest vehicles, so CR follows the times and considers them reliability (though they do give more weight to major systems like engine/tranny/steering/brakes when rolling up scores).