The survey is not meant to do anything but compare consumers perception of
the product, but the survey is not biased towards any one manufacturer. If
that was so only one person would pay for the results, they want everyone to
pay, even if they did not come in favorable. That is the way for them to
improve the quality of the product, service and in educating the consumer as
to the features and benefits of the product.

I think you are confusing JD Powers with some other companies. As far as
Consumer Reports, they try to do an unbiased report, but because the people
doing the report are using an extremely limited number of products to test,
and the testers are not necessary knowledgeable about the product, most
people do not hold CR testing as accurate reflection of the real world use
of the product or of the quality control of the product being tested.


"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Oh, puh-lease. When I "participated" in the Yamaha survey, I had 50+
years of actual usage experience with various brands of outboard
motors. So, I presume, do many other purchasers. I doubt 225 hp
outboards of any brand are bought by firs-time boaters.

And you are going to be able to accurately compare the total ownership
experience of the brand new outboard you just got, with the Johnson Sea
Horse
you sold 45 years ago? You don't have enough time with the current
product, and
you have forgotten about the old one. Besides, and this is an important
besides, people are going to use Powers survey to draw conclusions about
the
relative quality between products. Current products sold new. Do you
suppose
the brand of outboard you haven't owned since the 1960's is still the same
motor today? Not better or worse? If you own a 2003 Brand X motor, you
cannot
speak from first hand experience about owning a 2003 Brand Y.

Luckily, the survey doesn't ask you to compare your outboard with other
new
outboards- but the questions about how satisfied you might be can be posed
in
such a way that various manufacturers will do very well, based on
particular
product characteristics.

A number of the questions had to do with the dealer and how well or
how poorly it performed.


As always.