JD Power Survey 2005 - Introduction

This is the biggest, most comprehensive test drive ever – a massive 23,322 people took part, driving a mind-boggling 481 million miles in total. That’s 1000 return trips to the moon, or 20,000 laps around the equator.

This makes the JD Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index the most important motoring survey you’ll read this year.

There is no substitute for living with a car and using it every day if you want to find out how reliable, comfortable, frugal or practical it is.

That’s exactly what the JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) does – every commute, family holiday and trip to the garage is taken into account and owners reveal the truth about every aspect of their cars’ performances, from how they look, right down to the repair bills and annual insurance costs.

All this information is then distilled into an easy-to-read verdict on every car surveyed.

This is the fourth year What Car? has teamed up with JD Power to publish the CSI and it focuses on cars registered between September 2002 and August 2003.

In total, 124 cars are assessed this year and every corner of the market is covered, from superminis and small cars right up to the biggest 4x4s and most stylish roadsters.

As well as the overall ranking for each car, there is also a detailed table with results for the cars in each class. So you can quickly find the car you own and see how it compares with the other vehicles in its category.

We also publish a table of car manufacturers in the survey, so if the specific car you’re interested in is not featured, you can find out how highly owners rate the maker.