JD Power Survey 2007 - Roadsters & coupes

Mazda and Mercedes-Benz dominate the category this year – owners especially love their cars' styling. Not such good news for Smart and Vauxhall, though.

Roadster and coupe league table

1 Mazda MX-5
Rating 82.6%
Overall ranking 15th
Looks are important to MX-5 owners. They want a sporty little open-top, and the MX-5 delivers. For styling appeal, only the Mercedes SLK scored higher.

To go with the looks, MX-5 owners also get an exterior that hangs together: bits didn't normally fall off, nor were there myriad problems with the folding roof. It's a sound car both inside and out.

The engine and gearbox and interior were solid, and if you want a bulletpoof sound system you shouldn't go far wrong with an MX-5 – it scored highest in this area, of all the cars in its class. Meanwhile, owners rated dealership service and running costs as above average.

Sounds like the perfect car? Well, it is - almost; the little two-seater was well down the league table for comfort and convenience.

2 Mercedes-Benz CLK
Rating 80.9%
Overall ranking 31st
You expect a Merc to impress, and owners rated the CLK's handling and exterior design highly, along with its performance. However, the car's comfort and convenience didn't rate highly.

The CLK's mechanical reliability was considered to be above average, but problems with interior features and control issues were reported. Owners rated dealer service as merely average, although they were impressed with the helpfulness of staff and the facilities available.

The cost of ownership was classed as average, and the cost of repairs and maintenance was felt to be high.

3 Mercedes-Benz SLK
Rating 80.4%
Overall ranking 38th=
The SLK scored highest in the class for looks — owners were emphatic
in their praise of the styling, both inside and out. They were also delighted with the car's performance and were fairly pleased with the level of service they received at dealerships.

They rated the SLK as being pretty solid mechanically; very few owners had issues with the engine and transmission. However, nearly a quarter of owners had problems with the seats and a fifth had niggles with the interior controls.

SLK owners were not overly enamoured with the cost of repairs, but were more satisfied than CLK drivers.

4 Mazda RX-8
Rating 78.4%
Overall ranking 70th=
With its oversized wheelarches and those rear-hinged back doors, the
RX-8 is pretty unusual-looking - but its owners love its styling.

What else to boast about? Well, the RX-8 has a great sound system that's pretty solid, a faultless gearbox and a niggle-free interior. So what's not to like? Owners say the engine is a bit temperamental: more than 60% had issues in this area, and a third had problems with the car's exterior.

The biggest irritant for RX-8 owners, though, was its high fuel consumption.

5 Hyundai Coupe
Rating 77.9%
Overall ranking 79th=
The Coupe's interior got the thumbs-up. Owners reported few problems with the cabin - until, that is, they got to the controls on the dashboard. It was this aspect of the car that caused plenty of headaches - more than half of owners had problems with the switchgear.

On the plus side, Coupe owners say they like the car's interior and exterior styling. The Coupe was not that solid, though; more than 40% of owners reported problems with the suspension and braking systems.

It's not a bad car to run: owners were pleased with the cheap insurance costs and were reasonably content with the costs of repairs.

6 Vauxhall Tigra
Rating 74.6%
Overall ranking 108th
A faultless transmission is what you'll get if you buy a Vauxhall Tigra, as well as an interior that won't squeak or fall to bits.

Tigra owners were not so effusive about their car's looks, though - it came out second bottom in this class for exterior vehicle appeal.

However, the biggest gripe for Tigra owners concerns the facilities at the dealership. In this category the Tigra came out bottom in the group. It's not massively reliable either; 62% of owners had problems with the suspension systems and 42% had issues with the features and controls.

7 Smart Roadster
Rating 71.6%
Overall ranking 113th
It came last in the class and last overall, and one glaring statistic leaps out of the Roadster's ratings table: the score for 'exterior problems'.

A startling 100% of owners reported issues with the car's exterior. What's more, 68% had problems with the heating and ventilation systems, 52% complained about the ride and handling, and 63% had problems with the interior controls.

On the positive side, owners were pleased with fuel and insurance costs. They were also fairly satisfied with the styling.

Roadster and coupe league table