Iq Winner Of Jd Power 20102 Survey - City Car Section

[Lorna2]

Winner Toyota iQ

1 Toyota iQ

81.8%

Overall ranking 6th

The Toyota iQ leads the city car pack by a large margin. You have to scan down almost 40 places in the overall rankings to find its nearest rival, the Volkswagen Fox.

So what does the iQ have that the others don’t? Well, premium materials and a decent amount of equipment for starters. The car also won by a country mile on styling, with owners loving its funky looks; only the Fiat 500’s interior appeal was rated more highly. However, proving that beauty is more than skin deep, iQ owners also raved about the audio system, enjoying the clarity of sound, although they did admit to finding the controls difficult to get to grips with. Owners were also thankful for the car’s efficient heating and air-con system.

Minor grumbles included a few steering and paint gripes. Space was a bigger issue; the meagre 32-litre boot (smallest in class) was a sore point, along with the small seat behind the driver.

The car’s urban handling came in for particular praise. There were reports of starting problems, but owners felt they were in good hands once at the dealership. Service advisers were described as friendly and helpful, and the waiting areas as clean and comfortable. Owners also felt confident that their cars would be returned to them in good condition, and in good time.

All of this, combined with low insurance premiums, minuscule emissions and impressive economy, means it’s no surprise that iQ owners were happiest with the cost of running their vehicle.

[Guest]

Nice one Lorna. I think this just shows that iQ owners know they have a great; if slightly compromised small car. We love ours and can't really see the point for us to have anything bigger, at least with a car buying budget of £0. However, with a lottery win, I have a few ideas of which cars I would have. Another iQ for one, new, with leather seats.... an XKRS Jaaarrrrguuuaaarrrr... I likes my cars.

[s44gtw]

Can i ask here how many 'iQ owners' on this forum contributed to that survey?

By steering gripes,

do you think they mean the vehicles that required to be re-called,

rather than when a iQ is running correctly as it is designed to?

I can not see how the steering is a reason to complain about,

other than the fact it needed a visit to the dealer!

IMO

the heating 'is' Efficient but the Air-Con is 'just 'up to its job as long as it is not hot outside.

Cabin Space is perfect as a 2 seater and provides plenty of boot space in that format.

With the seats in place then even calling what is left as 32-litres of boot space seems to have missed the point i think. It is enough for a Lap Top or 2 & a packed lunch.

& set as 3 seats is pretty good as having a bit of luggage space IMO.

(As a car that was carrying 4 adults then if it really is 32 litres, then its not going to even get a couple of rucksacks in there even if they were 16 litre rucksacks)

george

[Soeley]

"Space was a bigger issue; the meagre 32-litre boot (smallest in class) was a sore point, along with the small seat behind the driver."

The people that complained about the above, clearly bought the wrong car for what they wanted!

[tarquin]

I agree Marc. Its ok if it was a review but to complain about boot space and rear passenger seat then you have indead bought the wromg car and as George says. There are quite a few people on here, has anyome been ssked?

George. I have to say my A/C freezes my bits off even in 28deg. You might wantto check that

David

[aaronfife]

I too am a bit confused on how they reviewed this car. Did they have it for 1 hour? It's the type of car you need to live with to discover it's true potential.

What they say....

"Vulnerability to side winds" - When the winds were 80mph on the road bridge, it felt very stable & that's before I lowered it!

"The iQ is extremely pricey for a city car" - Not really considering it's equipment and re-sale valve.

"Steering wheel is unecessarily fiddly" - Disagree, once you get used it to its great.

"Rear visibility isn't great" - I didn't think so, it's about the same as a VW Polo.

"Boot space is virtually non-existent " - But you know this when you buy, the cubby hole in the boot fit's a suprising amount in it.

These are the few quotes from Whatcar. I think they don't get the IQ. Yes it is 'slightly' overpriced but so is every new car. Its re-sale valve should still be good as it's Japanese. After we lowered our's, it completely transformed the car as a whole. They go on and say the engine "struggles". But getting the claimed 73mpg out a petrol engine is very impressive for such a descent well equiped car. You know it's not going to set the road on fire, you buy it because it's great on fuel, stylish and something fresh. 2 stars for most of the catagories is a bit harsh I think.

[Parts-King]

The good thing about the JD Power survey's are that they are produced by REAL LIFE customers, people who bought the car and drive it every day. Taking the views of TOC members would give a very biased view. People on forums are either wild about their car or come on to complain about it, usually the later

Three Toyota's and a Lexus in the top ten is a good result. Toyota as an overall were up 4 points. A great job done by Jaguar too which knocked Lexus off number one spot. Aygo was also number 3 in the City Car catagory

It just goes to show that Toyota are a good manufacturer with good products, something that is not always reflected on the forum

Kingo

[tarquin]

I wonder if they did it for the Aston Martin they would have slated it the same. Funny how nobody complained about the interior light like a lot of real people on here. How can a steering wheel be "fiddley" with only 2 comtrols on It?

David

[s44gtw]

There is no way of knowing if the JD Power Survey is 'Real' owners completing the survey.

It is not beyond the whit of man to plant results by 'spurious' owners.

No Registration number is given when you complete the Survey.

(Surely no Manufacturers would ever risk using ringers to Fix Results would they?

Well you would never think the BBC or ITV would do it on phone in's untill they got caught)

It is hard to believe that real iQ owners answering the survey would not mean that the main bugbear at the head of the list would be the 'interior light', or as it is 'lacking of lighting from the interior light.

george

[Parts-King]

George, do you think an international company like JD Power, who operate in one of the most letigious market areas (The USA) would make up the results?

Or is it you think the dealer or manufacturer sit there all day inputting spurious results?

The reason a registration number is not provided is quite simple, people would not fill in the form in sufficient numbers if they had to provide that type of personal information

Actually, and more importantly, factually, it os one of the things customers mention to us as a dealer, that the interior light is poor. no you dont see that much on TOC but as I repeatedly say, TOC only sees a tiny fraction of Toyota owners. It might be hard for you to believe, but you are only seeing what is posted up on a forum, and not what the general public are saying about their cars

Kingo

[jwball]

Not sure about the air-con either. Mine was freezing the other day whilst it was very hot outside.

[Heathie]

I have no complaints about the rear space, I bought the car because theirs just me and my wife most of the times. If wee need anything bigger we use the other car.

BUT, saying that,I was at a funeral on Wednesday and came home with my wife 5ft 4", my son 6ft, my sons Girlfriend 5ft 4ish and my self 5ft 9". My wife and my sons girlfreind were in the back and son in the passenger side.

[s44gtw]

LOL.

Nothing against JD Power or Toyota,

but yes over jealous advertising & Media Promotion types do sit day in and day out in other industrial and commerce making results look as they wish them to..

Trip Advisor to eBay scores etc are now at the tips of the fingers of a team or even an individual sitting on their computers or smart phones doing a bit of spurious 'public' input or opinions.

It takes less than a few well judged 'Keywords' to get a topic to page 1 on a google search these days if you use the right Title to your post.

You never know who is 'at it' untill they are caught, and then you think, i cant believe that they would try to get away with that.

If you read an article by a freelance UK journalist in the likes of the Financial Times supplement on Off roading in Australia in a well known manufacturers 4x4, you might well think that is just an adventure/travel article.

If you look more into it and see who the freelancer worked for before on an advertising campaign and who they were the guest of on the particular trip, you might start to think that was not a travel article it was an 'ad-tircle' and you are getting played.

The motoring press and car articles always need taken with a pinch of salt.

Someone like my mum or sisters believe everything they read,

that includes, *If everything in live was as reliable as a Volkwagen!'*

You will find it impossible to tell them that all Volkswagen are not fault free.

Car surveys are the results of surveys done by the car owners that answer surveys, or you at least hope they are.

Only car dearers or garage workers get to hear their customers opinions, but then only of the customers that bother to tell them something.

Somepeople get opinions as they hear them good and bad from many sources and can get the idea for theirselfs.

george

[marcandsebe]

Winner Toyota iQ

1 Toyota iQ

81.8%

Overall ranking 6th

The Toyota iQ leads the city car pack by a large margin. You have to scan down almost 40 places in the overall rankings to find its nearest rival, the Volkswagen Fox.

So what does the iQ have that the others don’t? Well, premium materials and a decent amount of equipment for starters. The car also won by a country mile on styling, with owners loving its funky looks; only the Fiat 500’s interior appeal was rated more highly. However, proving that beauty is more than skin deep, iQ owners also raved about the audio system, enjoying the clarity of sound, although they did admit to finding the controls difficult to get to grips with. Owners were also thankful for the car’s efficient heating and air-con system.

Minor grumbles included a few steering and paint gripes. Space was a bigger issue; the meagre 32-litre boot (smallest in class) was a sore point, along with the small seat behind the driver.

The car’s urban handling came in for particular praise. There were reports of starting problems, but owners felt they were in good hands once at the dealership. Service advisers were described as friendly and helpful, and the waiting areas as clean and comfortable. Owners also felt confident that their cars would be returned to them in good condition, and in good time.

All of this, combined with low insurance premiums, minuscule emissions and impressive economy, means it’s no surprise that iQ owners were happiest with the cost of running their vehicle.

Yes I would imagine most on the iQ forum rate the car highly. But to moan about the boot size is crazy when you know it's a small car.

[tarquin]

There are things in this report suggest that JD didnt check up on before issuing it. Its a survey from people who have already bought the car. They should have got an iQ to see if the gripes are justified. Its a big purchase and one would have assumed that the purchaser would have taken a test drive and have a general look over the vehicle before purchase. Looking for suitability for their use. The article has a lot of spin on it. If some one says to me and they have, "Oh not much boot space" and i reply no but its fine for my needs, they still go away with the concept " no boot space'. You cant coment on something you already knew about when you purchased the car, its irelivant! Another thing that should not have been written without checking as i comented on before, the steering wheel controls. It is simplicity itself. Do you not buy a TV because it has a remote control with navigation control button for channel change and volume? Oh and an input source select? That should never appeared in the report. Its all spin and dressed up crap. Every car within a certain size gets blown in high winds. The IQ is very stable. Again not worthy of a mention. They have jumped on peoples vague coments and produced a report all of which could have been manipulated as they wish. They should have taken what coments they had. And taken one out to see if the complaints are justified before printing it. Its things like the steering wheel issue that shows to me its trumped up. Most people can find their way around windows xp. Im sure they dont have any trouble with 2 controls on a steering wheel. Should never been in the report along with the wind issue.

David

David

[tarquin]

The comments should only have been about things you dinnt know about untill you have purchased the car and took it home. This would be rattling seatbelts and front ones getting in the way of the door close.Interior light poor. Headlights poor. People with issues with certan gears. ( a featutre) no temp gauge and thats it. The rest is praise

David

[Jas16]

One might look at these surveys in an other way, given the no of cars sold, people on a forum only make up a relatively small percentage of it. I own an Avensis and owners complain of dull steering and poor ride as example and tbh that would include me as well. However, even during the test drive, my aim would be to look at the car as a package and see how it fits in my lifestyle. Now I don't want something that is super sharp or aggressive because as a package the car does most things extremely well.

Now I'm thinking of buying a iQ for my parents as a town car. Yes the boot is small, but having driven a smart car, it made me realise, when in town its perfect or even when going to work. So overall, the car works but as with every product there will be one of two issues. I look at the iQ as a two seater which is cheap to own and run but looks distinctive enough from the rest of the crowd. and its petrol engine will take away issues with diesel dpf's.

IMO i do agree with the surveys as they are an overall verdict on a car. Just out of interest, has anyone here filled out one of the forms for the survey? Im just encouraged to read that there aren't many mechanical faults and the gripes are with the car itself [or the way that owners perceive them]. I look forward to test driving one soon

Credit for such a car winning the its segment for that year, lets hope it can keep it up

[s44gtw]

There have been Snagging problems with the vehicles that were launched from 2009 in the UK untill the ones that required the last recalls to the end of 2010.

Owners answering the Survey appear to have been very understanding because they love their car or as it might be,

have vehicles that were not effected by any problems but they complete surveys like the JD Power one.

*There are or were potential mechanical faults and safety issues if the vehicle has not had them done under the re-calls.*

Steering, ECU update, Fuel gauge, Brake pipe replacement.

(Now EGRV failure & power loss on some vehicles and no re-calls yet.)

Minor things were Door Seals & rust at rear lock.

These vehicles 'should' all now be perfect.

Then it is now coming out there are some problems with some cars about to be 3 years old

(about to have the warranty expire, with potentially high cost coming to the present or future owners)

and the EGRV & now early clutch problems that appear not to be normal 'wear and tear' issues..

Hopefully Toyota will be right on to this to stop letting Owners of cars from 2009-2010 requiring to get this information from other owners and forums etc and not Via the Media or Mail Shots from the dealers/service garage by use of the Data base they hold.

(Data Protection does not stop them from contacting the Registered Keepers)

Its wonderful that there is now a 5 year warranty on new cars ,

which can only have been acheived from the experiences of the Early Buyers and owners that have stuck with it.

The iQ is a wonderful car IMO

& if Toyota take on the Faults they had to repair , take on board their terrible customer service and information transfer

& deal with some pathetic features like the Headlights then the next cars should be truely wonderful.

(maybe the Poor Headlights come from some design around it being a City car, where it is a very good out of town car when fitted with Good Lights.)

george

[tarquin]

See for me George the whole report is meaning less when they talk about the finiky steering controls. That statement alone could put people who maybe slightly technophobic not to entertain the car. If they can generate obvious rubbish like that. Who knows what the truth is with the rest of the report

David

[Guest]

Got to agree with George and David both. As far as I'm aware no one on this forum has said they were aproached for the JD Power Survey. I put our car details in the Auto Express survey, just like I did for the Mondeo we had before it. If we owners don't give input to these surveys, then we are also at fault for not doing so, especially when we like our iQ' so much. However, if we are not aware of a survey, how can we submit our details and experiences with the car. I say, shame on JD Power for such a poor survey. And then... congrats on giving the iQ such a good (but tainted) report. Ho Hum.

[tarquin]

See I think its bazaar. If you took a test drive the chances are it is going to be during the day. So your not going to notice poor interior light, and poor headlights. Generally thought amongst us as naff. So why no mention of it having discovering it after purchase?. Why mention boot space? you must of been blind not to have seen that !! So it can't be commented on. I've done the steering wheel bit. Mad. So the report seems to be in 2 parts, things owners supposedly said about their car, and trying to point out to would be buyers Pit fools and scare mongering , when i thought it was meant to be an owners survey

David

[s44gtw]

Is that at least 2 of us then that suspect the Honesty of the JD Power survey & who actually completes or contributes to them??

or even think that it was done by iQ owners that are actually Passengers & might be Blind or Partially sighted,

(never known the interior or exterior lights where very poor)

maybe even owned and driven by owners that only drive or get in the car during daylight or under 'City/Town' lighting since it is in the 'City Car' catagory!!!.

Maybe even by ones that hired a car and completed the survey before they had grasped the steering wheel controls.

(Doh,

i used the controls but never properly learned to set them and on iQ's was annoyed that i could not kill the sound /volume instantly)

I just laugh at car & car programme testers that have a different agenda from the general public mostly,

i get fed up of anti-automatic and flappy paddle comments and stuff of the likes,

Negative CVT stuff from people that do not like or understand it or wants to understand or like it annoys me particularly.

I struggle sometimes to see what people or road testers expect from a City Car if it is for one or two passengers and

a car that can still go out of town.

Never see how the Turning and parking ability do not outway all other concerns, or if you want more 'Size' buy bigger and its then a 'Medium Size' or Big Size City car & not a 'Compact City Car'.

george