More Car Buyers Base Purchases on Brand Reputation than Ratings and Reviews

The 2012 Avoider Study found that 43% of buyers who steer clear of a particular model due to quality concerns do so merely because of common knowledge. 

Ratings and reviews – our stock in trade – were cited by 38%, while previous ownership of a model caused scorn in only 14% of respondents.

"The fact that so many new-vehicle buyers may be basing their opinions about quality and reliability on pre-conceived [sic] notions, rather than concrete information or data, demonstrates how important it is for automakers to promote the quality and reliability of their models," said Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power and Associates, in what reads like a nakedly self-serving press release.

Other interesting data from the survey included an all-time high for xenophobia, with respondents who avoided import models because of their origin rising to 14 percent, the highest in the nine years of the study. Buyers avoiding domestics for the same reason dropped to six percent, the lowest in the study's history.

The most influential reason for purchasing a specific model in 2012 was fuel economy, trumping reliability, "the deal," and exterior styling, which were tops in 2010.