Honda tops J.D. Power website usability survey for second straight year
More and more people are shopping online for their new car or truck, making automaker's websites an increasingly important part of the automotive buying experience. Honda seems to get that, as evidenced by its recent win in a new J.D. Power usability survey. The Power study measures website usefulness during the new-vehicle shopping process. New vehicle shoppers evaluate websites based on appearance, speed, navigation and content.
Honda won the award for the second straight time, thanks in part to improved navigation and continued ease of use. Honda's score of 882 out of 1,000 reflects a 16 point improvement over last summer's ranking, and now the site sits 42 points above Power's industry average. Honda was followed in the top five by Porsche, Mitsubishi, Kia, and Acura. The far less distinctive bottom five includes Jaguar, Pontiac, Audi, SMART, and Scion. Hit the jump to view the complete J.D. Power usability survey.
[Source: J.D. Power]
Manufacturer Web Site Ranking
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
Honda 882
Porsche 867
Mitsubishi 866
Kia 865
Acura 862
Lincoln 861
BMW 859
Lexus 859
MINI 859
Mazda 856
Infiniti 853
Mercury 852
Jeep 851
Ford 850
Suzuki 848
Cadillac 846
Saturn 845
Subaru 845
Toyota 845
Chrysler 841
Dodge 840
Industry Average 840
HUMMER 837
Mercedes-Benz 837
Nissan 836
Land Rover 835
Saab 834
Hyundai 833
Volvo 833
Volkswagen 829
Buick 827
Chevrolet 827
GMC 821
Jaguar 813
Pontiac 801
Audi 793
smart 789
Scion 773
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TurboPanzer 7:06PM (1/26/2009)
When will they have a VTEC Power award?
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Mazda FTW! 7:08PM (1/26/2009)
It's really easy to navigate a website where your choices are 'A boring compact Sedan' and 'A larger boring sedan". Color choices include silver and beige.
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Torrent 7:37PM (1/26/2009)
ooh. burn.
MUSASHI66 9:18PM (1/26/2009)
This from a guy with a nickname Mazda FTW! ? Speed3 and 6 are faster and more exiting cars than anything Honda has to offer, but let's be realistic - Honda's lineup is same vanilla as Mazda.
Mazda FTW! 9:32PM (1/26/2009)
Ever heard of the CX-7, MX-5, RX-8?
alex 9:36PM (1/26/2009)
oh come on mazda ftw! what about the s2000.... oh wait... touche
firstplace 9:59PM (1/26/2009)
How can an appliance manufacturer win an automotive website competition.
Farmboy 7:08PM (1/26/2009)
Lincoln and Mercury ranked higher than Ford? Well they both are the same format, but I personally think Ford's website is much better all round. They have one of the best websites, imo.
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chconline 7:08PM (1/26/2009)
I've had 4 Hondas for the last 10 years (Currently own a 07 Civic and 08 Odyssey) -- never had any major problems. Just regular maintenance and the rest is all fun. :D
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chconline 7:10PM (1/26/2009)
My point is, it's great to see them improve their buying experience -- as it's more accessible in details by the general consumer, combined with excellent quality cars, it's a winning combination.
hhsohn 7:30PM (1/26/2009)
Ah...no. The only reason why Honda won was that consumers had favorable impression of Honda cars during the survey period, which isn't that significant with Honda owners and their near-blind loyalty.
The questions are asked on a scale of 1-10, so they really only had 0.42 pt above industry average. Not that big of a deal.
akboss302 8:34AM (1/27/2009)
I had a Honda for two years and almost died of boredom. Sure they last forever, but in Jeremy Clarkson's words, would you really want it to?
samthefro 7:18PM (1/26/2009)
I thought Volkswagen's site would rank higher than that...
The 'build your own' section is pretty nifty.
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amastadon 7:32PM (1/26/2009)
I would say that the new GM 'build your own' is on of the worst out there. I love the general but the 'build your own' doesnt even show a change in exterior color and no pics of the interior either.
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Torrent 7:38PM (1/26/2009)
Totally agree. Pontiac's does the animated previews and such, but it takes so slow. It'd be faster to just special order your Pontiac and receive it at the dealership instead of waiting for the animation to finish loading.
Todd 8:07PM (1/26/2009)
As a recent car purchaser (yes I purchased just before the bottom fell out) and now that my mom is in the market I have surveyed a TON of car websites and Honda's is the best followed closely by Ford and VW. Honda wins because they have the best way of displaying the difference in trim levels for each car. It is simple and doesn't mess around with o-optional, s-standard crap.
Oh and Toyota's is the absolute worst thing ever.
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nardvark 9:15PM (1/26/2009)
I think this is partially because Honda doesn't have options...they only have 2 or 3 trim levels to choose from. So naturally their website section on options is simpler!
I have to say, I thought that basically all of the websites use the same template. I didn't think any of them were significantly different from the others. Except for VW's, which had all kinds of snarky comments in the sidebar.
akboss302 8:37AM (1/27/2009)
Actually Suzuki and Subaru are the tops in my books. Super clean, no litter, easy to navigate.
Seminole 8:19PM (1/26/2009)
All I'll say is Toyota's build your own configurator is crap. Instead of letting you build your own car the way you want it, it just searches out of what cars are available in your area. By far it is the most confusing of any one I have used.
Also does anyone else notice that most cars have a $699 Toyoguard Protection Plus Package that includes things like:
* Roadside Assistance Program
* No Charge for First Oil and Filter Change at any Southeast Toyota Dealership
* Vehicle VIN Etch Glass Product Protection Program
* Exterior Paint Sealant, Undercoating and Interior Protection Application
* Rental Car Assistance for Warranty Repairs
$700 !!!! JUST FOR THAT !!! What a load of crap.
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carboy 8:48PM (1/26/2009)
the beamer site sucks i wonder how it got there
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