Customer satisfaction with heavy-duty diesel engines in vocation trucks is up significantly, according to the 2009 Heavy-Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Study from J.D. Power & Assoc. The study looks at 2-yr.-old Class 8 trucks, asking owners to rank them on satisfaction with quality, performance, warranty and cost of ownership.
Overall, vocational truck owners gave their heavy-duty engines a satisfaction ranking of 733 out of a possible 1,000, up from a score of 725 in 2008, according to J.D. Power. The study also found the lowest number of reported engine problems and related downtime since 2005.
Mercedes-Benz diesels ranked highest in the 2009 customer satisfaction study, scoring particularly well in engine quality, cost of ownership and warranty, the research company said. Cummins and Caterpillar were ranked second and third respectively, also scoring above the study’s average for all heavy-duty engines in vocational applications.
This year’s engine study was conducted between Feb. and Apr. 2009 and was based on 2,421 responses from “primary maintainers of 2-y.-old heavy-duty (Class8 ) trucks,” the company said.