Survey says MD gas engine owners more satisfied; Hino gets top marks

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif — A recent study finds owners of gasoline engines are more satisfied than are diesel engine owners, particularly in the areas of engine performance, engine quality and cost of engine ownership, despite making up only 5 percent of respondents.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Medium-Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Customer Satisfaction Study, truck engine customers in that class cited better reliability and dependability, acceleration when the truck is fully loaded, cost of routine engine maintenance, engine noise and engine vibration.

"Typically, gasoline engines are specified primarily for lower-class trucks — 2C through 5 — and even then, they are the minority in Class 5," said Brian Etchells, senior research manager in the commercial vehicle group at J.D. Power and Associates. "Considering the jobs these classes of trucks have to perform, it’s surprising that gasoline engine owners are more satisfied than diesel engine owners."

There are two key areas in which diesel engines appear to have an edge in satisfying customers, compared with gasoline engines — the length and comprehensiveness of the engine warranty and fuel economy, where diesel engines have a higher reported average miles per gallon than gasoline engines."

Meanwhile, in the same survey Hino Truck engines rank highest in customer satisfaction among conventional cab medium-duty truck owners, with a score of 794 on a 1,000-point scale, and performs particularly well in engine quality and engine warranty. Mercedes-Benz (758) and Caterpillar (748) follow Hino in the rankings.

The study measures customer perceptions of 2006 model-year Class 5, 6 and 7 gasoline and diesel engines, and provides manufacturers with a comprehensive and objective measure of customer satisfaction with the products and related dealer service.

Four factors are measured to determine overall engine satisfaction. In order of importance, they are: engine warranty; engine quality; engine performance; and cost of engine ownership.

"Hino Truck engines perform well across the board, particularly with regard to quality," said Etchells. "Compared with owners of other brands, fewer owners of Hino Truck engines report experiencing an engine problem or engine-related downtime. In past years, Hino Truck engines have been well-regarded for their fuel economy, quality and performance in cab-over trucks, and Hino engines continue to satisfy in these areas today within the brand’s conventional model lineup."