Drivers Get the Most Emotional About These New Car Models

Minivan: Kia Carnival
Midsize pickup: Hyundai Santa Cruz
Large light duty pickup: Nissan Titan

Woman in love with her car — UfaBizPhoto / Shutterstock.com

American car owners are more dissatisfied with their vehicles — but a handful of models still evoke warm, fuzzy feelings of love, according to the J.D. Power U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study.

The study measures “emotional attachment and level of excitement” by having vehicle owners rate 37 attributes, including things like how comfortable they feel getting into the driver seat and how exciting it is to put the pedal to the metal.

For the second straight year, Americans reported a year-over-year decline in satisfaction with their vehicles, giving an average overall satisfaction score of 845 out of 1,000. This is the first time satisfaction has declined in consecutive years in the study’s 28-year history.

In a summary of the findings, Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, says drivers increasingly are “lukewarm” about their vehicles, despite new technology and design innovations:

“While innovations like charging pads, vehicle apps and advanced audio features should enhance an owner’s experience, this is not the case when problems are experienced. This downward trajectory of satisfaction should be a warning sign to manufacturers that they need to better understand what owners really want in their new vehicles.”

Still, some car models remain beloved. After asking owners to describe their emotional attachment to and level of excitement with their new vehicle, the following models came out on top.