Dear Researchers

Out of interest, I'd be fascinated to know why nobody wanted to have a
go at my question number 275235 asking about Smart Car reliability. I'd
priced it at $7 which I thought wasn't unreasonable, but there were
still no takers after several days.

In the end, I decided I'd have to do the work myself.   My very first
idea was to plug into my favourite search engine the phrase

"Smart Car" reliability

restricting results to UK pages only.

That brought up 3 pages of hits, almost all of which were UK press
reports picking up on a survey carried out by Which? magazine that
said these cars seem to be extremely reliable.  Not a single car in
the test sample had broken down.  The Which? report itself came up as
the second item in the search result list.

So, the question was actually an extemely easy one, and I found what I
was looking for within all of 30 seconds.  It seems it should really
have been a $2 question.

Now to this question:  why did no researcher want to pick up the $7
for something that easy?   Surely it's not just me?

Hope you can help me out on this!

Please post comments only for the next 24 hours, so that the question
doesn't get closed immediately.  After which, anyone can post an
answer.

regards, as always

Michael

---

Clarification of Question by michael2-ga on 17 Nov 2003 14:02 PST

Thanks all for your comments.  Even after all this time (and I'm not a
beginner!) it can still be tricky to phrase a question in a way that
attracts researchers.

Please post any of the comments - or any other comment - as an answer.

M

Maybe the point "comparison" in your question #275235 prevented all
researchers from answering. Usually questions of this kind require a
lot of research as researchers have to prove results by using reliable
sources.
I answered a similar questions about lawnmowers some months ago and
used customer testimonials form websites as proof. The result was a
refund as the questioner was completely unsatisfied.
At least this experience was MY reason for not anwering.

till-ga

Hi Michael,

I agree with Till. From your question, it seemed that you wanted a
U.K.-based "comparison" of the reliability of the Smart Car versus the
reliability of "other small cars on the market."  That's pretty broad.
Some researchers may have assumed that you were hoping for exhaustive
U.K. statistics comparing the Smart Car's reliability to the
reliability of the Ford Focus, VW Golf, Vauxhall Corsa, etc.

Although you did indicate that you be willing to take "anecdotal
evidence" in lieu of "reliable statistics," it's difficult for us to
guess not only the sort of "anecdotal evidence" that you'd find
acceptable but also whether you'd be truly happy with anything less
than a comprehensive reliability comparison.

Good question Michael.

I'm a U.S.-based researcher who knows a fair amount about the auto
industry.  I don't Which from What.

If the question had concerned Smart Cars in the U.S., I'd consider
only a few sources to be reliable:
*  manufacturer data (likely unavailable)
*  rent-a-car company data (also likely to be proprietary)
*  J.D. Powers survey data
*  Consumer Reports data

Not having seen any recent publications on "smart cars" from any of
these sources, it didn't seem likely that I'd find anything more than
anecdotal reports -- particularly for the U.K. alone.

One of the risk factors for a researcher is time invested in
unanswerable questions.  This question had the potential for too much
time -- PLUS the inability to judge any sources found.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

In addition to what others have said, I would point out that 
the page you cite from Which?, which, in the Google search
results, seems to indicate a report stating:

"... represents a significant drop (19 percentage points) in
 this model's reliability since last ... of far humbler cars,
 like the Honda Jazz and even the Smart Car. ..."

But, when loaded, the page (even the cached version) doesn't
even have the word 'Smart' in it, but is, instead, redirected
to a page suggesting:

"Read this report in full. Sign up for your 30-day FREE trial."
http://trial.which.co.uk/motoring.php?p_id=215&whdev_referer=

Speaking for myself, I will not sign up for every (or any) 
resource requiring a free trial in order to garner information
for answers.

Hi Sublime

Actually, the page I mentioned was this one:

http://www.which.net/media/pr/aug03/which/cars.html

Which is from a Which? press release.

Hi,

I think it was because the question seemed broader to researchers than
what you intented it to be and no researcher wanted to risk leaving
you unsatisfied and thus asking for a refund.
Thanks.
endo

I think the real question is:

Why are so many people so lazy that they have to pay to have some of
the simplest questions answered for them?

Sorry, but your question is a good example.  It took you 30 seconds to
input a few keywords from your question into Google and get an answer
and yet you were willing to pay $7.  Why? Do people do any of their
own research first?