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My Car Match

84 messages,  Last post on May 29, 2012 at 6:15 PM

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Messages Page 7 of 9

#55 of 84 Re: Uh...needs work. [fintail] by colin_l

Dec 08, 2011 (7:18 am)

Replying to: fintail (Dec 07, 2011 6:01 pm)
My father-in-law drives a 1992 500E with a rather famous lineage. It struggles to best 18mpg on the highway and 15 in town, but you couldn't pry it away from him.

#56 of 84 Re: Q. about match "engine" [steve_] by ateixeira

Dec 08, 2011 (9:10 am)

Replying to: steve_ (Dec 07, 2011 5:24 pm)
Blagojevich is in jail, at least.

#57 of 84 Re: Uh...needs work. [fintail] by ateixeira

Dec 08, 2011 (9:12 am)

Replying to: fintail (Dec 07, 2011 6:01 pm)
I use the Miata in the city, the van for trips and getting the car pools around.
 
Funny thing is the giant 8 seater with the 3.5l V6 averages more than the tiny 2 liter two seat roadster.
 
I take full irresponsibility for my driving.

#58 of 84 Re: Uh...needs work. [colin_l] by fintail

Dec 08, 2011 (9:24 am)

Replying to: colin_l (Dec 08, 2011 7:18 am)
I think there's a lot at play - maybe gear ratios etc. My old C43 AMG got worse mileage on the highway than the E55 and barely better in town - with smaller displacement, less weight, and less power. My old W126 S-class, an I6 not much older than that 500E, got much less mpg on the highway and it had just over half the hp of the E55.

#59 of 84 Re: Uh...needs work. [ateixeira] by fintail

Dec 08, 2011 (9:25 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 08, 2011 9:12 am)
How often does the van see redline?

#61 of 84 Car match is like a horoscope... by kathyc2

Dec 15, 2011 (12:38 pm)

entertaining but very little value. I think it would be better if it asked for 1-10 ratings about how important the various items (drive type, luxury, technology, MPG and cost) are.
 
Interesting that it comes up my highest criteria is MPG, when I didn't even look at the ratings when choosing vehicles. It also seems that it gives high importance to the vehicles at the top of the price specified.
 
That said, it was nice that the 5 I just bought always came at the top or near top, along with various Infiniti, Volvo, Audi and MB models.

#62 of 84 Re: Q. about match "engine" [ateixeira] by rhardy21

Dec 15, 2011 (1:21 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 06, 2011 11:26 am)
Hi
 
Sorry I'm late arriving in this conversation. I'm the product manager behind the My Car Match tool on Edmunds. I thought I'd spell out the things that drive the recommendations:
 
1. Objective data from Edmunds. Things like MPG, 0-60 time, sales volume, head room, leg room, etc.
 
2. Subjective data from consumers. We have an ongoing online survey that measures what people think about cars in terms of luxury, sportiness, and appearance.
 
3. Magic...OK, that's an exaggeration, but we have some pretty smart people who have created an algorithm that takes all that data, combines it with the choices you make as you pick between 3 vehicles, and then puts every car in order according to our best prediction of your preferences.
 
So sorry, no bribes or advertising here. But I will give you a few possible reasons you see things that don't make sense:
 
A. When you choose which body types (sedan, hatchback, etc.) that completely limits you to those types. So if you choose SUVs and Trucks only, MCM will look at the world as though only SUVs and Trucks exist. That's why you might see 19 MPG have a lot of stars next to it, because for a Truck, that's not bad. Also, if you choose all the body types or a weird combination like convertibles and trucks, MCM will have a harder time predicting your preferences.
 
B. The MCM nearly ignores brand (make) preferences. You'll notice that when you're choosing between 3 cars, we don't show the brand. It's because we'd have to ask you a lot more of those questions to figure out which brands you prefer and in what order. So instead we put a brand filter on the results page. If you care a lot about certain brands, you can filter for them there, but your list will still be in the order of your predicted preferences. We're working on some back-end tweaking that will take brand more into account. And no, it doesn't involve bribes or advertising.
 
C. This tool was not designed to tell you your one perfect car. It's more for people who are just starting their search and want a list of 10 or 15 cars to start from. I've never met anyone who honestly took the MCM and they didn't at least see a couple of cars they'd consider in their top 10 results.
 
D. We're still working on it... I know that's a lame excuse, but we don't have unlimited resources and you'll note that the MCM is one of very few pages that has no advertising at all. So it's somewhat of a labor of love. I hope we'll be able to expand it and implement some of the great suggestions I've seen on these and other forums. Number one on that list is to let you tweak your preferences once we've made our prediction. But those things take time and money and since I hope I've convinced you we're not taking bribes, I hope everyone will be patient.
 
Wow, this got a little windy. If anyone made it this far, thanks for reading. I'm also happy to answer other specific questions about the tool. So fire away.
 
Rob

#63 of 84 Re: Q. about match "engine" [rhardy21] by ateixeira

Dec 15, 2011 (1:54 pm)

Replying to: rhardy21 (Dec 15, 2011 1:21 pm)
I was just kidding about the bribes part.
 
You're sure, right?
 
KIDDING!
 
Who filled out the surveys? Existing Edmunds members, visitors, or a random sample? Just curious, really.

#64 of 84 Re: Q. about match "engine" [ateixeira] by rhardy21

Dec 16, 2011 (9:46 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 15, 2011 1:54 pm)
The survey is taken by anyone browsing on Edmunds or I think there are a few other places that have links to the survey. We try to make sure it's not gamed, but no it's not a true random sample survey that reflects the population. I wish it were, but that costs money.
 
You can see it here:
 
http://survey.edmunds.com/rating/

Messages Page 7 of 9

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