If the month has an R in it, there must be a J.D. Power & Associates car survey out. In the 2005 Customer Retention Survey (December), the automakers with the greatest number of customers coming back to buy another car were Lexus (63.0 percent), Toyota (62. percent), and Honda (59.9 percent). The industry average was 49.9 percent.

Technology-savvy companies are all over the map: Lexus is on top of the pack; Cadillac, Mercedes, and BMW stand just above average; Acura is below; and Audi and Infiniti are way and way, way below. Others above average: Chevy, 57.3 percent; Hyundai (see, the Koreans are going places), 56.3 percent; Ford, 54.0 percent; Cadillac, 53.0 percent; Mercedes-Benz, 52.6 percent; Subaru, 51.4 percent; and BMW, 50.0 percent.

Six makers that suffer buy-again numbers below 30 percent (meaning resale prices aren't so good, and you might get a good used buy) are Mazda, 23.4 percent; Mitsubishi, 25.2 percent; Pontiac, 28.2 percent; Suzuki, 28.6 percent; VW, 29.3 percent; and Saab, 29.6 percent. Suzuki and Acura made the biggest climbs in the two survey's two-year history: Suzuki is up 6.9 points (38 percent), and Acura's up 9.1 points (a 25 percent increase to 45.7 percent).