Lexus tops JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study again, Buick bests Toyota
It shouldn't surprise anyone, but Lexus has once again taken the top spot in JD Power's Vehicle Dependability Study. That'd be the Japanese luxury brand's fourth straight year at the top of table. The big news, though, is the rise of Buick.
General Motor's near-premium brand beat out Toyota to take second place, with 110 problems per 100 vehicles compared to Toyota's 111 problems. Lexus owners only reported 89 problems per 100 vehicles.
Besides Buick's three-position jump, Scion enjoyed a major improvement, jumping 13 positions from 2014. Ram and Mitsubishi made big gains, as well, moving up 11 and 10 positions, respectively. In terms of individual segments, GM and Toyota both excelled, taking home seven segment awards each.
The study wasn't good news for all involved, though. A number of popular automakers finished below the industry average of 147 problems per 100 vehicles, including Subaru, (157PP100), Volkswagen (165PP100), Ford/Hyundai (188PP100 each) and Mini (193PP100). The biggest losers (by a tremendous margin, we might add) were Land Rover and Fiat, recording 258 and 273 problems per 100 vehicles. The next closest brand was Jeep, with 197PP100.
While the Vehicle Dependability Study uses the same measurement system as the Initial Quality Survey, the two metrics analyze very different things. The VDS looks at problems experienced by original owners of model year 2012 vehicles over the past 12 months, while the oft-quoted IQS focuses on problems in the first 90 days of new-vehicle ownership.
Like the IQS, though, the VDS has a rather broad definition of what a problem is. Because of that, a low score from JD Power is no guarantee of extreme unreliability, so much as just poor design. In this most recent study, the two most reported problems focused on Bluetooth connectivity and the voice-command systems. The former leaves plenty of room for user error due to poor design (particularly true of the Bluetooth systems on the low-scoring Fords, Volkswagens and Subarus), while the second is something JD Power has already confirmed as being universally terrible.
That makes means that while these studies are important, they shouldn't be taken as gospel when it comes to automotive reliability.News Source: JD PowerImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOLOwnershipBuickFiatFordGMHyundaiJeepLand RoverLexusMINIMitsubishiRAMScionSubaruToyotaVolkswagenAuto Repairbuickfiatfordhyundaijd powerjeepland roverlexusminimitsubishiramscionstudysubarutoyotavehicle dependability studyvwI'm reporting this comment as:Rude or offensiveNot constructive / off-topicSexual contentSpam or misleadingOtherReported comments and users are reviewed by Autoblog staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week to determine whether they violate Community Guideline. Accounts are penalized for Community Guidelines violations and serious or repeated violations can lead to account termination.
Billy6 Days AgoIn my other comment, I noted that we need a more reliable scheme to judge reliability--preferably, one like Germany's TUV report, which is based on mandatory tests conducted by certified mechanics. The fact that the Ford Fusion routinely makes Germany's top 10 most reliable cars, but is nowhere to be seen in JD Power's most reliable models, backs up my point. JD Power's surveys (as well as Consumer Reports') leave it up to owners to define what they really see as problems. And to be sure, what owners feel is very important. But it's harder to standardize. And JD Power and Consumer Reports also probably put too much emphasis on things like infotainment and electronic issues, which although troubling too some, aren't as problematic as your engine not starting. Better to employ a scheme carried out by mechanics who focus on critical mechanical and electrical issues and have to certify their findings. Like TUV Report, which puts Ford Fusion right up there with Prius and Corolla in their recent ranking of 7 year old cars. A more minor issue I have with JDP and CR is that they rank mainstream brands, which often have 20 or so models, next to luxury makes, which might have maybe 5 or 6 models. That gives the perception that you have to pay top dollar to have a more reliable car,
JDP seriously needs to revise their studies. Make a true one on reliability and then create a brand new one focused on Design/Usability. I think that would be much more relevant. If people complain about voice commands or navigation ease of use that has nothing to do with how dependable a car is. I would much prefer 2 studies. I bet the results would be quite different. You would end up with cars that are highly reliable but with poorly designed systems. Or both. Or neither. But lumping the two together just makes the study kind of useless.
The end paragraph is why the JD Power study is worthless garbage. They rate things like "poor voice control" and BT connectivity as a quality issue. I had a Cooper S that was ranked low because buyers felt the ride was rough and the cup holders too small. Those are not quality issues!!! Examples of quality issues = broken trim pieces, piece falling off the brakes mid-corner or AC failure (all happened on my current F30 BMW within the first year).
Lexus cars are amazing. I have a few old examples, and aside from a failed battery (which was not the car's fault), there has been no issue ever. The only problem is the lack of an excuse to get the latest and greatest Lexus because the old ones are still fine. Now that they are introducing those high-performance models - you can have both reliability and performance, unlike what the Germans have been telling us.
The problem with JD Power, Consumer Reports and other U.S. reliability surveys is that they are owner surveys. What we need is something like Germany's TUV-Report, which is a hands-on, nuts-and-bolts reliability testing program conducted by certified mechanics. 3 years after you buy a car in Germany, you have to have it pass a stringent battery of tests, and then every 2 years thereafter. The data compiled from the hundreds of thousands of cars that are tested each year is placed into a database that is then used to rank autos in terms of problem rates. Interestingly, Toyotas make up about half the models in the top ten among 3-year old, 5-year old, 7-year old, and 9-year old cars, routinely beating out cars like the Porsche 911 that are well-taken care of by doting owners (as opposed to everyday-cars like the Prius that was rated the most reliable 5 year car in the last TUV-report). The Ford Fusion routinely makes the top 10 as well. Interestingly, several Mazdas also land in the top 10 in the German ratings, though somehow they don't do so well in the U.S. surveys.
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