Which wheeled wonders won't let you down? J.D. Power survey

[Chalupa]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 30, 2004

Which wheeled wonders won't let you down? J.D. Power survey lets you judge

Source: Contra Costa Times

If you are thinking of buying a new or used vehicle and wondering which manufacturers have the best reliability -- so that you have the fewest problems -- the Japanese continue to dominate while the Big Three domestics continue to outpace the European brands.

That is according to a new survey of 48,000 owners conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. In the 2004 Vehicle Dependability study, owners of 2001-model vehicles were asked about problems ranging from malfunctions, to noise, vibration and harshness.

The study calculates the number of problems for every 100 vehicles, which topped at 162 for Lexus, which has ranked the highest for the 10th consecutive year, to 472 for Land Rover, which was at the bottom of the quality heap.

J.D. Power presents the findings in three ways: corporate rankings, brand or "nameplate" rankings, and the top three vehicles in each segment (such as "Compact Car" or "Midsize SUV"). The corporate rankings rank the automakers as 16 corporate entities. For example, Ford Motor Company's ranking includes all Ford-owned automakers, such as Volvo and Mazda in addition to Ford, Lincoln and Mercury. In the brand or nameplate rankings, each of the 37 automakers is ranked separately, which means each Ford-owned brand is listed individually.

In the corporate rankings, Toyota (includes Lexus) led with 207 problems for every 100 vehicles. Next was Honda (includes Acura) with 210, Porsche with 240, General Motors with 262 and BMW with 264. The remaining automakers were below the industry average of 269 problems for every 100 vehicles.

In the brand rankings, fifteen were above the industry average. Of those, five were Japanese, seven were American and only three were European.

The brands that improved most from last year are Kia (with 77 fewer problems), Suzuki ( 38 ), and Audi ( 23 ), although all three continue to perform below the industry's average.

When it comes to reliability over three years, Toyota vehicles are still the best bet overall. Toyota has even managed to improve upon two of its segment-leading models. The 2001 Corolla (compact car segment), recorded 30 fewer problems than last year. The MR2 Spyder (sporty car segment) had 20 fewer problems.

American automakers have been promising for years to improve quality long-term, but "This is the first year we've seen consistent evidence of that," said Joe Ivers, executive director of quality and customer satisfaction. "Until now, the jury has been out."

The Big Three have all shown improvement since last year. General Motors, which improved 2 problems per 100, remains the only domestic manufacturer ranking above the industry average. However, Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler improved 12 and 9 problems respectively in the corporate rankings.

In the brand rankings the most improved domestic nameplates include Ford (with 19 fewer problems), Lincoln ( 18 ), Mercury ( 16 ), Dodge ( 14 ), Cadillac ( 13 ), Plymouth ( 13 ), Chevrolet (10), and Chrysler ( 10 ).

What is more, the domestic brands often performed better than foreign brands that are part of the same corporate family, Ivers said. For example, Chrysler division had 285 problems per 100 vehicles, while Mercedes-Benz 327.

The Ford division had 276 problems per 100 vehicles, just below the industry average, while Jaguar had 310 and Volvo 346.

Regarding the dead-last Land Rover models, parent-company Ford issued a statement noting that the 2001 Land Rover models were built just as Ford was taking over and that Ford's work to improve quality was not reflected in this study.

It got even more mortifying for the Europeans. Among the premium luxury car segment, the Europeans didn't even make the top three. First was the Lexus LS 430, followed by the Infiniti Q45 and the Cadillac Eldorado.

The Japanese dominated the sporty car segment, too. First was the Toyota MR2 Spyder followed by the Mazda Miata and the Honda Prelude.

In the premium sports car segment, the Honda S2000 ranked ahead of the Mercedes-Benz SLK, which was followed by the Porsche 911.

Here are the rankings by brand, followed by the number of problems per 100 vehicles:

1 ) Lexus, 162

2 ) Buick, 187

3 ) Infiniti, 189

4 ) Lincoln, 194

5 ) Cadillac, 196

6 ) Honda, 209

7 ) Acura, 212.

8 ) Toyota, 216

9 ) Mercury, 224

10 ) Porsche, 240

11 ) Chevrolet, 262

12 ) GMC, 262

13 ) BMW, 264

14 ) Saab, 265

15 ) Saturn, 267

Industry Average, 269

16 ) Ford, 276

17 ) Nissan, 280

18 ) Chrysler, 285

19 ) Mazda, 285

20 ) Subaru, 288

21 ) Plymouth, 289

22 ) Audi, 295

23 ) Pontiac, 297

24 ) Dodge, 298

25 ) Jaguar, 310

26 ) Jeep, 314

27 ) Oldsmobile, 314

28 ) Mercedes-Benz, 327

29 ) Mitsubishi, 327

30 ) Volvo, 346

31 ) Suzuki, 365

32 ) Hyundai, 375

33 ) Volkswagen, 386

34 ) Isuzu, 393

35 ) Daewoo, 411

36 ) Kia, 432

37 ) Land Rover, 472

[DigitALL]

Ckckck ... hebat banget si LEXUS ini ( TOYOTA ) !

Bung Cha, kalo Buick (kedua) itu industri mobil mana ya? Rasanya baru pernah denger neh ?

Wow ! Sptnya apa yang gw bilang waktu itu ngga salah deh. Peringkat ketiga diduduki oleh si INFINITI ( NISSAN )... Yup, berarti gw bener ... Hehehe =) Makin PD aja neh gw ... hehehe canda ya !

Oke bung Cha ! Thanks banget !

[DigitALL]

28 ) Mercedes-Benz, 327

29 ) Mitsubishi, 327

Gara2 MB dan MITSUBISHI dikepalai oleh manager yang sama, hasilnya juga sama ya ! Bener2 KOMPAK ! Hehehe ... =)

[Chalupa]

28 ) Mercedes-Benz, 327

29 ) Mitsubishi, 327

Gara2 MB dan MITSUBISHI dikepalai oleh manager yang sama, hasilnya juga sama ya ! Bener2 KOMPAK ! Hehehe ... =)

Hahaha, bisa aja kesimpulan DigitAll ini

[DigitALL]

Hahaha, bisa aja kesimpulan DigitAll ini

Makasih ya bung Cha !

[dodolaje]

1 ) Lexus, 162 <-- di org2 eropa sendiri kagum ama lexus. qualitynya jauh lebi bagus daripada buatan eropa dan juga customer service nya nomer 1 tiada duanya

2 ) Buick, 187 <-- mobil org2 tuak..yg bawa 80% nenek2 kakek2 yg jarang ngebut. kalo boil dikebutin melulu bisa mempercepat kerusakan mobil tersebut. dan juga kakek2 nenek2 udah nga gitu pusink kalo ada suara ini ono karena boil2 jaman dulu jauh lebi berisik

3 ) Infiniti, 189 <-- bener2 improve semenjak di pegang oleh renault. kemungkinan besar mereka bagus dalem reliability karena mereka pake basis mesin yg sama. mereka puny VQ engine terkenal V6 paling bagus di dunia. jadi hampir semua boil SUVnya memakai basis VQ engine.

4 ) Lincoln, 194 Sama kaya Buick....dipakai org tuak ato di pake sebagai taxi limo. jadi yg pusink perusahaan2 taxi

5 ) Cadillac, 196 <-- kalo kemana2 di amerika. org2 yg beli caddy kebanyakan org2 tua jarang sekali org muda jadi tidak begitu banyak di jalan raya less car.. = less posibility of making mistake in production

6 ) Honda, 209 Kebanyakan yg beli honda itu org2nya demanding. bayar dikit tapi mintanya banyak. jadi suara sedikit pun org udah ngomel2 tapi kalo di liat dari jumlah kendaraan yg honda buat dan jual. dan pembelinya kebanyakan private party, mempunya masalah segitu banyak itu sangat lah mengagumkan. remember they dont sell honda as FLEET cars jadi tidak di jadiin rental car. mostly private owners.

[DigitALL]

LEXUS memang the best in Quality n Reliability n Service !

[Chalupa]

Bung Cha, kalo Buick (kedua) itu industri mobil mana ya? Rasanya baru pernah denger neh ?

Buick itu udah lama kok beredar di pasaran Amerika, umurnya saja sudah lebih dari 100 tahun. Buick itu ada dibawah naungan GM.
Untuk informasi lebih lanjut mengenai mobil-mobil Buick, click saja link dibawah ini (official website-nya milik Buick):
http://www.buick.com

Image Buick itu identic dengan mobil yg dikendarai oleh orang-orang yg berusia lanjut (rada-rada sama dengan image-nya oldsmobile), tetapi sekarang ini Buick sedang berusaha keras untuk merubah image mereka tsb. untuk menjangkau demographics yg lebih muda. Nah, makanya iklan-iklan Buick sekarang ini men-feature Tiger Woods (untuk para penggemar Golf, tentunya sudah tidak asing lagi nama Pegolf yg satu ini).

[DigitALL]

Model2 mobil buick memang keliatan kaya mobil tua ya. Thanks bung Cha !

Gw baca di AutoCar, ada salah satu merek Buick yang akan dihentikan produksinya dan diganti dengan model yang lebih dinamis.