Industry Report Part 1: New J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study Puts Lexus on Top as Usual

Photos

J.D. Powers and Associates try to take the guesswork out of your car buying experience when it comes to reliability. (Photo: Lexus)

Nissans Infiniti luxury division slips from 2nd place to 3rd this year, overtaken by Buick. (Photo: Infiniti)

This year, both Cadillac and Lincoln have improved their scores dramatically. (Photo: General Motors)

Honda is the best of the entry automakers with a 6th place finish and a PP100 of 209. (Photo: American Honda)

While Toyota cant be happy about their fall from 6th to 8th, its nothing compared to Porsches slide from 4th to 10th. (Photo: Porsche Cars North America)

Although outside the top 10, Chevrolet, GMC, BMW, Saab and Saturn all ranked above the industry average. (Photo: BMW of North America)

Toyota and Honda Move Up, While Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Slip Backwards

Which automaker builds the most reliable vehicles? Thats a question most car buyers want answered before taking the plunge.

J.D. Powers and Associates attempts to make your job of buying a new car easier each year, by publishing their Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) which rates automakers by corporation, nameplate and the top three vehicles in each segment of the market.

The results of the 2004 VDS were obtained by surveying more than 48,000 original owners of 2001 model year cars and light trucks. Being a survey, it cant be construed as an exact science, but nevertheless the Westlake Village, California based company is a force in the market, sending automakers scrambling to engineer their cars to achieve better results. In the end, vehicles are becoming more reliable with each passing year.

J.D. Powers released the results of the 2004 VDS yesterday, Tuesday, July 29, 2004, with few surprises. With regard to the nameplate rankings, out of 37 brands once again Toyotas Lexus luxury division is on top, decimating the competition with only 162 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) from last years 163 PP100 ranking.

Next in line was Nissans Infiniti luxury division last year, and if it had managed to maintain its 2003 PP100 ranking of 174 it would have stayed there. Perhaps it was the introduction of the brands upgraded “t” models in the 2001 model year that caused reliability to drop, but nevertheless Infiniti has fallen to 3rd place with a 189 PP100 while Buick has surged forward from 3rd to 2nd with a 187 PP100 rating, despite losing 8 positions from its 2003 179 PP100 ranking. The adage “youve got to be good to be lucky” seems appropriate with Buick in this case.

In a power struggle that has gone on for most of last century, both Cadillac and Lincoln have improved their scores dramatically. What might be even more interesting is the domestic luxury titans still continue to rank side-by-side, but now have swapped positions with Lincoln taking over the lead. Last year Cadillac was in the 7th position with a PP100 of 209, with Lincoln taking 8th with a 212 point PP100. For 2004 Lincoln has raised its game to 4th place with a PP100 of 194, while Cadillac has also improved its PP100, but could only manage 196 for a 5th place showing. To aficionados of either brand, however, such a small margin should mean very little. Both have scored much higher than the industry average, which sits between the 15th and 16th positions at a PP100 of 269.

Depending on where you see Buick fitting into the market, as either an entry or premium brand, Honda is the best of the entry automakers with a 6th place finish and a PP100 of 209. The Japanese automaker has improved its position by 3 increments and PP100 by 9 since last year. Its Acura luxury division trails in 7th place by only 3 problems per 100 at 212, having fallen from its 5th place 2003 ranking and 196 PP100 rating. Acura is also the only Japanese luxury division to not outrank its entry level sibling.

Where does Toyota fit into all this? Its next in line actually, in 8th place with a respectable 216 problems per 100 vehicles. While much better than average, the largest Japanese automaker will no doubt be frustrated with the 2004 results, being that it has fallen from last years 6th place and PP100 score of 201.

Toyota at least hasnt fallen as far as Porsche mind you, that dove right past 9th place finisher Mercury, the domestic Ford Motor division up from 10th last year and improving its PP100 from 240 to 224. Porsche manages only 10th place with a PP100 of 240, dropping from its 2003 ranking of 4th place and 193 PP100. While still above the industry average, its difficult to say why Stuttgart firm lost so many places. Excepting the 911 Turbo, which was low on volume and therefore should only reflect nominally in the automakers overall ranking, no new models were introduced from 2000 to 2001. Porsches 2004 Initial Quality Ranking (IQS), which includes new cars in their first three months of ownership, dropped much more dramatically from 2nd to last place in corporate rankings, and 7th to 34th place in nameplate rankings, due to a poor showing by its less than reliable Volkswagen-produced Cayenne SUV. Porsche will no doubt feel the pain of this reality in its 2007 VDS score as well.

Outside of the top ten, Chevrolet, GMC, BMW, Saab and Saturn all rank better than the industry average, with problems per 100 vehicle ratings of 262, 262 (tied), 264, 265, and 267 respectively. Jaguar, Nissan and Subaru, which were rated above average in the 2003 VDS, have fallen to 25th, 17th, and 20th place respectively.

While still below average, Ford and Chrysler have made big gains, rising through the ranks from 23rd and 22nd places respectively last year to 18th and 16th spots in the 2004 VDS, with Ford having passed by Chrysler, the two now split by Nissan.

Actually, almost all the domestics have improved since last year. Ford moved up by 19 PP100, while its Lincoln luxury division rose by 18. Mercury, also owned by Ford Motor managed a 16 PP100 gain, while Dodge came up by 14, Cadillac and Plymouth (no longer being sold) by 13, plus Chevrolet and Chrysler by 10 PP100.

According to Joe Ivers, partner and executive director of quality/customer satisfaction at J.D. Power and Associates, “The Domestics are putting their money where their mouths are in terms of consistent long-term quality improvement.” He added, “However, while the Domestics continue to outpace the Europeans in long-term quality, the Japanese continue to dominate.”

Yes, the Japanese are tops when it comes to the VDS survey, at least excepting Mazda, Mitsubishi and Nissan. The latter has already been mentioned, and Mitsubishi will be in a moment, but Mazda should be commended for rising up from last years 20th position to 19th in the 2004 VDS, with a gain of 3 PP100 from 288 to 285.

Others brands, however, have made even more significant headway. Of the most improved nameplates since last years VDS is Kia showing a 77 PP100 improvement, Suzuki moving up by 38 PP100, and Audi gaining 23 PP100. While these brands still experience a poorer than average ranking, it could only be easily be merely a matter of time until one of them, if not all find there way above the industry average. For the time being, however, Kia struggles near the bottom of the list managing only 36th place out of 37 brands, at least not last where it was placed last year. That honor goes to luxury SUV manufacturer Land Rover, also responsible for the top-tier Range Rover. Since the preceding year, the Ford Motor-owned British marque switched places with Kia from 36th position to dead last.

Suzuki is slightly more respectable at 31st, moving up from 34th last year. It finds itself just behind Volvo and one ahead of Hyundai. With that last brand in mind, if you look at this years Initial Quality Study (IQS), youll see just how far Hyundai has come in a few short years. It now surpasses Toyota in initial quality, a statistic that should bode well for future VDS studies. Mitsubishi, which was just one position ahead of Hyundai in 2003 in 30th place, is now up to 29th (or 28th being that its 327 PP100 score ties it with Mercedes-Benz), three ahead of Hyundai, two ahead of Suzuki and one in front of Volvo.

This statistic shouldnt be too comfortable for the Swedish automaker, which if it werent for Volkswagen and Land Rover, would be the worst faring European nameplate. Saabs strong showing no doubt makes the wound smart even more, being that the two companies are longtime rivals, and their current Ford Motor (Volvo) and General Motors (Saab) parents are even larger competitors, on a per unit basis.

Volkswagen has to do something about its horrible dependability ranking, only managing to eke past Isuzu, Daewoo (which doesnt exist anymore), Kia and Land Rover to take its 33rd place out of 37. Its position remains constant at least, having achieved 33rd in 2003, and it does improve its PP100 by 5 points, from 391 to 386.

Another significant European brand that really must shape up in the VDS is Mercedes-Benz, falling backward from 27th place and 318 PP100 to 28th and 327. To the luxury marques credit, it has made impressive headway in the 2004 IQS, which of course should lead to more promising VDS rankings in the future.

On the other hand BMW, Mercedes-Benz archrival, continues to do well in 13th place and 2nd among European manufacturers. While its current 264 PP100 rating far outclasses Mercedes-Benz, it also loses a little ground in the 2004 VDS when compared to its 2003 ranking of 262.

At the end of the day there are more winners than losers, being that most automakers improved their dependability from 2003 to 2004. Few automakers went backwards when it came to problems per 100, which means most are making steady gains. The big winners, of course, are the consumers that buy the cars, with the best bets continuing to be Japanese cars, followed closely by the domestic brands.

Keep in mind that, as mentioned earlier, the 2004 VDS reflects 2001 model year cars only, and that significant gains in quality made by some automakers in recent years wont be reflected in this years survey. It does give a good indication of a nameplates general reliability rating however, which should help whether buying new or used.

Come back tomorrow for insight on the J.D. Powers and Associates 2004 VDS corporate rankings, which automakers won, and which ones lost.

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