J.D. Power: Lexus ranked most reliable, Buick up to #2
Only a day after Consumer Reports looked at vehicle reliability, J.D. Power and Associates examined how owners rate the quality of their cars after three years of ownership and reached the same result: Lexus was first and Fiat was dead last.
And also like the other survey, Buick makes a big move up in the Power brand rankings. Now it's in second place, up three notches from last year's survey. On Tuesday Buick became the first domestic name to break into the Top 10 of Consumer Reports' annual list of top auto brands.
Overall, it was a good reliability report card for General Motors and Toyota Motor. In addition to Lexus and Buick at the top, number three was the Toyota brand and number four was Cadillac in the annual survey that tallies problems owners have had in the past 12 months with three-year-old vehicles -- in this case 2012 cars and trucks.
GM and Toyota brands also dominated Best Pick modes -- the most reliable individual vehicles by market segment -- with seven winners each in the 19 vehicle categories.
Meanwhile, among other U.S. brands, Ford's luxury Lincoln brand ranked 7th with 118 problems per 100, but the Ford brand slipped to 25th from 17th in 2014 with 188 problems per hundred. Of Fiat Chrysler's brands Ram ranked the highest (14th) up from 25th in 2014. Chrysler brand held steady at 23rd, Dodge ranked 27th, Jeep was 29th and Fiat was 31st.
Many brands' reliability ratings were doomed by troublesome electronics.
J.D. Power says that being able to connect a phone to a car via Bluetooth and then having it recognize the driver's commands were the most often-repeated issues raised in its Vehicle Dependability Study. Some 55% of owners said they couldn't pair their phone with their vehicle's system.
Automakers say they have worked feverishly to make the connectivity systems easier to use and improved the software of voice recognition so they recognize simply stated commands.
"Owners view in-vehicle technology issues as significant problems, and (the problems) typically don't go away after the ownership honeymoon period is over," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive at J.D. Power in a statement.
"Vehicle owner expectations of advanced technology capabilities are growing," said Stephens. "Owners clearly want the latest technology in their vehicles, and they don't hesitate to express their disapproval when it doesn't work."
The annual study is aimed at showing how well cars hold up over time by looking at vehicles in the third year of ownership. The 34,000 owners surveyed have lived with their cars long enough to know their quirks, but the cars are recent enough that the responses from the owners still can help automakers can make design fixes to remedy the problem.
Six of 10 problems were related to design of a feature, rather than manufacturing defects, specific malfunctions or other issues, Power says. In other words, something may work as it was designed to work, but the owners don't like the design or have been disappointed in how it works.
Here's is the brands' reliability ranking, with average number of flaws or complaints reported for 2012 vehicles, and also the most-reliable individual models by vehicle category:
Rank/Brand, problems (industry average: 147)
- Lexus, 89
- Buick, 110
- Toyota, 111
- Cadillac, 114
- Honda, 116
- Porsche, 116
- Lincoln, 118
- Mercedes-Benz, 119
- Scion, 121
- Chevrolet, 123
- GMC, 123
- Acura, 124
- Nissan, 128
- Ram, 134
- Audi, 138
- Mazda, 140
- Mitsubishi, 140
- Infiniti, 144
- BMW 146
- Subaru, 157
- Kia, 158
- Volkswagen, 165
- Chrysler, 173
- Volvo, 174
- Ford, 188
- Hyundai, 188
- Dodge, 192
- Mini, 193
- Jeep, 197
- Land Rover, 258
- Fiat, 273
Top 3 models per segment
Small car
- Scion xD
- Toyota Yaris
- Honda Fit
Compact car
- Toyota Corolla
- Nissan Leaf
- Honda Civic
Compact premium car
- Lexus ES
- Lincoln MKZ
- Lexus CT
Compact sporty car
- Scion tC
- Volkswagen Eos
- Mini Cooper
Midsize car
- Chevrolet Malibu
- Nissan Altima
- Toyota Camry
Midsize sporty car
- Chevrolet Camaro
- Ford Mustang
Midsize premium car
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class
- Lincoln MKS
- Infiniti M
Large car
- Buick LaCrosse
- Toyota Avalon
- Ford Taurus
Small SUV
- Kia Sportage
- Hyundai Tucson
- Jeep Patriot
Compact SUV
- GMC Terrain
- Toyota FJ Cruiser
- Toyota RAV4
Compact premium SUV
- Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class
- Acura RDX
- BMW X3
Compact MPV
- Scion xB
- Mazda5
- Toyota Prius V
Midsize SUV
- Nissan Murano
- Buick Enclave
- Toyota Highlander
- Toyota Venza
Midsize premium SUV
- Lexus GX
- Lexus RX
- Cadillac SRX
Midsize pickup
- Honda Ridgeline
- Nissan Frontier
- Toyota Tacoma
Minivan
- Toyota Sienna
- Honda Odyssey
Large SUV
- GMC Yukon
- Chevrolet Tahoe
- Chevrolet Suburban
Large light-duty pickup
- GMC Sierra LD
- Chevrolet Silverado LD
- Ram 1500 LD
Large heavy-duty pickup
- Chevrolet Silverado HD
- GMC Sierra HD