J.D. Power and Associates 2013 U.S. Initial Quality Study
2013 ranking (problems per 100 vehicles) Porsche
80 GMC
90 Lexus
94 Infiniti
95 Chevrolet
97 Acura
102 Toyota
102 Honda
103 Jaguar
104 Hyundai
106 Kia
106 Mercedes-Benz
106 Audi
108 Cadillac
108 Buick
109 Chrysler
109 Lincoln
113 Industry Average
113 BMW
114 Volvo
114 Smart
115 Land Rover
116 Jeep
118 Volkswagen
120 Mazda
125 Subaru
128 Dodge
130 Ford
131 Ram
132 MINI
135 Nissan
142 Mitsubishi
148 Fiat
154 Scion
161
I just realized there were numbers next to makes. My screen is wide and I couldn’t see them, lol. Let me see if I can fix the formatting.
---------- Post added at 12:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 PM ----------
Formatting fixed. And this is why NO ONE should put ANY stock in these numbers:
Raffi Festekjian, J. D. Power’s director of automotive product research, explains that the IQS was designed to capture “things gone wrong” with a vehicle. Each one is called a “problem,” and it can be “either a fault in the assembly of the vehicle or a design issue.” A fault might be a poorly assembled door panel or a loose electrical connection, while a design issue is something that a customer doesn’t like—a multifunction cruise-control stalk, for example—even though the item is performing exactly as intended.
Examples:
BMW gained “problems” when people hated the new cruise control button locations
Ford gained “problems” when people were confused by My-Touch
Porsche gained “problems” when people complained about brake dust
But I take it a different way. The manufacturer’s customers are happier with the vehicle because they like the way it is designed, the way it operates and nothing has broken. Any manufacturer can build a vehicle that doesn’t break but it is extremely difficult to have any style or functionality. It also works the other way. The combination of design, function and reliability is what is so hard to achieve.
It’s subjective, not objective. Someone’s personal preference about a vehicle (again, even if nothing is wrong or broken at all) is being used in a general sense to say one brand has higher “quality” over another.
If they could separate out the subjective and focus on the objective (Brand X’s motor leaks oil, windows won’t go up or even dashboard cracks when exposed to sunlight) then I could see this as something more than a marketing device. But in my opinion, knowing how few consumers actually take the time to understand their vehicles, I can’t take this seriously at all. I certainly don’t want to make a purchase decision based on input from the guy who thinks his Porsche’s brakes make too much dust, and who totally ignores the fact that the best pads were chosen by an engineer for that specific vehicle application. Or on the flip side, the guy who’s driven GM trucks all his life and doesn’t complain about his truck’s interior not because it works better than another brand, but because GM simply hasn’t changed it from what he’s used to.
I have no dog in this hunt, so we can agree to disagree
I just had an Impala rental while the Murano was getting a new rear bumper cover and I have a theory on GM’s rise. When you’ve lowered your standards so low that the Impala is an acceptable vehicle I really doubt you’re going to complain about anything. I spent about 20 minutes just looking the car over trying to figure out how anyone could look at any of it’s competitors and still buy the Impala. If you’re that guy who thinks that Impala is good I can’t even begin to imagine how bad something would have to be to get you to complain to the dealer. I’m guessing as long as the car doesn’t crush your testicles every time you start it you’ll consider it just fine.
My work changed my work van from a 08 chevy express to a 2013 ford E250 and I could make a mile long list of why it is the biggest POS I have ever driven and why the interior makes no sense. I have over a quarter million miles in chevy express vans and I try so hard to be subjective because I have been around them so long but I REALLY FUCKING HATE MY FORD VAN. I even discard the fact that the transmission failed at 86 (yes 000089) miles in the ford because “shit happens”
edit: the point of my rant is the ford would have lost many marks if I was in the survey
My Buick Enclave was the biggest piece of 50k shit $ could buy. 4 Transmissions (1 Original, 1 GM Crate & 2 Rebuilds, Traded it in while it was in need of #5) and the best GM could offer me was a free Oil Change.
