"INDUSTRY NEWS

Porsche, Lexus Top Power Reliability


Mercedes, Kia suffer as Power's new three-year rankings put GM above average for the first time.
by Jim Burt 7/8/2003



DETROIT — The results of J.D. Power and Associates’ most influential survey — long-term vehicle quality over three years of ownership — shows that U.S. automakers are getting better, most Europeans are getting worse and some expensive luxury brands are getting much worse.

Power’s Vehicle Dependability Study, which tracks consumer complaints over three years, shows dramatically how some automakers that have done well on Power’s Initial Quality Survey, which measures quality in just the first three months, get worse with time, and some brands that score mediocre in short-term quality are good long-term buys.

Porsche topped all automakers, with 193 problems per 100 vehicles. Lexus topped all brands, with 163 problems per 100 cars. On average, said Power, Big Three automakers outpace Europeans by 49 problems per 100 cars.

The most dramatic fall is Mercedes-Benz, which led all automakers in long-term quality fifteen years ago in Power’s first VDS, but fell to 25th this year, well behind its competition and with twice as many problems per 100 vehicles than Lexus. “The Mercedes E-Class and M-Class have had more than their fair share of complaints,” said Power’s Joe Ivers. Mercedes lost a lot of points on interior problems, switches and controls, window problems, and some faulty components including fuel pumps. It also lost on excessive brake dust on its wheels, a problem unique to German cars with big brakes designed for the autobahn. BMW and Porsche, though, scored much higher than Mercedes. Mercedes also posted the greatest degradation of quality between its 2000 Initial Quality Survey score to its three-year score for the same vehicles — 137 percent, which shows how misleading the IQS survey ranking can be for some brands.

Lexus cousin Toyota scored 207 problems per 100, good enough for sixth place, one notch lower than last year when VDS tracked cars four to five years old. Lexus customer satisfaction boss Mark Templin acknowledged Tuesday that Toyota and Lexus gear their quality processes specifically to score well on Power’s survey.


Other highlights

Highlights and lowlights of the study:

- General Motors was the only U.S. automaker to score above the industry average of 273 problems per 100 vehicles. GM’s Buick brand was the highest ranked non-luxury brand at number three.

- Ford slipped below industry average, not surprising since 2000 models at Ford, especially the Focus and Escape, were often recalled.

- Subaru shows the least degradation of quality from its IQS score through the first three years of ownership, slipping just 34 percent. That suggests early glitches and complaints in Subarus are resolved quickly.

- Kia scored dead last as a brand and among automakers at a whopping 509 problems per 100 cars.

- Out of 17 vehicle categories measured by Power, Toyota and Lexus topped nine of them, including the Toyota Corolla and Avalon, and the Lexus RX300 and LS400.

- The Ford F-150 pickup topped both this year’s IQS and the VDS for full-size trucks.

- Premium brands Volvo, BMW and Land Rover are among the brands whose quality degrades fastest over three years — they fall the fastest from their Initial Quality ratings in 2000, a factor that hurts residual values and annoys customers who have to pay premiums for foreign parts and service after a warranty expires."

Source: Car Connection

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The rankings:

Infiniti Tops J.D. Power's CSI

J.D. Power and Associates' latest Customer Service Index finds Infiniti atop the heap once again - but other brands near the top of the list found their scores lower in this year's satisfaction derby. Though the industry average score rose to 851 in the CSI, brands like Saturn, Honda and Toyota fell in esteem, with Toyota and Nissan slipping below the industry average. The CSI measures customer care after the transaction, and in some cases brands with flagging or steady sales fared better in the polling - brands like Ford, Lincoln and Mercury as well as Audi and Mercedes-Benz. The results of the survey of 106,000 owners were as follows:

Infiniti 900

Saturn 896

Acura 895

Lexus 895

Lincoln 895

Cadillac 893

Saab 892

Buick 889

Porsche 874

BMW 873

Jaguar 868

Mercedes-Benz 868

Volvo 868

Mercury 867

Oldsmobile 863

Chevrolet 858

GMC 858

Chrysler 857

Honda 854

Audi 852

Jeep 851

INDUSTRY AVERAGE 851

Pontiac 849

Plymouth 846

Dodge 845

Ford 845

Mazda 841

Subaru 841

Toyota 838

Mitsubishi 833

Hyundai 832

Nissan 831

Land Rover 812

Volkswagen 795

Kia 786

Suzuki 781

Isuzu 780

Daewoo 737

Source: Car Connection

Haasman

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