Found an article on the Lexus forum about JD power latest survery...very interesting

D Power Study: Lexus continues the Streak
Posted on: 11-24-02

By Rominl

Today JD Power Associate releases their study on the long term durability of vehicles from different manufacturers. Japanese manufacturers continue to occupy the top of the list, and for the eight straight years, Lexus takes the crown to have the best long term durability. The study was done on 30,000 owners of 1998 model vehicles.

Amazingly, for a four to five year old Lexus, on average there are only 159 problems out of every 100 cars. This number is way under the average, which is 355 problems per 100 cars. Right behind Lexus is Infiniti, Acura, Honda, and Toyota respectively. In fact, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan (Lexus is luxury division of Toyota, Acura is luxury division of Honda, and Infiniti is luxury division of Nissan) has been among the top in the durability test for years already, whereas US manufacturers have failed to come close, said Brian Walters, director of project research.

On the other hand, Mercedes Benz took a big hit, falling from 296 problems per 100 cars to around 364 problems, a dramatic 23% drop. Since it is below average, JD Power Associate refuses to release the exact score since it's below average.

The main reason for their big hit on Mercedes Benz was their first introduction of their SUV, the M Class. It's not only Mercedes' first ever SUV, in a whole new plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Walters stated that usually when a new vehicle is first introduced, and especially in a new plant, it's always hard for the manufacturer to control the quality. Ever since their introduction in 1998, the M Class have had quite a few problems, but Walters stated that the quality of the M Class has been improved a lot since then, so he expects that Mercedes will score a lot better again next year.

Volkswagen's AG's Audi also faces a drop of 19% from 328 problems per 100 cars to now below average. Interesting enough, Suzuki has the biggest improvement of 27%, but they are still below average.

Among the big 10 were also Porsche AG, Buick, Cadillac, Jaguar, and BMW AG. In fact Buick and Cadillac are the only two GM brands to score above average, as opposed to four last year. Over the recent years GM has improved their vehicle initial quality study, which covers the first 90 days of the ownership of the vehicle. Their Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said in September that the GM quality would catch up with Honda and Toyota in the next couple of years.

However, just as Walters mentioned, majority of the owners care about the long term durability more importantly.

Source:

Autonews
JD Power Associate




Warren
1992 300SD 152K
Columbus Ohio

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