Revealed: The most dependable car brands.Lincoln Number 1..

csv8 · 22-03-2011, 01:12 AM

Revealed: The most dependable car brands
Matt Campbell
March 21, 2011 - 4:15PM
Comments 34 Vote

Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study SM
Reliability survey ranks Mini last, with Porsche pipped from the top spot.

Mini is the least reliable brand of car you can buy, according to a new US long-term dependability report.

The 2011 JD Power survey reveals the BMW-owned British brand experienced more problems with its vehicles than any other manufacturer in the US during the past 12 months.

The US-based report measures the number of problems per 100 cars that owners experience during the first three years of ownership – meaning the lower the number, the better the reliability.

Mini ranked last with 221 issues per 100 cars despite an overall increase in dependability rankings - more than double the issues of the Ford-owned Lincoln (101 per 100 cars) that became the first American luxury brand to top the list in more than a decade.

Mini’s parent company improved marginally from 165 to 164 issues, but BMW’s result was inferior to those of its closest rivals and below the industry average of 155 problems per 100 cars.

Mercedes-Benz scored 128 (down from 142) and was the best of the big three premium German brands, with Audi reducing its issues from 182 to 161 compared with 2010.

Luxury brands otherwise dominated the top four positions. Lexus placed second with 109 issues, while Jaguar leapt into third place after cutting its number of issues by nearly a third – up from 175 to 112.

Porsche, last year’s leader, slipped to fourth place in 2011 after its problems rose from 110 to 114.

Mainstream manufacturers also increased their reported reliability in the survey in which 25 of the 36 brands monitored offered improved reliability compared with last year's rankings .

With pre-accelerator-fiasco models from Toyota ranking fifth (122, down from 128); while Hyundai grabbed 10th spot with 132 (down from 148) and sister company Kia jumped up one spot to 20th with 160 reported problems (down from 167).

Volkswagen continued to disappoint despite improving from 225 to 191 issues, while Japanese maker Honda slipped from 7th to 11th, with issues increasing from 132 to 139.

Despite an American brand topping the list, other US makers did not fare so well. Chrysler (202) and Dodge (206) both fell further down the rankings (where they scored 166 and 190 respectively), while Jeep still ranked second last, despite improving with a score of 214 (down from 222).

Land Rover again fared poorly, ranking third last with a score of 212, although that score was a marked improvement on 2010's result of 255.

There were 202 "problem sypmtoms" addressed in the survey, which relied on information from 43,700 owners of 2008 model cars.

As Drive has previously reported, JD Power has been working unsuccessfully towards publishing an Australian vehicle quality study for more than a decade.

The research company says local manufacturers are not willing to allow the information to be made public despite their American parent companies allowing US findings to be published.

Dr Smith · 22-03-2011, 08:09 AM

Do they publish the actual faults? I would find it really surprising that Mini QC is so much more inferior to BMW QC or their level of engineering quality/ability.

csv8 · 22-03-2011, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Do they publish the actual faults? I would find it really surprising that Mini QC is so much more inferior to BMW QC or their level of engineering quality/ability.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/car-pho...pendable/2011/

Wretched · 22-03-2011, 09:52 AM

All well and good but I am a little cynical of these studies.
What is an issue with a car? Would someone with a Porsche expect less problems than someone with a Taurus and therefore report on some small insignificant issue where the same might not be reported in the Taurus? Thereby giving the perception that a Porsche is less dependable than a Taurus.

In Focus · 22-03-2011, 09:57 AM

It seems to me that having ALL of the manufacturers average 1-2 problems per car is on the high side for brand new cars.

csv8 · 22-03-2011, 10:13 AM

This is the link for Ford.. Fusion and Taurus get 5 out of 5.. Mustang gets 4.5 out of 5. This is after 3 years of ownership...
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/Ford/2008/

naddis01 · 22-03-2011, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by In Focus

It seems to me that having ALL of the manufacturers average 1-2 problems per car is on the high side for brand new cars.

Between my wife and I we have had 6 new cars and each one has had atleast 1 warranty claim but generally 2 or 3 or more. The brands have Ford, Mazda and Hyundai. The Hyundai's (Excel's) were the ones with only one claim each.

Ohio XB · 22-03-2011, 11:52 AM

These cars are mass produced and have thousands of parts that need to be assembled correctly, not to mention that something could be wrong with one of those thousands of parts which themsleves were mass produced. Mass production commands it's own set of tolerances, versus a Rolls Royce which has tighter tolerances since they are not mass produced.

To get a car that is one of 120,000 built with only one defect over the course of 3 years is pretty impressive, considering the assembly process and logistics.

Steve

In Focus · 23-03-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

These cars are mass produced and have thousands of parts that need to be assembled correctly, not to mention that something could be wrong with one of those thousands of parts which themsleves were mass produced. Mass production commands it's own set of tolerances, versus a Rolls Royce which has tighter tolerances since they are not mass produced.

To get a car that is one of 120,000 built with only one defect over the course of 3 years is pretty impressive, considering the assembly process and logistics.

Steve

Yes, I misread the statistics as being in one year, rather than three years. 1-2 per 3 years seems more reasonable.

mik · 23-03-2011, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wretched

All well and good but I am a little cynical of these studies.
What is an issue with a car? Would someone with a Porsche expect less problems than someone with a Taurus and therefore report on some small insignificant issue where the same might not be reported in the Taurus? Thereby giving the perception that a Porsche is less dependable than a Taurus.

i think that logic is flawed, you could also say the Porche owner probably has plenty of spondooly, and also has an x5 a jag and and a c63, would he be overly upset if his weekend car has rattle in dash on track day or his chauffer has to take it back for some other problem? you could also say the Tauraus owner may be buying the one and only new car that he will afford in his life and will want it good cause he can`t afford another and may not have 3 other cars in the garage to drive like the rich Porche owner.

Ben73 · 23-03-2011, 09:46 PM

I saw this list not long ago. Most of the cars I like were in the Bottom half... Oh well.

cheap · 23-03-2011, 11:01 PM

Land Rover near the bottom again - who would have thought?

Ford did very well to offload the money pit.

Wretched · 24-03-2011, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

i think that logic is flawed, you could also say the Porche owner probably has plenty of spondooly, and also has an x5 a jag and and a c63, would he be overly upset if his weekend car has rattle in dash on track day or his chauffer has to take it back for some other problem? you could also say the Tauraus owner may be buying the one and only new car that he will afford in his life and will want it good cause he can`t afford another and may not have 3 other cars in the garage to drive like the rich Porche owner.

That is the biggest load of tripe on the forum so far.
It did nothing to justify your reasoning that my "logic is flawed."
Try again.

Hemihunter · 24-03-2011, 08:31 AM

I am not surprized the local car manufactures dont want this sort of survey. My Ford BA ute has had so many diff and brake issues... it would have to rank at the over the top scale.

Ford_The_Win · 24-03-2011, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemihunter

I am not surprized the local car manufactures dont want this sort of survey. My Ford BA ute has had so many diff and brake issues... it would have to rank at the over the top scale.

Choice did something similar a few years ago I remember. It was something like a list of various cars and the average percentage that had gone without a breakdown in the last 12 months. Toyota and Honda were at the top with around 90% with no breakdowns, Ford was at about 70% and Holden at 65%. Something like that anyway.

mik · 24-03-2011, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wretched

That is the biggest load of tripe on the forum so far.
It did nothing to justify your reasoning that my "logic is flawed."
Try again.

perhaps , but would the proud owner of said new taurus be any less demanding of a defective motor car than the porche owner? i don`t think so .

Wretched · 24-03-2011, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

perhaps , but would the proud owner of said new taurus be any less demanding of a defective motor car than the porche owner? i don`t think so .

They would still demand quality and highlight any significant issues.

However I'd imagine they would let a few smaller issues slide compared to a Porsche owner who would I'd imagine be far more critical of their car.
The expectation would be that spending 200k on a car is that it is a perfect car with no problems, no squeaks, no rattles and it lives up to it's expectations in terms of performance and reliability. Any suspicion otherwise would be straightaway escalated to the dealer no matter how big or small.

I'd like to see the issues that have been reported for each car to ascertain the accuracy of the findings.