Photo: Lexus
J.D. Power has published its annual U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, and Lexus ties the first place with Porsche after three years of vehicle ownership.
In other words, the two premium brands were determined to be the most dependable sold in the USA in the category of vehicles with three years of ownership. The assessment comes after a survey that involved 35,186 original owners of MY2014 vehicles, which was carried out October through December 2016.
The other brands that made up the top five overall ranking were Toyota, Buick, and Mercedes-Benz. This year’s top ten rankings had a few newcomers, which include BMW in seventh place, Jaguar in the tenth spot, and Hyundai in the sixth position.
Brands like Lincoln, Ram, Acura, and GMC were dropped to lower seats. The South Korean brand was the one that showed the biggest improvement year-over-year, while also marking its best-ever ranking.
J.D. Power has noted that the latest dependability study it made had an average of 156 problems per 100 vehicles, which is an increase of four problems from last year.
Instead of mechanical problems, the integration of new technologies and systems has led to the situation. Apparently, 22 percent of all the issues reported by clients were linked to communication, entertainment, navigation, and audio systems.
Moreover, the ten most frequently reported issues involved Bluetooth connectivity or pairing, built-in voice recognition systems that misinterpreted commands, and difficult to use navigation systems.
Some people may say that these can be filed under “first world problems,” but we think it is natural to expect features like these to work, especially when you pay for them when acquiring a new vehicle that had them when it left the factory.
Reliability is one of the characteristics of a vehicle that can be taken for granted by some, but automakers dream of improving it to be sure of brand loyalty and customer appreciation.
If a company fails in the dependability study for years, it risks getting an unwanted image, which affects existing clients through resale values, while potential customers stray to other brands in spite of charming products from the said brand.
This year, Fiat closed J.D. Power’s Dependability Study in the last place, with 298 problems per 100 vehicles, an increase of 74% from the largest year-over-year dip of any brand.
It was followed by Jeep, Infiniti, Dodge, Ram, and Ford. The last two were tied in fifth to last position. It is worth noting that Dodge and Ford had fewer problems/100 vehicles than in last year’s study.
The other brands that made up the top five overall ranking were Toyota, Buick, and Mercedes-Benz. This year’s top ten rankings had a few newcomers, which include BMW in seventh place, Jaguar in the tenth spot, and Hyundai in the sixth position.
Brands like Lincoln, Ram, Acura, and GMC were dropped to lower seats. The South Korean brand was the one that showed the biggest improvement year-over-year, while also marking its best-ever ranking.
J.D. Power has noted that the latest dependability study it made had an average of 156 problems per 100 vehicles, which is an increase of four problems from last year.
Instead of mechanical problems, the integration of new technologies and systems has led to the situation. Apparently, 22 percent of all the issues reported by clients were linked to communication, entertainment, navigation, and audio systems.
Moreover, the ten most frequently reported issues involved Bluetooth connectivity or pairing, built-in voice recognition systems that misinterpreted commands, and difficult to use navigation systems.
Some people may say that these can be filed under “first world problems,” but we think it is natural to expect features like these to work, especially when you pay for them when acquiring a new vehicle that had them when it left the factory.
Reliability is one of the characteristics of a vehicle that can be taken for granted by some, but automakers dream of improving it to be sure of brand loyalty and customer appreciation.
If a company fails in the dependability study for years, it risks getting an unwanted image, which affects existing clients through resale values, while potential customers stray to other brands in spite of charming products from the said brand.
This year, Fiat closed J.D. Power’s Dependability Study in the last place, with 298 problems per 100 vehicles, an increase of 74% from the largest year-over-year dip of any brand.
It was followed by Jeep, Infiniti, Dodge, Ram, and Ford. The last two were tied in fifth to last position. It is worth noting that Dodge and Ford had fewer problems/100 vehicles than in last year’s study.
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