JD Powers says our cars are getting less reliable

[smackababy]

I have a loaner Fusion titanium while my car is in the shop and i have to say that i LOVE the myford touch stuff. It makes me want to trade in my Hyundai and get a car with it because its just so neat from a nerdy perspective. I have only had the car a few days but so far it has been great and i have not had any issues with it.

I've heard great things about the MyFord Sync stuff, but apparently that is all with the Sync 2.0, as the first iteration was pretty bad.

 

[Jimzz]

:thumbsdown:

"Biggest contributor: new engines and transmissions accounted for nearly 6 of the 7 additional problems per 100 vehicles in this year's study. "The decline in quality is particularity acute for vehicles with four-cylinder engines," Power reports."
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Hmmmm..... I'd rather the radio not work than the engine/trans

That's NEW problems this years rankings. The majority are for still for minor items or things that are not broken just different from others.

Also a engine problem can be bad gas mileage, CVT transmission feels funny, etc...

It still counts weird/hard to use radio as bad as engine blows up. Both count as 1 problem in their BS ratings.

 

[Greenman]

I used to own a Bronco II, it was on the JD Powers list of the ten worst cars ever built. I junked it at 250k. I had replaced a head gasket, and that's it. I thought it did pretty well for being one of the ten worst cars ever built. It also made me realize that JD Powers was probably not a reliable rating service.

 

[nerp]

Someone can say "I don't like the color of the radio bezel" and it will get marked down. JD Power is worthless because the criteria changes from year to year and there's nothing about this that refers to actual problems. A ton of the dings on makers has to do with 'styling' and 'doesn't meet expectation'

 

[bryanl]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/12/used-cars-less-dependable-jdpower/5403139/How Lexus manages to be an order of magnitude better than the competition every year remains a mystery to me.

Brand scores: The number indicates problems per 100 cars for 2011 models; lower is better.

• Lexus (68)
• Mercedes-Benz (104)
• Mini (185)

"An order of magnitude better" for Lexis would mean 10.4 problems per 100 cars.

How have you been using the word "decimate"?

 

[punjabiplaya]

I'm hoping to see how this new wave of super cheap cars that Nissan and other automakers are promising turn out to be. Wind down windows, manual door mirrors, etc... That kind of shit never breaks. With modern engineering and manufacturing practices, I think cars like that would be great, cheap, simple, reliable, economical, etc... Why aren't there more of these? KISS (keep it simple stupid) needs to be applied more often.

 

[rommelrommel]

Your pop is right.Cars need 0 computers in order to run,drive,turn, and stop.
Funny how an older Dodge truck get better gas mileage than a newer one;yet has more horsepower.

Umm yeah, right...

carbs and points are tooooootally the way to get the best HP, mpg, and driveability.

 

[SearchMaster]

Why aren't there more of these? KISS (keep it simple stupid) needs to be applied more often.

Because the market place is demanding it. Those bare-bones cars don't sell very well. It's good marketing and gets people in the doors to advertise them but the reality is they aren't very popular. Get a guy in the door for an $11K Nissan Note then sell him a 3 year old Altima with more features for just a bit more....profit.

 

[Greenman]

I'm hoping to see how this new wave of super cheap cars that Nissan and other automakers are promising turn out to be. Wind down windows, manual door mirrors, etc... That kind of shit never breaks. With modern engineering and manufacturing practices, I think cars like that would be great, cheap, simple, reliable, economical, etc... Why aren't there more of these? KISS (keep it simple stupid) needs to be applied more often.

Because no one wants them. I tried to buy a basic pickup like that, the dealer didn't have one, and couldn't find one. People love gadgets, they want horns and whistles, flashing lights and spinning thingamabobs. They want every convenience feature available and they're willing to spend substantial sums of money to get it. The dealer I was at considered a fifty thousand dollar pickup a "basic" truck.

 

[z1ggy]

Hm.... Maybe a used F sport will be in my future...

 

[monkeydelmagico]

"An order of magnitude better" for Lexis would mean 10.4 problems per 100 cars.

How have you been using the word "decimate"?

Good point. More accurate to say significantly better. Like a couple standard deviations from average and around a standard dev better than the closest competition. Fair enough?

And I decimated the public bathroom at Walmart yesterday after a serious taco bell binge. Care to inspect my work to ensure it meets your high standards for verb usage?

 

[SparkyJJO]

Lexus far superior than Toyota? They are the same company. That alone shows how questionable the list is. I can see a few points difference as that isn't unexpected, but a huge gap like that is highly unlikely.

 

[smackababy]

Lexus far superior than Toyota? They are the same company. That alone shows how questionable the list is. I can see a few points difference as that isn't unexpected, but a huge gap like that is highly unlikely.

I don't think so. Lexus (essentially being a Toyota) has to have some extra value over the Toyota brand to command the luxury price. I wouldn't put it past them to put higher quality control over that brand than your average Toyota. And, the fact, Lexus is pretty much universally heralded as bullet proof, they have to be doing something different.

 

[rommelrommel]

Lexus far superior than Toyota? They are the same company. That alone shows how questionable the list is. I can see a few points difference as that isn't unexpected, but a huge gap like that is highly unlikely.

This is like saying Chevy is Cadillac.

They both build different products for different markets. There's parts bin overlap and some common platforms.

Lexus tends to be very conservative with their features and changes, and have huge brand loyalty. Their dealers are also heavily pushed to explain/educate the customers about their cars before they leave, so you don't get stupid "radio doesn't work" complaints a month later.

They almost tailor their product to good JD powers ratings.

 

[Jimzz]

This is like saying Chevy is Cadillac.

They both build different products for different markets. There's parts bin overlap and some common platforms.

Lexus tends to be very conservative with their features and changes, and have huge brand loyalty. Their dealers are also heavily pushed to explain/educate the customers about their cars before they leave, so you don't get stupid "radio doesn't work" complaints a month later.

They almost tailor their product to good JD powers ratings.

For the big things they kinda are.

Same motors and transmissons on a lot of their lines. The 3.6 I my CTS is just about identical to many used in the Chevy lineup. The 2.0 Turbo motor is also shared in the Chevy lineup.

 

[rommelrommel]

For the big things they kinda are.

Same motors and transmissons on a lot of their lines. The 3.6 I my CTS is just about identical to many used in the Chevy lineup. The 2.0 Turbo motor is also shared in the Chevy lineup.

That's why I made the comparison.

There's Lexus/Toyota crossover on some platforms but is a new CTS the same as a Malibu because they share engines in a certain trim level?

 

[SparkyJJO]

Reliability-wise, there should be little difference. A few points worth? Sure, I'd buy that. But a massive difference? Doubt it.

 

[Jimzz]

That's why I made the comparison.

There's Lexus/Toyota crossover on some platforms but is a new CTS the same as a Malibu because they share engines in a certain trim level?

That's my and many others point here as well. Things like a window switch or cup holder having a issue is minor. The engine blowing up is not.

yet by reading these type of rankings you think a Toyota will blow up and leave you with a hugh bill more often than compared to driving a lexus when the difference is mostly minor things at best.

That and Toyota seemed slow to update their motors so their corolla for example used the old 1.8l motor forever and had no issues while the lexus 250 motor has some DI carbon issues. But again the Toyota ranks lower for reasons that are probably either opinion type thing, does not ride well, vs having major and costly repairs.

 

[rommelrommel]

This is just a ranking of reported problems. Toyota has lower quality control, lower quality parts, and many cars made on value oriented assembly lines, not quality oriented. Also this is initial quality so things like down the down carbon buildup probably don't show here much.

Really Jd powers is a joke but Lexus does really well at it because of the reasons I've stated before.

 

[rh71]

Porsche has really dropped on this list. I recall seeing them at #2 or so. They nickel and dime you for every little thing and at one point it was worth the premium...

Also find it odd that Lexus, Toyota, and Scion being the same company can be so segregated on such a list. May as well not be the same ownership.

 

[rh71]

Pretty much. People that spend a lot on a car will tend to not admit if it's given them problems.

I think the opposite is true. People who spend a lot (on anything) tend to be more nit-picky and complain about every little thing.