So Why Did Both Buick And Jaguar Beat Lexus In Latest Vehicle Dependability Rankings?

These studies don't differentiate between very minor "fixed in five minutes" type problems and "left you stranded at the side of the highway" type problems, so you really have to take it all with a grain of salt.

True, but I have to admit I would never have thought I would see Jaguar above Lexus any day on any study..

Doesn't matter. For most a win is a win.

Glad that something like this has occurred. This motivates Lexus to do better. x]

But I have to admit, I, as a Lexus owner, might be a little more picky than some owners of other brand's vehicles. I tend to complain a bit more about certain stuffs because I expect more out of my vehicles, and sometimes, I'm just too lazy to fix the minor problems themselves - Sears would've been my choice if the dealer was ridiculously expensive. :P

Holmstar makes a a great point. Surprising to see such a wide disparity between Audi and VW.

This proves that Audi and VW are quite different.
if they were the same like some people would like us to believe, they would have the same score.
They use different suppliers for many things!!

Yep. I wish JD takes into account the severity of the problem. We all know Jaguar's recent track record. Its hard to imagine them on top of any survey.

So, BMW is competing with Hyundai and they can't even beat them. I mean Chrysler is doing better than BMW, that is very sad. BMW and the word average sounds about right.

Well done Jaguar, they are designing some of the most desireable cars these days, and there well built aswell, the competition will have there work cut out trying to beat them!

more like 100 pounds of salt.

the difference between the top and bottom rated brands in this survey is essentially meaningless. new cars today are remarkably reliable.

so top rated buick had 1.22 problems per 100 cars over 3 years. and bottom rated suzuki had 2.63 problems per 100 cars over 3 years. wow...what a difference. call out the national guard!

meant 1.22 problems PER CAR...etc.

VW has always been in the basement on these studies.. but still 2.6 problems over 3 years? Not really horrible considering the top guns had 1.22 problems.

So 2 visits to the dealer for the best ranked and 3 for the worst ranked over 3 years. Not sure if I would base any decision on a car solely on these rankings.

Audi has gone up and the good thing is that it is reflected in their sales. BMW just squeaked by "average" that is a shocker being how the brand is worshipped here. If quality was a measure of sales success completely, MINI would file chapter 11. How could Toyota's Scion be so s&$tty and the other cars so good? Mercury beats out Lincoln because the product line is older.

I don't think times in the shop for recalls are measured in this study.

Might be the number of vehicles sold compared to the number of problems. Toyota sells a lot of cars. If I sold 10 cars and 1 had a problem, then that would be bad. If I sold 1000 and 25 had a problem, thats not as bad. That may be a likely culprit.

There are better alternatives than this.. True Delta is one, ranking severity of issues over instances.

Thanks, Agent009. But TrueDelta doesn't weight by severity, either. At least not yet.

Thinking that one brands problems are all minor while anothers are all major is misguided. Nearly all problems in the third year of ownership are minor, with any brand. If you want to assume something, assume that they're all minor.

One clarification: this study covers the third year of ownership, not the first three years. Years one and two are not covered.

"One clarification: this study covers the third year of ownership, not the first three years. Years one and two are not covered."

Where do you see that? All I see is that the survey was conducted of people owning 3 year old cars.

I guess I stand corrected, because mkaresh is the man over at True Delta. Thx for the correction.

One variable accounts for Buick and Jaguar placing ahead of Lexus: the number of models in their first year in 2006. Zero for Buick and Jaguar, two for Lexus (GS and IS).

Buick might take a hit in two years, when this study includes the Enclave.

Jaguar might take a hit next year, when the 2007 XK is included, and will definitely take a hit in three years, when the 2009 XF is included.

With prompt quarterly updates, TrueDelta provides results well ahead of anyone else. Current results are based on data through the end of 2008. In mid-May they'll be updated to include data through the end of March.

http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php

Thanks for pointing this out.

Correction: the Lucerne was in its first year in 2006. So GM likely had a clean launch for once.

Proper props to Buick and Jaguar.

Give those execs a bonus ;->

If you were to look at the models that represent the findings, they have been in production for a good period of time. The Buick La Crosse has been out for some years with minor upgrades, Lexus LS 430 isn't new but Lexus keeps models around for a long period of time and continues to improve on the successful formula (wow isn't that novel), Mercury Grand Marquis was the most dependable large car and the Dodge Caravan was the top-ranked van, whileToyota won five segment awards -- tops among all brands -- for the Highlander, Prius, Sequoia, Solara and Tundra.

It is the first year Buick has finished ahead of Lexus, a result that shows GM and Detroit's Big Three are closing the quality gap with Japanese automakers.

Now Buick could really pull ahead if the design were to reflect the innovation in quality. I think the new La Crosse looks promising. Not my cup of java, but a move in the right direction.
I take my Audi black with no sugar please.

this does not look great for the german car lovers such as myself.

Congrats to the top performers.

Lexus owners will still never buy a Jaguar, let alone a Buick.

Not true. In my past life, I would take Lexus models in on trade for Jags. I really don't know why this thought still lingers out there.

Good job to everyone at the top. BMW and Benz not looking too good unfortunately.

I've read/heard before that the Scions are just not up to Toyota standards. I've also read about squeaks and rattles in long-term tests. Scion is the Saturn of Toyota.

Wow, look at BMW, really sad. They can't even beat Chrysler or Hyundai.

BMW is in competition with Hyundai and they can't even beat them.

Benz has been going down hill for decades now - whether it's the suppliers or their own design, the Benz "quality" has deteriorated due to electronic bugs. As a whole, their cars drive well, but the inconvenience of constantly having to take the car into the shop for minor snaggles (bad radio, buzzing sunroof, malfunctioning sunshades, mysterious engine status lights, detached rubber moldings, etc.). So no, none of these things leave you stranded on the freeway, but you are stuck having to negotiate through dealer service hell every 3 weeks, and that's absolutely ridiculous for a 'luxury' car.

Cuz no one drives them

Prop to Buick, Big 3 please make us proud to drive American again!

I hate seeing Mercedes Benz on below average pools. I guess putting all those crazy engine in their car is paying big toll on the reliability but people have to admit, while Italians builds most exciting supercars in the world, Germans build most of exciting cars on the road. As a auto enthusiasts you got to love what they put under the hood.

There are two really surprising on the top of the list. I don't know how in the world the Jag ever made it up there. It was most unreliable car that I have ever witnessed in my life, it spent more time in the dealer then on road. Another brand that surprising me was Lexus. I wouldn't have believed all the Lexus haters bashing in recent years, but they have really fallen. I thought my brother's RX350 was isolated issue but it is very disappointing thus far. It had 4 incidents of electrical problem and 1 mechanical failure from 8 months of owning it. Toyota truly isn't what it used to be.

When Buick is in the top:Yay this study is reliable!

When Lexus is right behind: no way! They make crap!

— quizz: MB is my favorite and I have one, But I have to admite that everytime that I have a problem is an stupid gadget. Same happens with all american or german cars. Now , I have a Question....before, I belive that MB have a lot of enemies, but every time that some budy have the opportunity to atack BMW or bimmer fans, the do. Why?. Now for sure I didn´t see any other brand with more haters.

Since I watched a Good fellas again last night, here's my view.

Readers think.
Mercedes Benz: Made man = Untouchable.
BMW: Wiseguy = Not quite there yet.

Some times it's comical to read all the fan boys think they belong side by side with BMW, but most of times it's annoying.

Dont worry...Consumer Reports will have a completely different ranking with all Japanese makes in top 10 and will further confuse the whole process.

Simple, Buick has been making some decent cars, the Enclave is a nice SUV, and the Jaguar XF just owns.

Germans rank low because a percentage if the people who buy them don;t know how the car works......they get confused, so they go to the dealership for something that takes 2 minutes to correct...

example:
I sold a Passat to some lady and she pulled the trunk release from the inside just to see what it doesn. she couldn't put it back so she had roadside tow it to the dealership.....I immediately ran to the truck and fixed it myself before the service department charged her. But if JD Power or whoever would call her, she'd say the car had a problem even though it was she who caused it

I do not see why anyone would complain about one brand stepping up their quality over another. We know that Buick, for one is now where it is from a very transparent goal of leapfrogging Lexus's quality. GM made no bones about that, and look at where they are as a result.

Better not tell Whatthe and bmwdrv that their precious little piece of crap is really crap.

this is a joke.

Great job Buick I own a 2006 Buick LaCrosse and its the best buick I have owned. Cannot wait for the new 2010 LaCrosse to be out. I would not have a Lexus or even a Cadillac, the buick is so queit and rides wonderful better than Lexus& Cadillac.

Great Job Buick!!!!!!!!!

No wonder Hyundai is targeting Lexus. Cause beating BMW or MB would just still be mediocre.

Hahahaha...good one.

I'm glad to see Audi right up there with Porsche. But I am surprised to see VW being next to the bottom. I thought the VW Jetta diesel had a lot of potential.

This is proof that Jaguar are back on top form, and long may it continue.

I will go on a limb here and say that Lexus is still the number one, here is why; take a look at the annual sales figures for each brand, Lexus outsells those brands by a wide margin. There is no doubt that the more cars you sell the more you might encounter problems but also the more issues will be reported. It is pure math. As far as the 3 germans, i am afraid it is about the same, BMW sales more than M-B which sells more units than Audi and no coincidence they are in the exact reverse order on the survey.

That's why I never pay too much attention to all those surveys by JD Powers, there are too many components that are just unknown factors.

Maybe its because both Buick and Jaguar only offer three different models. I swear the only Jaguar model anybody even buys is the XF.

At least Toyota and Lexus both offer a full range of vehicles. Don't even try to tell me that a Buick Enclave is more reliable than a 2010 Lexus RX.

When it comes to reliability (short-term or long-term), there's no match for Toyota/Lexus. Even Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have their fair share of electrical problems (hence the recent short circuiting of Mercedes-Benz GLK climate controls and tailgate motors).

answer: because the difference between the top and bottom rated brands in this survey is essentially meaningless. new cars today are remarkably reliable.

so top rated buick had 1.22 problems per 100 cars over 3 years. and bottom rated suzuki had 2.63 problems per 100 cars over 3 years. wow...what a difference. call out the national guard!