And The BEST Built Car Is Made By??? You're In For A Suprise!

The study, now in its 30^th year, examines problems experienced by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. Initial quality is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality.

Quality improves across all eight problem categories measured in the study, with 21 of the 33 brands included in the study improving their quality in 2016 and one remaining the same.

"Manufacturers are currently making some of the highest quality products we've ever seen," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. "Tracking our data over the past several years, it has become clear that automakers are listening to the customer, identifying pain points and are focused on continuous improvement. Even as they add more content, including advanced technologies that have had a reputation for causing problems, overall quality continues to improve."

Following are some of the study's key findings:

• U.S. Domestic Automakers Show Strong Improvement: For just the second time in the 30-year history of the study, U.S. domestic brands collectively have lower problem levels than all their import counterparts combined. All three U.S. domestic automakers post year-over-year quality improvements. The "Detroit Three" achieve a combined average of 103 PP100, improving 10% from 2015, which is double the improvement rate of the import brands at 106 PP100. The last time U.S. domestic brands outpaced imports was in 2010, when they held a 1 PP100 advantage (108 PP100 vs. 109 PP100, respectively).
• Non-Premium Brands Have Fewer Problems: For the first time since 2006, non-premium brands have fewer problems (104 PP100) than premium brands (108 PP100).
• High Quality = High Loyalty: Expected reliability remains the most important consideration when purchasing a new vehicle, cited by 49% of owners. J.D. Power has studied consumer behavior from when they purchase or lease their new vehicle through when they are back in the market for their next vehicle in order to measure the impact initial quality has on brand loyalty.[1] Among owners who experience no problems with their vehicle in the first 90 days, 54% stay with the same brand for their next vehicle. Loyalty drops to 50% among owners who experience one problem with their vehicle and to 45% among those who experience three or more problems.

"There is a direct correlation between the number of problems a customer has with their new vehicle and the decisions they make when it comes time to purchase or lease their next car or truck," said Stephens. "While a small drop in actual loyalty may not sound like much, a percentage point drop in share can mean millions of dollars in lost revenue to an automaker."

Highest-Ranked Nameplates and Models
Kia ranks highest in initial quality with a score of 83 PP100, the first time in 27 years that a non-premium brand has topped the rankings. It is also the second consecutive year that Kia, which ranked second in 2015, has led all non-premium makes in initial quality.

Porsche (84 PP100) ranks second among nameplates, followed by Hyundai (92 PP100), Toyota (93 PP100) and BMW (94 PP100).

Chrysler and Jeep are the most improved brands, each reducing the number of problems by 28 PP100 from 2015. 

General Motors receives seven model-level awards, followed by Toyota Motor Corporation with six and Hyundai Motor Company and Volkswagen AG, each with four.

• General Motors models that rank highest in their respective segments are the Buick Cascada; Chevrolet Equinox; Chevrolet Silverado HD; Chevrolet Silverado LD; Chevrolet Spark; Chevrolet Tahoe; and GMC Terrain.
• Toyota Motor Corporation models that rank highest in their segment are the Lexus CT; Lexus GS; Scion tC; Toyota Camry; Toyota Corolla; and Toyota Highlander.
• Hyundai Motor Company models that rank highest in their segment are the Hyundai Accent; Hyundai Azera; Kia Soul; and Kia Sportage.
• Volkswagen AG models that rank highest in their segment are the Audi Q3, Audi TT, Porsche Macan and Porsche 911.

Plant Quality Awards
Toyota Motor Corporation's Georgetown 3 (Kentucky) plant, which produces the Lexus ES, and its Kyushu 2 (Japan) plant, which produces the Lexus ES and Lexus RX, each receive the Platinum Plant Quality Award in a tie for producing models with the fewest defects or malfunctions. Plant quality awards are based solely on defects and malfunctions and exclude design-related problems.

Porsche's Stuttgart (Germany) plant, which produces the Porsche 911 and Porsche Boxster, receives the Gold Plant Quality Award in the Europe/Africa region.

The 2016 U.S. Initial Quality Study is based on responses from more than 80,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2016 model-year vehicles surveyed after 90 days of ownership. The study is based on a 233-question battery organized into eight problem categories designed to provide manufacturers with information to facilitate the identification of problems and drive product improvement. The study was fielded from February through May 2016.







 

hangtime010 - 6/22/2016 3:00:37 PM

+3 Boost

. (that's a grain of salt)

countguy - 6/22/2016 3:33:09 PM

+2 Boost

NO

TheSteve - 6/22/2016 4:51:27 PM

+2 Boost

Please note that the "J.D. Power 2016 Initial Quality Study" reports customer complaints, which are not necessarily defects. A customer complaining that they don't like the A/C control, the feel of the buttons, a confusing infotainment system, or even holding the opinion that the car should have a port for a USB memory stick when it doesn't, all count as "problems". Actual defects, such as component failures, are also mixed into these numbers.

Recognizing this, it's hard to know what the numbers actually mean.

TomM - 6/22/2016 5:42:55 PM

+3 Boost

Actually - studies like this rely on the MEMORY of the owners as they report to JD Powers - rather than on a real life hard record of actual repairs done to cars.(Manufacturers do not release this date) So--- we can deduce HUMAN tolerance from these - not actual performance of the cars. DID those surveyed actually experience the problems or are they the result of statements by others too! Still - it is LOGICAL for non-premium cars to have less problems - because there is less to go wrong - power seats rarely never fail in cars that don't have them. And conversely - it is logical for Premium cars to have more complaints - since there is actually more to go wrong,. IN addition premium cars are likely to have features that are earlier in their development cycle than non-premiums -example- Premium cars had Anti-Lock brakes long before non-premium brands offered them. There was a time when only premium cars had power windows,power door locks, power antennas (Remember antennas), power steering, radios,heaters (!) - and lots of other things. And the more the person has actually paid for the car - the less likely PEOPLE are to admit they made a bad purchase too. So often small things get forgotten and ignored. And as TheSteve also reported - customer complaints can often be simple a preference for something else - rather than a real defect in a car - or it can be a lack of a feature that a previously owned car did have. I would want to see the methods and the actual questions asked of the owners - were they required to keep a DIARY of their new car - were they PAID for this - etc. In addition - we ALL know that question can be worded in such a way as to elicit a particular response - Example - "You really did not have a problem with the (feature) - did you? WE also do not know how many of EACH car that survey results included so far. Was the amount a true representative sample of the actual number of those cars produced - and was it a true representation of the various different people who might have purchased the car (Example - were men and women of various ages included according to the diversity of the people who actually bought the car.)

Having said all that - the result of the "survey" does have meaning - it means that IF you are asking the same questions about a car in the same manner as JD Power - that you MIGHT get a similar result.

It also means that you might also get a completely different result too.

And NONE of this produces a result to even imply what car is the BEST there is.

ATrain - 6/23/2016 5:26:15 AM

+4 Boost

Actually, while you are probably right most buyers of premium cars may not admit to making a bad purchase with minor issues, most are in fact far more intolerant of any issues.

If you don't believe me, go and spend some time on specialized sites (e.g. Rennlist) and check complaints... Things most people would ignore become multi-post whining about atrocious quality. Those get reported to the manufacturer or to JD Powers, for example.

MrEE - 6/22/2016 7:00:24 PM

+1 Boost

^LOL, premium should have more problems.
I received one of their dependability surveys in the past (~15 years).
It asked for the past 12 months "what quality/dependability problems have you experienced" and provided a detailed checklist (~300) of issues and write in for other. Many items would not be service repair correctable, so more than what could be gathered from warranty records.
Then goes on to ask more about worst problem, component replacements, and similar level of detail into service experiences. Sure it has a subjective component but was very detailed for a time period that should not have very few issues. That said, the real value is the detailed data, not the free problem tally.

TomM - 6/22/2016 8:32:11 PM

+2 Boost

As I said - it depends on the memory of the people over a period of time - rather than a diary detailing the actual problems over the same period of time.

And yes - people do not remember everything - even in 90 days.

But more important - it certainly does not produce a "best built car" result. The idea that the first 90 days will accurately predict that has NEVER been established. THere are already LOTS of cars on the market that are good 3 year cars - but not recommended to be purchased as a used car after that time.

MDarringer - 6/23/2016 8:30:32 AM

0 Boost

You all do realize that JD Power is in the business of selling its endorsement to manufacturers. Thus, when they do these lists the order of the brands changes...sometimes a lot.

Their method for "data" gathering is hardly scientific and neither is it independently verified.

They are as shoddy and untrustworthy as the IIHS.

And yet, the idiot sheeple believe in JD Power and the IIHS.

HughJass - 6/23/2016 10:27:41 AM

+3 Boost

Just expense JD Power's check to the Marketing budget.