Medallians waiting to be affixed to cars at a Porsche factory. (AP, File)
Associated Press | Porsche shot to the top of a closely watched
study of long-term vehicle dependability, overtaking U.S. and Japanese
rivals, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.
The German sports car brand took the No. 1 spot in the annual study,
which gave it ninth place last year. Lincoln came in second, while
Buick and Lexus tied for third. Mercury and Toyota rounded out the top
five.
The annual study measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. In last year’s study, Buick and Jaguar tied for fewest problems, but both brands lost ground to rivals this year.
Toyota, whose reputation has come under scrutiny in the face of massive recalls, fell two spots from its third-place standing last year. While average vehicle quality across the industry improved from last year’s survey, Toyota’s quality score fell slightly.
However, the Japanese nameplate still swept four segment awards, more than any other brand. Japanese rival Honda took three segment awards, while Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln brand took two awards.
The industry average was 155 problems per 100 vehicles, J.D. Power said, or less than two problems per vehicle. That’s a decline from 167 problems per 100 vehicles last year.
“The improvements in long-term dependability and component replacement rates are good news for both consumers and manufacturers,” said David Sargent, vice president of global vehicle research for J.D. Power, in a statement.
J.D. Power’s 2010 dependability study surveyed more than 52,000 original owners of 2007 model-year vehicles between October and December 2009. The results are watched closely by automakers and are often used in advertising. Owners’ opinion of a car after three years can be a major influence on their opinion to buy that brand again.
The firm also releases an initial quality study, which measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership. That study usually comes out in June.
Two things on which you can depend:
(1) If someone with a fake French name drives a Porsche at the limits on a city street, he will hit a pedestrian on the sidewalk.
(2) The Chinese can’t build dependable cars, at least not without Buick’s help, but they can dependably spam the Tribune, including here.
Jack, best Trib comment of the year!
Just remember, when buyinmg a car, go for quality and not price. Who cares if American workers will be on the bread line. At least you have a nice car, right????
Hmmm, no one talked to me about this study? I had a Porsche Boxster for almost 5 years. It was one odd item defect after another that kept popping up. As much of a joy as that car was to drive, and it was very fun, I could not take the maintenance costs anymore.
Even with an extended warranty, many items were not covered, and in my opinions, should not have broken down in the first place. I had an issue with the fuel injector, emergency brake switch, radio, clutch, various sensors that needed to be replaced, etc etc. My file of repairs was several inches thick.
I finally threw in the towel and went back to Ford products, now driving a Mustang and in the almost 2 years I have had it have only had to do G&O changes, a refreshing change to my pocketbook.
My 2009 Porsche Cayenne S is beyond belief. Couldn’t have imagined German engineering was this good, and I’m German! 1st service call is not for an entire year, amazing! No going back after this experience. All the better considering we are not supporting useless American union sponges. As a previous entry states however, they are not cheap to maintain.
I have an ‘88 Lincoln town car and it is very dependable and easy to fix if it needs it. A nice V8 engine too!
My dad bought a 2006 Ford Mustang, for about $19,000. It has about 200 HP, and is really fun to drive and mod. It also has about 20 mpg. There’s also tons of aftermarket parts if you love that kind of stuff. Check it out.