VW bombs again in J.D. Power report

Survey Says Lexus Again Leads All Brands in Dependability By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. remains the automaker with the most dependable vehicles, led by its Lexus luxury brand, though Detroit's Big Three manufacturers all showed improvement in the past year, according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates vehicle dependability study released Tuesday.

For the 10th consecutive year, Lexus was the highest-ranking brand in the closely watched study. It was followed by General Motors Corp.'s Buick nameplate, Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti brand, Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln label and GM's revamped Cadillac lineup.

GM was the only one of the domestic automakers to score better than the industry average of 269 problems per 100 vehicles, but Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG made significant headway. Last year's industry average was 273 problems per 100 vehicles.

``The domestics are putting their money where their mouths are in terms of consistent long-term quality improvements,'' said Joe Ivers, J.D. Power's executive director of quality/customer satisfaction. ``However, while the domestics continue to outpace the Europeans, the Japanese continue to dominate.''

The study is based on responses from more than 48,000 original owners of 2001 model-year cars and trucks. It measures problems such as wind noise, excessive brake wear, vibrations and the replacement of parts not called for under normal maintenance.

Toyota, whose U.S. sales were up 11.6 percent through May, had seven models score highest in their respective segments -- the Corolla compact car, Avalon premium midsize car, MR2 Spyder sports car and

4Runner midsize sport utility vehicle for the Toyota label, and the ES 330 entry luxury car, LS 430 premium luxury car and RX 300 entry luxury SUV for Lexus.

``This goes to show that Toyota and Lexus vehicles stand the test of time,'' said Bob Daly, Toyota's group vice president for customer service. ``We excel because we design quality and durability into every vehicle we make.''

Among individual brands, the most improved from last year were Kia, Suzuki and Audi, though all three continue to perform below the industry average. Kia had 77 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, Suzuki

38 and Audi 23.

GM was tops among the Big Three with 262 problems per 100 vehicles, two fewer than last year. Ford (275) improved by 12 problems from a year ago, and DaimlerChrysler (302) was better by nine problems.

Segment-leading models for the Big Three included the Chrysler Concorde among full-size cars, Ford Ranger among compact pickups and the redesigned GMC Sierra HD among heavy-duty, full-size pickups.

Hyundai, which showed the most improvement among 37 brands in J.D. Power's initial quality study released in April, was near the bottom in the dependability study, registering 375 problems per 100 vehicles.

The bottom five in terms of problems per 100 vehicles were Volkswagen (386), Isuzu (393), Daewoo (411), Kia (432) and Land Rover (472).

Among manufacturers, Toyota (207) was followed by American Honda Motor Co. (210), Porsche Cars North America Inc. (240), GM (262) and BMW of North America (264). Those were the only manufacturers to rank above the industry average.

On the Net: J.D. Power and Associates:

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Article source: June 29, 2004 Survey Says Lexus Again Leads All Brands in Dependability By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:48 p.m. ET

DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. remains the automaker with the most dependable vehicles, led by its Lexus luxury brand, though Detroit's Big Three manufacturers all showed improvement in the past year, according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates vehicle dependability study released Tuesday.

For the 10th consecutive year, Lexus was the highest-ranking brand in the closely watched study. It was followed by General Motors Corp.'s Buick nameplate, Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti brand, Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln label and GM's revamped Cadillac lineup.

GM was the only one of the domestic automakers to score better than the industry average of 269 problems per 100 vehicles, but Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG made significant headway. Last year's industry average was 273 problems per 100 vehicles.

``The domestics are putting their money where their mouths are in terms of consistent long-term quality improvements,'' said Joe Ivers, J.D. Power's executive director of quality/customer satisfaction. ``However, while the domestics continue to outpace the Europeans, the Japanese continue to dominate.''

The study is based on responses from more than 48,000 original owners of 2001 model-year cars and trucks. It measures problems such as wind noise, excessive brake wear, vibrations and the replacement of parts not called for under normal maintenance.

Toyota, whose U.S. sales were up 11.6 percent through May, had seven models score highest in their respective segments -- the Corolla compact car, Avalon premium midsize car, MR2 Spyder sports car and

4Runner midsize sport utility vehicle for the Toyota label, and the ES 330 entry luxury car, LS 430 premium luxury car and RX 300 entry luxury SUV for Lexus.

``This goes to show that Toyota and Lexus vehicles stand the test of time,'' said Bob Daly, Toyota's group vice president for customer service. ``We excel because we design quality and durability into every vehicle we make.''

Among individual brands, the most improved from last year were Kia, Suzuki and Audi, though all three continue to perform below the industry average. Kia had 77 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, Suzuki

38 and Audi 23.

GM was tops among the Big Three with 262 problems per 100 vehicles, two fewer than last year. Ford (275) improved by 12 problems from a year ago, and DaimlerChrysler (302) was better by nine problems.

Segment-leading models for the Big Three included the Chrysler Concorde among full-size cars, Ford Ranger among compact pickups and the redesigned GMC Sierra HD among heavy-duty, full-size pickups.

Hyundai, which showed the most improvement among 37 brands in J.D. Power's initial quality study released in April, was near the bottom in the dependability study, registering 375 problems per 100 vehicles.

The bottom five in terms of problems per 100 vehicles were Volkswagen (386), Isuzu (393), Daewoo (411), Kia (432) and Land Rover (472).

Among manufacturers, Toyota (207) was followed by American Honda Motor Co. (210), Porsche Cars North America Inc. (240), GM (262) and BMW of North America (264). Those were the only manufacturers to rank above the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates:

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Source for the AP release:
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Richard Schulman (for email reply, remove the "-xyz" part)

Reply to
Richard Schulman
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Who gives a f**K about J D Power...87.5% of statistics are made up ;-)

--Steve

Reply to
Tunafish

Are you just bitter because you regret buying a Passat?

Reply to
Brandon Sommerville

||>Survey Says Lexus Again Leads All Brands in Dependability ||>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

In the immortal word of Mark Twain "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." Texas Parts Guy

Reply to
Rex B

Do you think?

Reply to
Peter Parker

Yeah.

And 104% of statistics are wrong. And 69.3467236% of statistics suggest a level of exactness that cannot be justified by their methods.

SCNR, Erik.

Reply to
Erik Meltzer

Interesting that this is from 2001 model-year cars. That was when VW still had its crappy 2 year warranty and power window and MAF problems. But there's no question that VW needs to both make their cars a little more "bullet proof" and to weed out or discipline more of its bad dealers. Reports like this actually help us get a better VW in the future.

Bill

Reply to
William Maslin

If, indeed, VW is listening. There's a difference between listening and hearing.

sd

Reply to
sd

I read somewhere recently (Auto Week?) that VW was really going to focus on the quality problems, that they'd formed a 50 person team, etc. In other words, it sounds like they are committed. Whether they can actually pull it off is another question. There might just be something in their corporate culture that makes it an impossible problem to fix. I've always felt that way about US car manufacturers. They just can't do any better. It all comes down to priorities. If it's really a priority, they can fix it.

Bill

78 Rabbit...10/77 - 4/02 82 Convertibles(s)...since 93 95 Golf GL...since 11/99 02 Passat 1.8T Tip GLS...since 4/02
Reply to
William Maslin

Could be. They _have_ gotten much better. I've been driving watercooled VWs for 20 years now and my '03 Jetta Wagon is the best yet from the standpoint of fit and finish. They're no Toyota or Infiniti yet, but they've made some strides.

Now if they could bump up the experience at the dealership in a similar fashion.

sd

Reply to
sd

The experience at *your* dealership, maybe. I've had no complaints at mine.

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

'They're no Toyota or Infiniti yet, but they've made some strides."

What are u talking about Toyota...Infiniti....I am much happier with my dub. (than a POS)

Reply to
hk

That's good. But I live in a metro area with four dealerships. One, IMHO, will never see me again for attempting to rip me off at the service bay; they were pretty slimy when a friend insisted on leasing a Passat there, too. Another two are good to sell, but not that great at service. There's _one_ decent one, and even they could stand some improvement (parking there is a pain, "banker's hours" for service). IMHO, one out of four doesn't win friends and influence people.

sd

Reply to
sd

Aah, spoken like someone with no experience at all in the matter. Enjoy your "dub."

sd

Reply to
sd

Same here. Our dealer, Quality VW of Tuscaloosa, AL, bends over backwards to keep you happy. I've been very pleased with the service there.

Reply to
William Maslin

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