Today is the day many auto manufacturers dread each year. Why? For the past 25 years J.D. Power and Associates has been producing the Initial Quality Survey (IQS) which tracks the number of problems reported by owners after 90 days of ownership. Today it announced results for the 2011 IQS.
Overall the number of quality problems with cars has continued to drop year by year. However, this year the esteemed research company reports that the initial quality of launch models—those that are all-new or have had major redesigns—worsened by 10 percent to an average of 122 problems per 100 (PP100) cars in 2011 from 111 PP100 in 2010. Conversely, carryover models—those that have had no significant redesign in the past year—have better initial quality than ever before.
Once again Lexus owners report the lowest number of problems. Honda was ranked second – its best ever finish, with Acura right behind. There are plenty of headlines in news stories today, which generally talk about how each company ranked. Ford in particular is taking a beating for its “quality decline”; mainly because of problems people are having with the MyFord Touch system.
In many ways the number of problems reported for individual models is more important as even the worst performing nameplates have models that do well. So, here is a list of the top three models in each segment:
Top Three Models per Segment:
Highest Ranked Sub-Compact Car: Honda Fit, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent
Highest Ranked Compact Car: Honda Civic and Honda Insight (tie), Toyota Prius
Highest Ranked Compact Sporty Car: Mazda MX-5 Miata, Volkswagen Eos, Volkswagen GTI
Highest Ranked Compact Premium Sporty Car*: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet/Coupe
Highest Ranked Entry Premium Car: Lexus ES, Acura TSX, Lexus IS
Highest Ranked Midsize Premium Car: Lexus GS, Jaguar XF, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan/Wagon
Highest Ranked Midsize Sporty Car*: Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Camaro
Highest Ranked Large Premium Car: Lexus LS, Hyundai Equus, Porsche Panamera
Highest Ranked Midsize Car: Honda Accord, Subaru Legacy, Toyota Camry
Highest Ranked Large Car: Ford Taurus, Buick Lucerne, Nissan Maxima
Highest Ranked Compact Crossover/SUV: Honda Element, Honda CR-V, Toyota FJ Cruiser
Highest Ranked Compact MPV*: Chevrolet HHR
Highest Ranked Entry Premium Crossover/SUV: Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class, Acura RDX, Volvo XC60
Highest Ranked Midsize Crossover/SUV: Honda Accord Crosstour, Dodge Durango (tie), Subaru Outback Wagon (tie)
Highest Ranked Large Crossover/SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban
Highest Ranked Midsize Premium Crossover/SUV: Lexus GX, Lexus RX, BMW X6 (tie) Infiniti FX-Series (tie), Volvo XC70 (tie)
Highest Ranked Large Premium Crossover/SUV: Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Lincoln Navigator
Highest Ranked Large Pickup: Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Avalanche
Highest Ranked Midsize Pickup: Honda Ridgeline, Nissan Frontier, Ram Dakota
Highest Ranked Minivan: Chrysler Town & Country, Honda Odyssey, Dodge Grand Caravan
NOTE: For a segment award to be issued, there must be at least three models with sufficient sample that comprise 80 percent of market sales within an award segment. There were only two premium sporty models with sufficient sample size, thus no premium sporty award has been issued.
*No other model in this segment performs above the segment average.
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