2003 Automobile quality report is in...

[Dinner]

J.D. Powers and Associates has just released their annual report on intial quality which measures the average number of manufacturing defects for each automaker. The survey covers all makes and models of cars, minivans, SUVs, and light trucks that were on sale in the US or Canada as of Jan. 1, 2003. The survey is done in the first 90 days of ownership. The figures represent the number of problems per 100 vehicles (lower numbers are better). And the winners are...

Lexus - 76
Cadillac - 103
Infiniti -110
Acura - 111
Buick - 112
Mercury - 113
Porsche - 117
BMW - 118
Toyota - 121
Jaguar - 122
Honda - 128
Volvo - 128
Chevrolet - 130
Audi - 132
Mercedes-Benz - 132
INDUSTRY AVERAGE - 133
Oldsmobile - 134
Chrysler - 136
Ford - 136
Dodge - 137
Lincoln - 139
Nissan - 139
Pontiac - 142
Hyundai - 143
Volkswagen - 143
GMC - 144
Suzuki - 144
Jeep - 146
Subaru - 146
Mazda - 148
Mitsubishi - 148
Saturn - 158
Saab - 160
Mini - 166
Kia - 168
Land Rover - 190
Hummer - 225

[Dinner]

It appears Lexus is the run away best built car in the world while Caddy is a distant second place but still well ahead of the followers. Still it's interesting that rather puedlian cars like Buick & Mercury beat the doors off of the high end Euro cars and even prinial favorites like Toyota & Honda.

I was really surprised to see Hyundai jump so far up the list. Normally they are tied (with Kia) for being the worst built car sold in America but it appears the Koreans are learning how to bolt togeather a reliable car.

[Arrian]

Key words: "Initial quality"

This is all about how many defects (many of them insignificant) the car has when you buy it.

I care a helluva lot more about how the car will hold up over years of use.

-Arrian

[Dinner]

Arryan: Do they have a survey which measures how long a car lasts or how many things have broken in five years? Also wouldn't that depend on how a person cares for their car?

[SlowwHand]

Hummers. Anybody who buys a hummer of any kind has too much money to waste.

[Arrian]

Consumer Reports has rankings on reliability which I think take longevity into account. I'm not exactly sure how they collect their data.

-Arrian (careful with that "y" buddy!)

[Dinner]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Hummers. Anybody who buys a hummer of any kind has too much money to waste.

I was surprised that Hummer finished so far down the list especially since they only have one model they're selling. This is their first year of production for the H2 but still...

Arrian: Thanks for the info Bro.

[Japher]

That last hummer I got seemed to have no defects...

[Ming]

Re: 2003 Automobile quality report is in...

Originally posted by Oerdin
The figures represent the number of problems per 100 vehicles (lower numbers are better).

Are you sure you have that right... because if you do, the word quality shouldn't even be mentioned because only the best car has less than one problem per car.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Japher
That last hummer I got seemed to have no defects...

Only one to get it.

[Arrian]

Ming,

I'm pretty sure he's got it right. It's just that a lot of those "defects" are so inconsequential that you or I wouldn't even notice them.

-Arrian

[Spec]

And what do they call problems? How bad are the Honda problems compared to Kia for example? And how can Acura be better than Honda when both cars come from the same manufacturer? Acura doesn't even exist in Japan, there is no Acura NSX, overthere it's a Honda NSX or a Honda integra. Just like Lexus for Toyota. The Lexus IS300 is called a Toyota Altezza in Japan, it's the same frikin car. How can they compare Lexus to Toyota when they talk about car problems? So the real mark for toyota would be what, 98.5?

That's weird...

[Dinner]

Originally posted by SlowwHand


Only one to get it.

Oh, no you weren't.

Ming: I quoted that part right out off of the web site. The numbers are defects per 100 cars with lower numbers meaning fewer defects.

[SlowwHand]

I knew Lexus rocked, I just didn't know how much.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Spec
And what do they call problems? How bad are the Honda problems compared to Kia for example? And how can Acura be better than Honda when both cars come from the same manufacturer? Acura doesn't even exist in Japan, there is no Acura NSX, overthere it's a Honda NSX or a Honda integra. Just like Lexus for Toyota. The Lexus IS300 is called a Toyota Altezza in Japan, it's the same frikin car. How can they compare Lexus to Toyota when they talk about car problems? So the real mark for toyota would be what, 98.5?

That's weird...

The go by nameplate and not corporate owner thus there are sepporate entries for both Ford and Mercury (and Honda/Acura) plus they only deal with what the car/name plate is called in the US & Canada. Remember that Often times the same manufacture has different plants pumping out different cars so you will actually get a quality difference between two different assembly points making essentially the same car.

The best example of this that I can remember was back in the early 1990s when Acura and Sterling (Rovers last ill fated attempt to reenter the US market) were selling essentially the same car with different names on the front. But the Honda was made in Japan and the Sterling was made in England so when they counted up the number of defects Acura had very few while Sterling was one of the worst on the list!

They were the same car but different people were putting them together resulting in wildly different results.