U.S. Automakers Skid in J.D. Powers' Initial Quality Survey of New Cars

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: ABC News

U.S. automakers, led by Ford Motor Co., plunged in this year's closely watched J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study of new vehicles while Toyota's Lexus brand topped the list.

Lexus' top-selling LS sedan had the fewest problems reported by new car purchasers in the past year. Honda, Acura, Mercedes-Benz and Mazda were next in having the fewest initial problems.

Ford, which has seen a resurgence in sales in the past several years, had a dismal performance, falling to No. 23 from fifth place last year, mainly based on problems with the in-dash, touch-screen monitors found on many of its Ford and Lincoln models. Still, Ford didn't score as low in quality as bottom-rated Dodge, Mitsubishi and Suzuki

Automakers are increasingly loading their cars with technology that boosts mileage and offers new features; and consumers are finding them frustratingly difficult to use.
....

The full J.D. Power survey.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/us-automakers-skid-jd-powers-initial-quality-survey/story?id=13914749

[MineralMan]

1. Uh-oh. As my dad used to say, "Every power anything on a car

is another thing that will break." Now, with touch screens and electronics throughout a car, you're playing with very expensive fire. Everything that breaks is gonna cost you a pile. As the car ages, more an more systems will fail.

The day of the 10 year old car being a reliable option is about over, I'm afraid, as these new cars get older. Damn!

[boppers]

2. 10 year old car = 10 year old computer.

Cars are so much more now than motors attached to wheels.

[clayton72]

3. And those gizmos go obsolete fast

I was trying to tell my dad about how great GPS's are and my uncle tried to support my position saying he loves the GPS built into his Cadilac, it's just annoying how they got to keep changing map CD's when they cross the county line... say what?!? 10 years might as well be 100 with the way the technology changes. I'm not buying another car until I can plug it in. I'm done with gas.

And TV wise, I'm going to wait for the 3D TV's you don't need glasses for.

[boppers]

5. LOL, GPS with a CD?

Must be a pre-flash model?

My solution has been to buy older cars, and buy the compute components separately.

[Auggie]

8. MacWorld editors recommend iPads over many tech options offered by automakers

Better value

[awoke_in_2003]

10. Yep, a standalone GPS is much better....

when the Garmin is obsolete, toss it and get a new one without any fuss.

[caseymoz]

13. You know, you can upgrade.

Unlike most automobile components, you can replace the GPS without compromising the rest of the vehicles. And autos are going to be made more and more with soft- and hardware upgrades in mind.

That also means software "patches."

[caseymoz]

12. Too late. Cars have been bundled with electronics for a couple decades now.

. . . and reliability has been going up, not down. You never used to see any car ending it's life with 3-4 hundred thousand miles on it. That's not so unusual now. (That's about 15-20 times around the planet.) Moreover, many times if they end their lives, it's because they've either been totaled out in an accident or they're rusting out.

Electronics are probably one of the more reliable systems automobile systems, provided the electronics are good to begin with, and practical. Ford's system apparently isn't either. I just had an on-board electronics repair done on my eleven-year old Saturn. The first one in its life. It cost $175.

The computer system probably sells retail for less than a second rate laptop would, and they make connecting up the system as easy as plugging in a USB device, only with a lot of things in they way.

Also, as anyone who remembers the cars of the 70s and 80s would know, today's computerized vehicles run much better. Electronics have improved them.

In other words, I think your warning is all sweat and worry and not supported by anything factual, you Dad's expectations notwithstanding.

[demosincebirth]

4. I still love my Cad and Chevy pickup.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. I can't support doing computer-aided design while driving.

:thumbsdown:

[demosincebirth]

16. Huh?

[Corruption Winz]

6. I'm a Ford guy....

and I find it hard to take this as a big "take that" moment when it comes to other American companies. Good lord. 23 is the best we can do?

OKay.. So, this is one more thing that we simply don't do better than the rest of the world.

Greatest country in the world....

[Fuddnik]

7. I don't put much stock in JD Powers.

I've had dealings with some of their "#1 in customer service" companies, such as Dish Network. I've never wanted to reach through a phone and strangle someone more, in my life.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. "in-dash, touch-screen monitors"...

useless gimmicks, in my opinion. My next car will be a Ford (or a Chrysler 300 if my wife gets her way)- I grew up in Cleveland, and if our neighbors didn't work in the Chevy plant, they worked in the Ford plant. I cannot buy a new imported car- I just cannot bring myself to it.

[bluedigger]

11. Ford is right at the industry average, 116, without Lexus.

You throw out the freakishly low score of the boutique manufacturer, and that is the mean average. Somebody else can check my math.:dunce:

But if you somehow weighted these numbers to account for volume, or lack of it for some manufacturers, it might be interesting. :shrug:

[fujiyama]

14. One important thing to note

is that almost all cars now are more reliable (at least initially). I recently bought a car made by a company with a spotty reliability history, but I took a gamble and I haven't had a single issue yet with the car (almost on 10k miles). Granted, this particular car was on the JD's top three list for its respective category, but I think that company's overall placement is due to their quality problem at their Mexico plant.

I know another person with another car by a lower ranked company and it has done fine (no issues at around 10k miles).

All that said, I still couldn't see myself buying a current or recent Chrysler/Dodge (though I've heard decent things about the 300). I just don't like anything they have to offer.

I ultimately wouldn't be dissuaded from buying a Ford or certain GM models just due to this survey alone.