Genesis on 2
Lexus has emerged as the best brand in the annual reliability survey of the American JD Power. With that, the Japanese premium brand took that title back from Kia.
When we talk about ‘the JD Power study’, that is actually not enough, because this research body investigates the reliability of cars in several ways every year. Specifically, today it concerns the Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), the most prominent of all those studies. ‘VDS’ is perhaps the world’s best-known study of car model reliability. It targets cars that are around three years old at the time of the survey, using a proven method. The organization assumes model years, so this time it was the turn of model year 2020.
A very important note is that JD Power focuses purely on the North American market. You can certainly not always directly compare the brands and models that are available there with what we are served here in Europe. In that sense you cannot draw any conclusions for the European market, although the research always says something for the brands involved.
European brands generally less well
The starting point for this study is ‘problems per 100 vehicles’, or ‘PP100’. These problems are registered in all kinds of areas, from climate control to exterior and from infotainment to powertrain and driver assistance systems. Lexus thus comes out on top, just like before 2022, and, as mentioned, takes back the title from Kia. That brand now ends at 3. Position 2 is in the hands of the premium brother of the Koreans: Genesis. General Motors is having a good time when it comes to reliability, seeing Buick in 4th place and Chevrolet in 5th place. Hyundai and a range of Japanese brands round out the rest of the top 10, with one notable exception: Mini.
Mini’s parent company BMW ends up just above average, but European brands generally do less well. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that Honda (19) and its luxury brand Acura do not fare well in this study. Closer to the rear is Land Rover, which thus ends up as traditionally as Lexus. Tesla is also participating for the first time, but is not competing for the prizes due to a lack of data. In concrete terms, that means nothing, because with 242 points, the American EV brand ends somewhere at the bottom. Ram, Volvo and Nissan are the fastest climbers in the list of brands.
Infotainment system most problematic
At the model level, two models from the Toyota house share first place: the Toyota C-HR and the Lexus RX. Toyota also often takes the profit in separate segments, but Kia, Hyundai, Genesis and General Motors also regularly score a number 1 spot. In the premium corner we see BMW and Mini back in the highest position here and there.
A striking general conclusion from JDPower is that infotainment systems are by far the most problematic part of modern cars. It is also notable that in 2023 there were generally fewer parts to be replaced than in last year’s survey.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl