JD POWER 2020 3yr Dependability ranking. The industry's improving

wemay

wemay

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Originally Posted by JD POWER
"Despite the increased adoption of complex vehicle technology, dependability continues to improve," said Dave Sargent, vice president of global automotive at J.D. Power. "There's no question that three-year-old vehicles today are better built and more dependable than same-age vehicles were in previous years. However, the rapid introduction of technology is putting increased pressure on dependability, so it would not be surprising to see problem levels plateau, or even increase, over the next few years."

The study, now in its 31st year, measures the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of their three-year-old vehicles. The 2020 study measures problems in model-year 2017 vehicles. A lower score reflects higher quality, and the study covers 177 specific problems grouped into eight major vehicle categories.

Following are key findings of the 2020 study:

Vehicle dependability improves—but at a slower rate: The industry average in 2020 is 134 PP100, which is an improvement of just 2 PP100 from 2019. (However, in 2019, there was an improvement of 6 PP100 from 2018.) Despite the slowing rate of improvement, 2020 marks automakers' best performance in the history of the study.

Dependability gains driven by crossovers and SUVs: Crossovers and SUVs still have slightly more problems than cars, but the gap is narrowing. On average, owners of crossovers/SUVs experience 134 PP100, compared with 127 PP100 by car owners. This 7 PP100 gap has narrowed considerably from 2019. With crossovers/SUVs now accounting for more than 50% of new vehicle sales annually, it is critical that automakers achieve the same level of quality and dependability as for cars.

In-vehicle technology shows greatest improvement: Audio/Communication/Entertainment/ Navigation (ACEN) is the most improved category (by 2.3 PP100), but still accounts for more problems than any other category in the study. Owners continue to cite problems with voice recognition, Bluetooth® connectivity and navigation systems. "Many owners complain about these systems early in the ownership experience and, three years later, they're still frustrated with them," Sargent said. "We're seeing improvement, but automakers still have a long way to go to before they can declare victory in this area."

Most Dependable Model: The Lexus ES is the highest-ranked model in the 2020 study. Its score of 52 PP100 is the best ever recorded in the 31-year history of the study.

First all-electric model receives an award: The Nissan LEAF is the first all-electric model to receive a segment-level award, for compact car.
Highest-Ranked Brands

Genesis ranks highest in overall vehicle dependability among all brands, with a score of 89 PP100. This is the first year Genesis has been included in the study. Lexus ranks second with a score of 100 PP100 (an improvement of 6 PP100 year over year). Buick (103 PP100) ranks third, Porsche (104 PP100) ranks fourth and Toyota (113 PP100) ranks fifth.

Cadillac shows considerable improvement with a reduction of 35 PP100 from 2019. Other above-average brands with strong improvement include Mazda (reduction of 29 PP100), Lincoln (by 28 PP100), Ford (by 20 PP100), Buick (by 15 PP100) and Volkswagen (by 15 PP100).

Toyota Motor Corporation receives six segment awards for the Lexus ES, Lexus GX, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Sienna and Toyota Tundra. The Toyota brand receives the highest number of segment awards in the study.

General Motors Company receives five segment awards: for the Buick Encore and Buick Regal, and for the Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Silverado HD and Chevrolet Tahoe.

The 2020 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from 36,555 original owners of 2017 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. The study was fielded from July through November 2019.

To learn more about the U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, visit http://www.jdpower.com/resource/us-vehicle-dependability-study.




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Originally Posted by BobsArmory
Some peoples heads are going to explode when they see Buick rated above Toyota.....

And Porsche...
 
RAM is above Subaru, Infiniti and GMC and basically on-par with Honda/Acura. Chrysler and Land Rover are bringing up the bottom, and Dodge, Jeep and FIAT are ranked higher than Volvo. Interesting statistics. Does anybody have the model break-downs for the brands? IIRC, the list of products sold as Chrysler was pretty short in 2017, primarily, if not solely consisting of the 200, 300 and Pacifica, which was new for 2017. The 200, like the Dart, was a bit of a pile, so I'm not overly surprised.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
RAM is above Subaru, Infiniti and GMC and basically on-par with Honda/Acura. Chrysler and Land Rover are bringing up the bottom, and Dodge, Jeep and FIAT are ranked higher than Volvo. Interesting statistics. Does anybody have the model break-downs for the brands? IIRC, the list of products sold as Chrysler was pretty short in 2017, primarily, if not solely consisting of the 200, 300 and Pacifica, which was new for 2017. The 200, like the Dart, was a bit of a pile, so I'm not overly surprised.


I don't have the break-down, but I suspect Cummins, Aisin & ZF have something to do with the higher RAM ranking...
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I'll confer with my statistician buddy next week to substantiate my thoughts, but I wonder how much trust we should put into these consumer satisfaction surveys. 36,555 owners sampled out of 17,250,000 total vehicles sold in 2017 is a sample size of 0.2%. JD Powers findings are based on sampling 2 vehicle owners out of 1,000.

In another recent thread, I shared the results of a peer reviewed research study comparing J.D. Powers vs. Consumer Reports and their assessments of U.S. brands vs. Japanese brands. Following are some findings quoted from the paper:

- scores of CR and JDP are not strongly correlated
- it is clear that there is work in the literature that cautions against reading too much into consumer satisfaction responses, as they appear to be affected by extraneous factors not directly related to customer satisfaction.
- questions have been raised about the impartiality and generality of data provided by CR and JDP
...........CR's reviewers are concentrated more on the coasts than in the heartland or the Deep South.
...........responses come from self-selected individuals.
...........JDP uses advertisements from its clients to ‘improve their own profile'. Thus it appears that there may be a symbiotic relationship between JDP and its clients,which may hamper objectivity;
...........the fact that JDP does not disclose data on very unfavourable rankings from consumers should be taken very seriously.......... as selective deletion of data, related to consumer perceptions, may lead to misleading forecasts.
...........The data from JDP did not yield satisfactory R2 (Regression Analysis) values for any of the cases. This was somewhat disappointing, but there is literature pointing to the fact that JDP is influenced by advertising (Noah, 1999)

So I ask, how accurate is the JD Powers data? Some might say that any information is better than none. Others will say "garbage in = garbage out".

Here is the study link if anyone really cares:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj0wv7cgcXnAhWRGs0KHWqlDrYQFjAKegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F275410375_Consumer_Perception_of_US_and_Japanese_Automobiles_A_Statistical_Comparison_via_Consumer_Reports_and_JD_Power_and_Associates_Data&usg=AOvVaw0jenXhu5A-WYM6iKepnxrN
 
I'm thinking VW has been working hard on reliability since Dieselgate. JD Powers data has never impressed me however.
 
Like all these surveys. Instead of asking customer how about service department. Oh sorry that won't work
No true way to get the data
 
Ram is not a full line maker they only make full size pickup trucks and work vans, and that's it. Few consumers buy their work vans so JD Power is just measuring their pickup trucks. What does it even mean to compare to Subaru or Acura neither of which sell trucks. Ram does not sell compact cars. No overlap.

2019 JD Powers pickup truck awards were light duty: Toyota Tundra and heavy duty: Silverado 2500

Some brands consistently do hugely better in consumer reports owner survey than JD Power and Subaru is one of them. Usually in the top 5. CU weights their surveys for minor and major issues JD Power does not. Even in JD Power Subaru was above average last year about 15 steps higher than this year. In 2017 Subaru rolled out new generation of most of its lineup so maybe first year teething pains.

Mazda and Cadillac were both far below average last year but this year both are above average. Subaru was above average last year. Try and explain either of those.

Toyota and Buick are always near the top year after year. Mopar is consistently at the bottom including Jeep.

Gm is most improved in recent years.
 
Basically, the best brands have about 1 problem per car, and the worst brands have about 2 problems per car.

Not much to see here, folks ...

If the best brands had like 0.1 problems per car, and the worst had say 20 problems per car, then I might pay attention.
 
Originally Posted by OilReport99
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
RAM is above Subaru, Infiniti and GMC and basically on-par with Honda/Acura. Chrysler and Land Rover are bringing up the bottom, and Dodge, Jeep and FIAT are ranked higher than Volvo. Interesting statistics. Does anybody have the model break-downs for the brands? IIRC, the list of products sold as Chrysler was pretty short in 2017, primarily, if not solely consisting of the 200, 300 and Pacifica, which was new for 2017. The 200, like the Dart, was a bit of a pile, so I'm not overly surprised.


I don't have the break-down, but I suspect Cummins, Aisin & ZF have something to do with the higher RAM ranking...
coffee2.gif



Yup, I can't disagree with that, the powertrain options on the RAM trucks are pretty darn good.
 
Originally Posted by wdn
Ram is not a full line maker they only make full size pickup trucks and work vans, and that's it. Few consumers buy their work vans so JD Power is just measuring their pickup trucks. What does it even mean to compare to Subaru or Acura neither of which sell trucks. Ram does not sell compact cars. No overlap.

Neither of those marques sells trucks and RAM doesn't sell cars, so in those segments, the dependability data/ranking for the RAM trucks is on par with those cars per whatever stock you put in what JD Powers measures. That's what it means.

This is a 3-year dependability survey, not an initial quality survey, so the 2019 pickup truck award data is equally as irrelevant to this thread as the fact that the Tundra did the worst in the IIHS crash tests, which also isn't a trait being measured here.
 
Originally Posted by doitmyself


So I ask, how accurate is the JD Powers data? Some might say that any information is better than none. Others will say "garbage in = garbage out".




Judging from how people have reacted to these surveys over the years I think it goes something like this:

1. If the brand I own is near the top of the list, then the data is pretty accurate. A rather normal way of thinking considering that most people would consider they made the best and most informed choice.
2. If the car I own is near the bottom then the data is not accurate. Again, pretty normal thinking as per above.
3. People that their make falls in the middle probably don't care.

So every year, round and round we go arguing which make is the best. All while all of the manufacturers collaborate with each other in one way or another, as full out competitive war is not really to their advantage.
 
What they really need is a survey to determine how many of 100 cars/trucks needed service. Some never go to the shop and others are in 3,4,5 times in a year trying to get one problem fixed. If every Honda sold needed service and it was fixed on the first visit would that be better than if every 3rd Toyota needed 3 visits to fix the problem. Oh and the IIHS survey would be skewed because the vehicles that failed would never have a responds to the survey.
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