Lincoln named most dependable brand by J.D. Power
Brace yourself: Lincoln has just been named the most dependable nameplate among all brands, foreign and domestic by J.D. Power and Associates in its long-term dependability study.
The most dependable car in the study is equally surprising: the Porsche 911. It marks a comeback for German luxury cars.
"Automakers, as a whole, have made significant improvements in reducing traditional problems," said David Sargent, vice president of global vehicle research at J.D. Power and Associates. "However, as manufacturers add new features and technologies to satisfy customer demand and new legislation, they face the potential for introducing new problems."
Lincoln, Ford's near-luxury brand, has never placed at the top of the ranking before, J.D. Power says. After Lincoln comes Jaguar, Porsche and Toyota.
Despite its spate of recalls and millions in fines to the government over reporting of safety and quality issues, Toyota did well in the study. It had seven vehicles winning best dependability in their respective product categories: Lexus RX, Scion xB and Toyota 4Runner, Prius, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra.
Ford Motor garnered four best-in-category wins with Ford Fusion and Mustang and Lincoln MKZ and Navigator. General Motors had three: Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS and Chevrolet Tahoe. So did Honda: Acura RL and Honda CR-V and Fit.
The study looks at reported problem in cars after three years of ownership -- these these were all 2008 models -- and ranks them best-to-worst based on problems reported per 100 vehicles (the industry average was 151).
Overall, the study said, vehicles are more dependable than ever. And imports still have en edge, but less of one, overall in fewer problems.
"While domestic brands have closed the gap in initial quality with import brands, there is still a considerable difference between the two in vehicle dependability,' J.D. Power says.
Since these were 2008 models, you can chalk a bunch of the domestic deficit up to the pre-bankruptcy slide by Chrysler: The company had no segment winners. Only the Ram 1500 pickup and discontinued PT Cruiser made the top three in their segment. Chrysler's namesake brand went backwards, going from 166 problems per 100 vehicles in the 2010 study of 2007 vehicles to 202 this year. And together, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep 2008 models joined Land Rover and Mini as the least reliable five brands on the list.
The complete lists below (click "read more") of market segment winners (ranked by quality of 2008 model) and brand rankings in the dependability survey (ranked by problems per 100 vehicles):
Vehicle segment winners ranked by quality of 2008 model:
- Subcompact car: Honda Fit
- Compact car: Toyota Prius
- Compact sporty car: Mazda MX-5 Miata
- Midsized car: Ford Fusion
- Midsized sporty car: Ford Mustang
- Large car: Buick Lucerne
- Compact premium sporty car: Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
- Entry premium car: Lincoln MKZ
- Midsized premium car: Acura RL
- Large premium car: Cadillac DTS
- Compact multi-purpose vehicle: Scion xB
- Compact crossover or SUV: Honda CR-V
- Entry premium crossover or SUV: BMW X3
- Midsized crossover or SUV: Toyota 4Runner
- Midsized premium crossover or SUV: Lexus RX
- Large crossover or SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe
- Large premium crossover or SUV: Lincoln Navigator
- Midsized pickup: Toyota Tacoma
- Large pickup: Toyota Tundra
- Minivan: Toyota Sienna
2011 brand dependability rankings based on problems per 100 vehicles (Industry average: 151)
- Lincoln: 101
- Lexus: 109
- Jaguar: 112
- Porsche: 114
- Toyota: 122
- Acura: 123
- Buick: 125
- Mercedes-Benz: 128
- Cadillac: 130
- Hyundai: 132
- Honda: 139
- Ford: 140
- Saab: 146
- Infiniti: 151
- Smart: 152
- (tie) Chevrolet: 156/Volvo: 156
- Subaru: 157
- Kia: 160
- Audi: 161
- BMW: 164
- Scion: 166
- Ram: 173
- Mazda: 181
- Nissan: 183
- GMC: 184
- Mitsubishi: 186
- Suzuki: 190
- Volkswagen: 191
- Chrysler: 202
- Dodge: 206
- Land Rover: 212
- Jeep: 214
- Mini: 221
