U.S. Vehicle Dependability Climbs For The First Time Since 2013

J.D. Power is celebrating Valentine’s Day by releasing its 2018 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study which examines whether owners of three-year old vehicles still love their cars or want a divorce.

That’s putting a fun spin on things but the research is pretty serious as it examines the number of problems that original owners of 2015 vehicles have experienced in the past year. The study focuses on 177 specific problems and a lower score indicates a higher quality rating.

Lexus and Porsche came out on top as both had 100 problems or less for every 100 vehicles. The brands were followed by Buick, Infiniti, and Kia.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is notorious for performing poorly in these types of studies and Chrysler was dead last with 211 problems per 100 vehicles. However, the news isn’t all bad as Fiat was the most improved brand and Dodge achieved its highest-ever ranking in the study which is now in its 29th year.

When it comes to the most dependable vehicles, a majority of the winners came from General Motors and Toyota. GM won five segment awards thanks to the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Traverse and Chevrolet Silverado.

However, Toyota took the crown with six segment awards thanks to strong showings from the Lexus CT, Lexus ES, Lexus GS, Lexus RX, Toyota Prius and Toyota Tacoma. Other segment winners include the Dodge Challenger, Ford Expedition, Honda Odyssey, Hyundai Tucson, and Kia Rio.

J.D. Power says overall vehicle dependability climbed by nine percent and this was the first time the score has improved since 2013. To put that number into perspective, the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles dropped from 156 to 142.

Despite the improvements, there are still some familiar problems. J.D. Power notes technology continues to be most problematic issue faced by owners and the two most common complaints are issues with built-in voice recognition systems and Bluetooth connectivity.