Buick ties Lexus for quality

By The Associated Press

Buick tied with Lexus as the highest-ranking brand in a closely watched study of vehicle dependability, marking the first time in 12 years that Lexus has shared the top award, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

Cadillac, Mercury and Honda rounded out the top five brands in the annual survey, which measures problems experienced by the original owners of three-year-old vehicles.

Both Buick and Lexus had 145 problems per 100 vehicles. The worst-performing brand, Land Rover, had 398 problems. The industry average was 216 problems, down from 227 in last year's survey.

"People don't have to necessarily spend premium money to get equal value," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power. "That's good news for people."

The 2007 survey is based on the responses of 53,000 owners of 2004 model year vehicles. The survey gives all problems equal weight.

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Oddes said the most frequent problem cited is wind noise, followed by noisy brakes, seat belts that fail to retract, poor ride handling and uneven wear on tires. Oddes said complaints about seats and interiors rose slightly this time around, but in most categories, complaints were down.

In segment breakdowns, Lexus had five winners, including the midsize GS 300 and LS 430 sedan, while Toyota (TM, news, msgs) had four, including the Tundra and Tacoma pickups. The most-improved brand in the 2007 survey was Hummer, which improved its score to 242 problems per 100 vehicles from 307 last year. The most-improved vehicles were the Volvo XC90 and Audi A6, which both eliminated 104 problems, Oddes said.

Several of the category winners, such as the Oldsmobile Silhouette and Bravada, the Buick Century and the Scion Xa, are no longer in production. Oldsmobile, a division of General Motors, was folded in 2004 after more than a century on the American market, but its vehicles under the skin are similar to those of other GM divisions. The Buick Century has been replaced by the LaCrosse, and the Scion xA has been replaced by a new model, the xD.

The survey found that 65% of owners experienced one or more problems that required components to be replaced. Oddes said owners understand that some parts, such as brake pads, need to be replaced, but if they have to replace expensive items such as transmissions or if they have to replace smaller parts more often than they expect, they will keep their vehicle an average of one year less and will be less likely to consider that brand in the future.

Brand dependability rankings

Make	Problems	Make	Problems	Make	Problems
Buick	145	Infiniti	215	Hummer	242
Lexus	145	Industry Average	216	Mini	247
Cadillac	162	Jeep	219	Chrysler	249
Mercury	168	Pontiac	220	Porsche	252
Honda	169	Scion	220	Nissan	274
Toyota	178	Ford	221	Saturn	274
BMW	182	GMC	222	Kia	288
Lincoln	182	Chevrolet	226	Mazda	289
Subaru	192	Hyundai	228	Volkswagen	298
Oldsmobile	196	Mitsubishi	228	Saab	319
Jaguar	197	Volvo	230	Isuzu	322
Acura	207	Audi	234	Suzuki	324
Mercedes	212	Dodge	236	Land Rover	398

Oddes said vehicles with strong dependability numbers can retain up to 15% more of their value over three years. That helps consumers selling used vehicles as well as automakers and dealers, which may be able to sell a dependable vehicle two or three times over its lifetime.

J.D. Power's results are watched closely by automakers and are often used in advertising. The firm also releases an initial quality study, which measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership, but the dependability results are important to automakers because the way owners feel about their vehicles after three years can have a big impact on their decision to buy another vehicle of that brand.

The study comes on the heels of Power’s Initial Quality Survey in June, which looks at problems and owner satisfaction with 2007 models after 90 days of use. Ford Motor (F, news, msgs) scored the biggest gains, taking home more awards than any other manufacturer, including Toyota.

The winners

Category	Top-ranked 2004 model	Category	Top-ranked 2004 model
Subcompact car	Scion xA	Large premium car	Lexus LS
Compact car	Honda Civic	Premium sporty car	Lexus SC
Compact sport car	Mazda Miata	Compact SUV	Toyota RAV4
Midsize sporty car	Chevrolet SSR (tie)	Midsize SUV	Oldsmobile Bravada
	Ford Mustang (tie)	Large SUV	Toyota Sequoia
Midsize car	Buick Century	Large pickup	Toyota Tundra
Large car	Ford Crown Victoria	Midsize pickup	Toyota Tacoma
Compact premium sporty car	Honda S2000	Van	Oldsmobile Silhouette
Entry premium car	Infiniti I35	Midsize premium SUV	Lexus GX
Midsize premium car	Lexus GS	Large premium SUV	Lexus LX