Porsche ranked no. 2 in long term quality...

[SD987]

Saw this on another board, thought I'd post the good news here:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/06/29/jdpower_depend/index.html

[deliriousga]

When we bought ours in 2003, one of the reasons was Consumer Reports listed it as a "best buy" for maintenance and reliability.

[Perfectlap]

youre link doesn't work but the I saw that too.
2002 911 got best premium sportscar for reliablity.
My old car (Miata) got the top award in the non-premium category.

but I wonder with sportscars generally never tracked or autocrossed and most sitting in a garage under 20 layers of wax, I wonder how much of that reliabiliy is due to limited mileage.

[SD987]

Apparently this is based on a survey of 2002 model owners...good news for them at least.

[Onad]

This is related to a post on another board too...

I’m not sure what to make of this report:

Anecdotally, we know that the Boxster, while extremely fun, is not the most reliable vehicle; especially when compared to Hondas/Toyotas. Furthermore, the Cayenne, from what I’ve read, has been plagued with issues.

Additionally, Consumer Reports, another quality ratings source, does not rate the Boxster and Cayenne as highly reliable vehicles- in fact, it often states the opposite.

So is the 911 so incredibly reliable that it brings the Porsche brand to the top of the heap, or is something else amiss?

PerfectLap raises a good point:
Perhaps these rating agencies fail to take into account mileage. For example, across the brand, a typical Porsche might acquire 5000 miles a year, while Honda, as a brand, averages 14,000 miles a year.

[Brucelee]

The Results


Vehicle dependability based on questionnaires sent to owners of 2002 model-year vehicles. The list ranks vehicle brands by the problems their owners reported per 100 vehicles.

Brand Problems
per 100 vehicles
Lexus 139
Porsche 149
Lincoln 151
Buick 163
Cadillac 175
Infiniti 178
Toyota 194
Mercury 195
Honda 201
Acura 203
BMW 225
Ford 231
Chevrolet 232
Chrysler 235
INDUSTRY AVERAGE … 237
Saturn 240
Oldsmobile 242
GMC 245
Pontiac 245
Mazda 252
Hyundai 260
Subaru 260
Volvo 266
Jaguar 268
Dodge 273
Nissan 275
Mitsubishi 278
Mercedes-Benz 283
Saab 286
Jeep 289
Suzuki 292
Audi 312
Daewoo 318
Isuzu 331
Volkswagen 335
Mini 383
Land Rover 395
Kia 397

Source: J.D. Power and Associates

Top

[limoncello]

With an outstanding record that like that, surely the dealers will extend the warranties...

I also noted the "Best Buy" in CR before I bought. Not sure my "track excursions" will allow me go get the most in reliability, but it is comforting to know that it started out as a well built vehicle. Second to Lexus is pretty darned good.

[Onad]

Wow. This is the first I have seen the list. Not to stray too far from Boxster content, but isn't the real story here Lincoln/Buick/Cadillac/Mercury? I thought Cadillac was a disaster. I'd like to take a close look at the methodology of this survey as I find the results suspect-- except for poor Land Rover.

Lexus 139
Porsche 149
Lincoln 151
Buick 163
Cadillac 175
Infiniti 178
Toyota 194
Mercury 195
Honda 201


Land Rover 395

[Brucelee]

Cadillac has been improving for quite some time now. VW has been tanking for about the same time.

What are those VW folks thinking?????

[wetstuff]

I think VW and Mercedes both got caught in an electronics trap of european sourcing. They are still buying Telefunken quality whereas Lexus get's it from their asian homeboys who have it well sorted. When a Chrysler is more reliable than a Mercedes - you know there's trouble in D-land.

Jim

[Brucelee]

Indeed!

." When a Chrysler is more reliable than a Mercedes - you know there's trouble in D-land. "

[ho2go]

I've been wondering something similar about the Lexus brand: could their high quality ratings reflect the fact that the majoriy of their cars are probably babied (relatively speaking) compared to other brands (considering Lexus doesn't generally make sporty cars and doesn't generally attract performance-oriented drivers)?

Either way, kudos to Porsche!

Originally Posted by Onad

...PerfectLap raises a good point:
Perhaps these rating agencies fail to take into account mileage. For example, across the brand, a typical Porsche might acquire 5000 miles a year, while Honda, as a brand, averages 14,000 miles a year.

[ho2go]

And yet (if my memory serves me well), VW has scored really well in JD Power's APEAL study for a number of years now. I guess it just goes to show that if your car really stirs some passion in you then you'll probably be able to overlook some otherwise big/annoying problems.

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Cadillac has been improving for quite some time now. VW has been tanking for about the same time.

What are those VW folks thinking?????

[lexuspilot]

My Lexus GS400, owned since new, had battery problems early on. These left us stranded a couple times. We also had a variable valve timing issue which caused it to run way rich and stall. If you gave me a questionaire I would still say it is highly reliable, almost everything works almost all the time. However, my 99 Grand Cherokee never skipped a beat for 100k miles. When I turned it in it had never ever not even had any little thing wrong with it - NOTHING. But when someone says reliable, my Lexus comes to mind.. Weird huh.

That said I would never judge a car by the forums, in that case the are all POS.