Check out who JD Power says is #1
 

I saw this and had to smile:



http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/06/06/jdpa_quality/index.html


Ford gets 5 top quality awards
Porsche takes the top spot and Mercedes is most improved brand in latest J.D. Power survey
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer
POSTED: 2:38 p.m. EDT, June 6, 2007

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Five vehicles from Ford Motor Co. placed at the top of their categories in initial quality, according to a survey released Wednesday by J.D. Power and Associates.

The 2007 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study looks at both manufacturing defects and design problems in new cars as reported by their owners.

The Ford Mustang ranked as the most problem-free "Midsize sporty car" in the survey while the Mercury Milan was the highest ranked midsized car and the closely related Lincoln MKZ was the top-ranked "Entry premium car."

The Lincoln Mark LT, a luxury version of the Ford F150 truck, was the top-ranked SUV and the Mazda MX-5 Miata was the top-ranked "compact sporty car." (Ford owns a controlling interest in Mazda.)

All three of Ford's U.S.-based brands - Ford, Lincoln and Mercury - earned above-average marks for quality. Ford's European luxury car brand Jaguar ranked sixth, tying with Toyota's Toyota brand.

The overall top brand, on average, was Porsche with 91 problems per 100 vehicles. (The average car in the survey had 125 problems per 100 vehicles.) The Porsche Boxster was the top-ranked "Compact premium sporty car," according to the survey.

The second-ranked brand overall was Toyota's Lexus luxury brand followed by Lincoln, Honda and Mercedes-Benz.

The Mercedes-Benz SL-class was the top-ranked "Premium sporty car" and the E-class was the top-ranked "midsize premium car." The Mercedes-Benz S-class tied with the Audi A8 as the top-ranked "large premium car."

Mercedes-Benz has not done well in J.D. Power surveys in the past but jumped 20 places in the rankings this year to finish fifth.

"All Mercedes-Benz models in the study improved substantially," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power, in the announcement, "and the breadth and speed of these improvements demonstrates the Mercedes-Benz commitment to quality."

No GM brands earned above-average scores in the survey. GM's best-ranking brand was Buick with 127 problems per 100 vehicles, a score that placed it just below average.

The highest ranking brand from DaimlerChrysler's U.S.-based division, the Chrysler Group, was Chrysler. Chrysler had 151 problems per 100 vehicles, placing it well below average.

At the bottom of the scale, Ford's luxury SUV division, Land Rover, ranked last of all brands with 170 problems per 100 vehicles. Still, that represents a reduction of 34 problems per 100 vehicles from last year.

Despite taking the top spot in the "small sporty car" segment with the Miata, Mazda finished second-to-last among brands overall with 163 problems per 100 vehicles.

Top ranked vehicles

Subcompact: Kia Rio/Rio5

Compact: Honda Civic

Compact sporty: Mazda MX-5 Miata

Compact premium sporty: Porsche Boxster

Entry Premium: Lincoln MKZ

Midsized premium: Mercedes-Benz E-class

Large premium: Audi A8/Mercedes-Benz S-class

Premium sporty: Mercedes-Benz SL-class

Midsized sporty: Ford Mustang

Midsize: Mercury Milan

Large: Pontiac Grand Prix

Compact SUV: Honda CR-V

Midsize SUV: Toyota 4Runner

Lage SUV: Toyota Sequoia

Midsize Premium SUV: Lexus RX

Large Premium SUV: Lincoln Mark LT

Large pickup: Chevrolet Silverado Classic HD

Midsize pickup: Toyota Tacoma

Van: Chevrolet Express

Totally OT, and not trying to start anything. But your tag line made me wonder.
So what if one climbs, yet never summits? Seems rather pointless. Like my post I suppose :confused:


Anywho, flame on.

I would never flame someone for asking that. It is hard to describe, but climbing is not about reaching the summit, at least for real mountaineers. The summit is icing on the cake, but climbing is about the climb. Its about the work, the pain, the hunger, the extreme fatigue, the airlessness, the incredible views. Its about pushing yourself to do things you didn't think you could to; challenging yourself to do things that scare the bejeezus out of you. Its about the comraderie one has with fellow climbers, misery loves company. Its about being away from humanity and surviving in the most inhospitable places on earth. And most of all its about that first bite of that enormous burger you eat upon returning to the world.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...e-World1-1.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s1138/d94a.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...-mmmm-good.jpg

I didn't follow the summit references but as for the JD Powers award it is only for initial quality which I don't place much import in. For me I am much more interested in quality after a few years of ownership and many thousands of miles.

I liked the saying before the explanation, more of a journey than a destination kind of thing. Now it has even more relevance.

Cool, Chills :) (Pun unintended)


Glad you didn't take offense at my comment. Thanks for the pics!

sporty car????

Initial quality... I don't know why that is touted as being so important. You'd think they'd survey people's opinions after a year of ownership instead.

It's not as if Porsche is King of Quality or something, otherwise I wouldn't be taking my car to Porsche tomorrow for cab top mechanism failure after only 28,000 miles...along with the myriad other times it's been in the shop!

Very Zen-like. Seems much like driving a Porsche to me. If I was only interested in getting to my destinations everyday, I would probably drive a Camry. Enjoying the drive there and back though, seeking the backroads to enjoy the journey, that's different.

@ chills....wow! that was deep, bro! :cheers: and I agree with Dr.Kill :D

Thanks guys. I'm glad I was able to explain it so you'd understand. :cool:

And yes, the experience is similar to driving a Porsche. It's about the journey, not the destination.



eslai, I must agree with you. I never understood the "initial quality" think either. I'm much more interested in how reliable cars are 5-10 years after they are built.

I just thought the article was interesting.

Initial quality has never been Porsche's issue.

Anybody ever pick up the annual Consumer Reports special issue? The S2000 beats the Boxster every year on "owner satisfaction" and "would you buy again" ratings.