Filed under: Car Buying, Hyundai, Porsche, Toyota
Porsche, Lexus and Hyundai take honors in J.D. Power initial quality study
Porsche, Lexus and... Hyundai? It might be a tough thing for Toyota to swallow, but the Japanese car manufacturer's goose has been cooked by Korean competitor Hyundai in J.D. Powers and Associates' initial quality survey of new car buyers. The study, which gauges consumers' reaction to new cars after they've had them for three months, tallies up the number of problems per 100 cars consumers experience in 217 categories like comfort, convenience and design. This set of results marks the first time that the Power study incorporates not only quality issues, but design problems that bother owners (e.g. flimsy cupholders). Porsche jumped from the 32nd spot last year to the top spot with a score of 91, followed by Lexus at 93, Hyundai at 103 and Toyota at 106.
[Source: The Chosun Ilbo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Howard Kerr 7:23AM (6/08/2006)
Way to go Hyundai.
I don't put much faith in the Initial Quality Survey, to me it pretty much says the factory and dealer are delivering a car with almost no major/visible defects. The real test is how these same cars stack up after the newness wears off. I've owned cars that SEEMED flawless when new, only to have small and stupid problems crop up in the first 12 to 18 months (cough GM cough).
And kudos to JDP for "letting manufacturers off the hook" for determining that a design flaw (poor gas mileage) should no longer be held against a car the same way that a flaking paint job is held against a car company...for purposed of problems per hundred vehicles.
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MHC 7:31AM (6/08/2006)
When Lexus was #1 I didn't give the survey much weight, now that it's not, I still don't give it much weight. Real customer satisfaction is after two years of ownership and if that owners feels they would come back and purchase that vehicle again. Like marriage, first three months is the honeymoon, can you survive the next 30 years, that's the test of quality.
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Random 7:55AM (6/08/2006)
This news story fails to report the fact that Lexus lead in *every* single segment in which it had a car to compete in. In the car segments, the Lexus IS 250/350, ES 330, LS 430, SC 430 grabbed the top spots. The GX 470 and the LX 470 earned accolades in the truck/SUV segments. The normal Toyota brand also nabbed five awards, more than any other non-luxury brands -- the Solara, Camry and Corolla for cars and the Sequoia and Highlander for trucks. So overall Toyota had the top honor in 11 of 19 categories, which is pretty dominant in my view. (looking around the web for news stories pretty much confirms what I just said) Considering the relative volumes produved by Lexus vs. Porshe, and Toyota vs. Hyundai, I wouldn't think Toyota bosses are terribly worried. That a very low volume brand overtook their coveted top spot. (They are top in 11 categories this year compared to last years, 4)
As for domestic models, General Motors took home category honors for its Pontiac Grand Prix and the Chevy Silverado, while Ford's Ranger topped midsize pickups and the Chrysler Town & Country fared the best among vans.
The best five brands (based on problems per vehicle):
Porshe
Lexus
Hyundai
Toyota
Jaguar
Bottom five:
Land Rover
Isuzu
Volkswagon
Hummer
Suzuki
BMW and Mercedes are below average in the rankings. Goes to show that top European brands aren't always that great. (Although for Mercedes I think this represents an improvement over last year)
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rw 8:04AM (6/08/2006)
Autobog yesterdays news tomorrow. Story just a little late guys.
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Tom Design 8:07AM (6/08/2006)
Not too surprising news. Some random thoughts. The Koreans are just showing great determination in their drive for quality, and that's awesome to see them excel (couldn't resist) over Toyota! It's a win for everyone, since Toyota hasn't really slipped, just been displaced. Well, it's about time Porsche got it's act together: Here's a car that costs TWICE what your average car costs, is a limited edition production for all intents and purposes with very few units made, and it's based on sports/engineering. They should be on top and really, it was an embarassment the were so low in rankings. Sad to see how Buick's truck entries have ruined their great car standings, but Buick needs to get their auto lineup moving and fast, they make great cars. And, shame on the high priced, low production European models, Audi, BMW, when CHEVROLET has a better rating, that is just too much! A mass produced, varied product, high volume automaker like Chevrolet can outperform these much more expensive, and very low volume in comparison European automakers is just sad. The low placement of Volkswagon makes all their cutesy and Y-gen ads seem to be smoke and mirrors...concentrate on quality because VW had some very bad years in the 70's & 80's to shake off. Learn from GM. Surprised at Mercury which usually ranks high. And Ford quality remains average, not great for their advertising jingle about Ford Quality...Average at best?
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GhostDoggy 8:08AM (6/08/2006)
Doesn't JDP define 'initial quality' as something of measure for the first 90-days? No knocking any of the high-rankers, but I can find tape and adhesive that will hold for about 91 days. lol
Combining the score performance on Hyundai with the current incentives (easily get a V6 Sonota for $4500 under list) makes me wonder how many more of them they'll sell.
Curious, does JDP does an elongated version of initial quality out to something like 360-days? I would think it would be a safe test considering I know of no one buying or leasing a new vehicle for less than a year.
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Tom Design 8:13AM (6/08/2006)
GhostDoggy => Awesome thoughts! Can you give me the name of a good tape...duct tape isn't waterproof and leaves a nasty residue, and packing tape gets brittle and falls off. I have a Volvo with a gap in the rear passenger window, and I cannot find a tape that will hold more than 30 days. Volvo wants $200 to replace a piece of $4 glass, and I was thrilled to see your boast...what tape will fill a gap and hold for 90 days?
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GhostDoggy 8:23AM (6/08/2006)
Tom, notice I said tape 'and' adhesive. BTW, Volvo's are suppose to be safe, right, but anything else (like dry)? :)
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matt 8:27AM (6/08/2006)
They changed the way this survey is done this year to include poor design as a defect. BMW really eats it with the idrive in this type of survey.
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Dave 8:32AM (6/08/2006)
"32th spot"
Is it really that hard to check your spelling/grammar?
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Alan 8:39AM (6/08/2006)
This year's survey was changed to incorporate both design and actual defects. BMW, for instance, is one of the top 5 in terms of defects (as JD Power's press release points out), but loses out in terms of design.
I would like to see the full results analyzed both on design and defect elements. Defects can and often are fixed under warranty. Design elements aren't. I personally contributed to the low VW score solely on initial defect issues (broken armrest and headlamp washer at delivery), but haven't found any major design issues and (knock on wood) didn't have any major problems to report on my Consumer Reports survey.
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Source1 8:54AM (6/08/2006)
We knew two years ago that Hyundai was on Toyota's tail in many ways and was already beating Honda. What this survey tells us is that those who buy a Hyundai don't have problems with them and they like the cars. Yeah, I'm sure that their expectations are met and even beat but this is a big win for Hyundai because the average consumer respects what JD Powers says and this puts Hyundai in the running for the consumers dollar when they are shopping. That is all that Hyundai wants at this point to get in the running and shop their brand. Not everyone is going to buy the Sonata over the Accord or the Camry but if many will buy when they see the huge gap in price. You can have a loaded LX Sonata with leather, moonroof, abs, traction, esc and on on on for $19995! You can't get an equivalent Camry for under $25k. Now some consumers see that and they are going to jump on Hyundai. I wouldnt be worried if I were Toyota or Honda but I would be very worried if I were Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima, Chev Malibu because Hyundai is going to draw sales from these brands. Honda and Toyota will get there sales because they are more solid and there is no disputing their offering. Hyundai is now a Tier 1 automaker and their sales and the accolades they are receiving for their quality and performance seem to affirm this.
Do I put full faith in JDPowers or CR. Nah, but millions upon millions of car buyers do and Hyundai is going to reap a huge harvest of sales from this.
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steve s 9:07AM (6/08/2006)
I usually don’t put a whole lot of stock in initial satisfaction surveys. My last two cars have been first model year cars and I haven’t had much in the way of problems (many more on my Mercury Cougar than my Nissan Murano but still not terrible). If you have properly researched and test driven a car before buying I would expect to not have any issues with it in the first 2 years of ownership. If the model has been around for a few years I wouldn’t expect anything wrong in the first 4 years. You should know pretty much everything about your new car prior to purchasing it. If you know everything about the car and decide it’s the right car for you then how can you be dissatisfied with it especially after only 3 months?
As for BMW I have a feeling a fair percentage of BMW, AUDI and MB buyers don’t really look all that much at their cars prior to buying them (some do) and they realize a few problems after a month or two. The iDrive is a love or hate item and is it so hard to have a normal cup holder in NA BMW’s? Seriously they are as bad as the one I had in my 99 Cougar and it only took Mercury 1 year to fix that.
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Michael Karesh 9:22AM (6/08/2006)
Adding design elements into the score makes it unclear exactly what a score means. As others have said, is it something that can be fixed, or not? Will it be a source of inconvenience, or not?
They should have two separate scores. But that wouldn't keep the numbers high enough for people to keep paying attention.
Also note that the spread of the numbers isn't very wide. Most brands fall within a 0.4 problems per car range.
My updated critique of J.D. Power:
http://www.truedelta.com/pieces/jdpower.php
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Michael Karesh 9:24AM (6/08/2006)
Adding design elements into the score makes it unclear exactly what a score means. As others have said, is it something that can be fixed, or not? Will it be a source of inconvenience, or not?
They should have two separate scores. But that wouldn't keep the numbers high enough for people to keep paying attention.
Also note that the spread of the numbers isn't very wide. Most brands fall within a 0.4 problems per car range.
My updated critique of J.D. Power:
http://www.truedelta.com/pieces/jdpower.php
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emor8t 9:30AM (6/08/2006)
Pontiac Grand Prix did well in a Quality Study with JD Powers http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/news/power-to-the-pontiac-grand-prix-tops-quality-survey-179227.php
but you'd never know.
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bernie 9:42AM (6/08/2006)
Now if Hyundai can just get their cars to hold together for more than a year and sort out their suspensions so you don't feel like you're driving a 1967 Ford F-150 I-beam, they'll really get somewhere.
And why is sister company Kia so bad?
Also - given that Porsche only has to improve at one plant vs. may of the other brands' multitude of plants, is it fair to include them?
As proud as For should be of Jaguar and Lincoln, they should be truly ashamed of Land Rover.
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Schira 10:01AM (6/08/2006)
Wonder why there is so much diffence between Consumer Reports' review on Tucson and J.D Powers report on Hyundai Tucson!
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XJ 10:05AM (6/08/2006)
Sorry you think Hyundais cant last more than 1 year. I own a 2003 Elantra and it has had only 1 problem. Took it to the dealer and haven't had anything wrong with it since. 3+ years with only one problem is much better than my other car (mitsubishi), which has had over a dozen problems in its first 3 years.
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icerabbit 11:17AM (6/08/2006)
Who really cares about " initial quality "?! I want quality for years.
To the Volvo owner. In Europe there was a little glass repair kit I purchased or perhaps received when I had my windows engraved by Carglass; to patch a glass problem temporarily. It was a little sheet with a few clear plastic stickers.
I had a smallish rock hit & puncture one of my headlights and leave a little hole. $$$ to replace and the insurance wouldn't cover it. So, to seal it I thought of the little window patch kit. I cut out a little round patch and placed it over the cleaned headlight. To my surprise it lasted for years (without power washing).
Might be worth to check for something similar at a local car supply shop.
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