Buick ties Lexus for No. 1 in car reliability
08-09-2007, 03:50 AM
#1
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Buick ties Lexus for No. 1 in car reliability
Originally Posted by cnnmoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For the first time in 12 years, Toyota's Lexus luxury brand has to share its top rank in J.D. Power and Associates' annual Vehicle Dependability Study.
And it has to share it with an American car.
General Motors' Buick brand tied Lexus in the study, which measures the number of problems owners experience with their cars after three years of ownership.
Following Lexus and Buick in the rankings were GM's Cadillac luxury brand, Ford's Mercury brand and Honda's Honda brand.
Toyota's mass-market Toyota brand ranked sixth.
"Consumers don't neccessarily need to pay premium prices to obtain high quality and dependability," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power and Associates.
"With three non-premium nameplates - Buick, Honda and Mercury - ranking within the top five," he said, "and particularly with Buick tying with Lexus for the top rank, consumers seeking a vehicle with strong dependability have good choices at various price levels."
J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from more than 53,000 original owners of 2004 model year vehicles.
Owners of the top-ranked Lexus and Buick vehicles experienced 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Owners of second-ranked Cadillac vehicles experienced 162 problems per 100 vehicles.
The lowest-ranking brand was Land Rover, Ford's European luxury SUV brand. Land Rover owners experienced 398 problems per 100 vehicles, according to the survey.
J.D. Power and Associates also ranked specific vehicles within their respective categories. The top-ranked sub-compact car, for example, was the Scion xA from Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand.
The top-ranked compact car was the Honda Civic and the top-ranked "Sporty car" was the Mazda Miata.
The Chevrolet SSR, a low-slung convertible pickup, and the Ford Mustang tied as the most depenible midsize sporty cars, and the Ford Crown Victoria ranked as the most dependable large car.
Lexus vehicles topped five categories, more than any other brand. Lexus had the top-ranked premium SUV, large premium SUV, premium sporty car, large premium car and midsize premium car. Toyota's Toyota brand topped four categories.
And it has to share it with an American car.
General Motors' Buick brand tied Lexus in the study, which measures the number of problems owners experience with their cars after three years of ownership.
Following Lexus and Buick in the rankings were GM's Cadillac luxury brand, Ford's Mercury brand and Honda's Honda brand.
Toyota's mass-market Toyota brand ranked sixth.
"Consumers don't neccessarily need to pay premium prices to obtain high quality and dependability," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power and Associates.
"With three non-premium nameplates - Buick, Honda and Mercury - ranking within the top five," he said, "and particularly with Buick tying with Lexus for the top rank, consumers seeking a vehicle with strong dependability have good choices at various price levels."
J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from more than 53,000 original owners of 2004 model year vehicles.
Owners of the top-ranked Lexus and Buick vehicles experienced 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Owners of second-ranked Cadillac vehicles experienced 162 problems per 100 vehicles.
The lowest-ranking brand was Land Rover, Ford's European luxury SUV brand. Land Rover owners experienced 398 problems per 100 vehicles, according to the survey.
J.D. Power and Associates also ranked specific vehicles within their respective categories. The top-ranked sub-compact car, for example, was the Scion xA from Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand.
The top-ranked compact car was the Honda Civic and the top-ranked "Sporty car" was the Mazda Miata.
The Chevrolet SSR, a low-slung convertible pickup, and the Ford Mustang tied as the most depenible midsize sporty cars, and the Ford Crown Victoria ranked as the most dependable large car.
Lexus vehicles topped five categories, more than any other brand. Lexus had the top-ranked premium SUV, large premium SUV, premium sporty car, large premium car and midsize premium car. Toyota's Toyota brand topped four categories.
08-09-2007, 03:55 AM
#2
This is soley based on responses from owners. Forgive me, but I have a feeling that many Buick owners don't even know where they are, let alone if there's something wrong with their car. 
08-09-2007, 04:29 AM
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[QUOTE=frank b,Aug 9 2007, 03:55 AM] This is soley based on responses from owners. Forgive me, but I have a feeling that many Buick owners don't even know where they are, let alone if there's something wrong with their car.
08-09-2007, 04:30 AM
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Originally Posted by frank b,Aug 9 2007, 03:55 AM
This is soley based on responses from owners. Forgive me, but I have a feeling that many Buick owners don't even know where they are, let alone if there's something wrong with their car.
08-09-2007, 05:19 AM
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yeah, but come on guys. There is no doubt that being tied for 1st is better than they've done in the past, right?
And they've certainly tried to get away from the dempgraphic they've traditionally targeted, with some of their SUVs and cars as of late, which I imagine are a pretty good chunk of their sales.
So if anything, their demographics have moved towards MORE likely to complain customers and more typical users, and meanwhile their scores have gone up. I think GM deserves some credit for this accomplishment, even if the methodology is somewhat flawed--it shows progress if nothing else.
And they've certainly tried to get away from the dempgraphic they've traditionally targeted, with some of their SUVs and cars as of late, which I imagine are a pretty good chunk of their sales.
So if anything, their demographics have moved towards MORE likely to complain customers and more typical users, and meanwhile their scores have gone up. I think GM deserves some credit for this accomplishment, even if the methodology is somewhat flawed--it shows progress if nothing else.
08-09-2007, 05:27 AM
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It's pretty easy to top a list like this when you only sell 35-36 cars a year and every buyer is over the age of 80 who leaves the car in the garage the entire year.
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08-09-2007, 05:32 AM
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I guess you guys haven't seen the new Buick Enclave. In the metro area here, they're selling like hotcakes. Taking market share from the Rx330. It's a sweet looking car with excellent F&F.
If Buick (GM) continues these kind of efforts in their other lines, it'll be right there with Lexus (Toyota), Lutz's intended goal.
If Buick (GM) continues these kind of efforts in their other lines, it'll be right there with Lexus (Toyota), Lutz's intended goal.
08-09-2007, 05:38 AM
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Are you kidding me? Old people, particularly those in the age of Buick owners, have nothing to do w/ their time than to bitch and whine about everything. 
08-09-2007, 05:45 AM
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Wait a minute, since when are kids buying Lexuses? You guys make it sound like old people don't buy fancy Toyotas, only Buicks. Fact is, Lexus and Buick have pretty much the same demographic, and GM via Bob Lutz are on the upswing with product design and competitiveness in the market. Buick is aggressively targeting the younger (40s) crowd where Lexus is too with its new product, which by the way is pretty good.