http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/dependability-ratings

At least the Passat wasn't the worst in the midsize category. It actually was less bad than the Dodge Intrepid, Dodge Stratus Sedan, Mazda 6, Nissan Altima, and Suzuki Verona

 

A factor in determining dependability is how the vehicle is driven and maintained. There are probably a lot of older people driving Buick, Mercury, Caddy,& Lexus.
They may be a bit easier on the car than the rest of the general population.

I would dare say that the reliablity ratings for VW are almost right on. As I type this there's a thread for a CEL sticker in the classifieds section. I kid you not. The only exception I take to the survey is the body and interior caragory which VW only got 2 stars. When I sold my 2001 Passat recently it pretty much looked new inside and out.

 

FWIW, breakdown the number of issues by the sample size, and there is really very little difference from the top to the mid-point, and from the bottom up to the midpoint. So, the actual number of issues a car a tthe bottom would have compared to a midpoint car, is about 1/2 an issue.

If that REALLY a big enough difference?

 

What suprised me was Buick tied with Lexus for top honors.

I'm not surprised. My experience with a modern day GM has been pretty good.

Over the past year, I've driven my Pontiac 20,000 miles and have not had a single problem.

My Passat, on the other hand, has only been driven about 3000 miles, but has needed a new CV boot and a window regulator. Oh, and the stock woofers on the driver side have stopped working.

 

What suprised me was Buick tied with Lexus for top honors.

Remember, this is based on a survey. All those cars are owned by a bunch of blue hairs that are still comparing reliability to cars of 20+ years ago. To them, these things look bulletproof!

 

Before I bought my Passat, I checked the Consumer Reports ratings, and although the ratings for VW were poor, the Passat itself was rated as having average reliability.
At least VW was better than Volvo at that time, now VW seems to have sunk even lower. I bought a VW for safety, but you sure do give up a lot on reliability for the extra safety.

 

I don't get how Acura can be two notches below Honda.:crazy:

 

My guess, personally, would be more toys to break and more tuned in (read fussier) owners. It's also possible that Honda's a weak 5 and Acura's a strong 3, i.e. the difference may not be as significant as the vague dot system they use indicates.

That said, I was surprised to see BMW beat Acura overall as well. Would be nice to know the distribution, not just average. I'll be thrilled the day I actually own an average-reliability sample of a car. So far mine seem to have problems with all of the common problem areas these types of publications cite, and maybe one or two more just for good measure (and I don't just mean my VW).

JD Power, Consumer Reports, Nielsen Ratings, Gartner Group - just more people making a buck trying to make decisions for people who can't make their own.

You're kidding, right? I have yet to meet or hear about a single person who looks at one of these studies, points to the winner, and says "Let's buy that car because it's the best one." That's not much different than going to a friend that is knowledgeable about cars and saying "What car should I buy?" That doesn't mean you shouldn't get that friend's input just the same, either. I think the people who do take an interest in the results of these studies typically factor them into the big picture and buy the one they feel is best for them.

It's funny. I wonder how many people on the Honda message boards pan these types of results? You don't suppose the outcome actually affects who accepts/rejects their validity, do you? :hmmm:

 

Something must be wrong. I've driven a 1998 Passat and a 2006 GLI (both first model year cars) for a combined 154,000 miles without a single issue. According to JD Power, this is impossible.

These surveys are complete BS. "I don't understand why my VW doesn't work. I have it serviced every 15,000 miles!"

If you take just an hour or two to learn about your car and understand what may need to be replaced earlier than suggested and what is bulletproof, you can save a lot of aggravation later. Almost any modern car that you maintain well and take care of should last 100K miles no problem. But if all you want to do is add gas and oil every 10-15K, expect to have more problems than everyone else.

Plus VW still has the coilpack disaster from 2003 affecting surveys. It will be a few more years before that is cleared up.

 

I don't believe anything that comes from a JD Power survey.

 

The problem with these surverys is they measure "customer perception of dependability" instead of "actual problem tickets."
There is no reason why a luxury brand should score better than their lower-end counterparts when they use the same parts and come from the same assembly line. It's common sense that luxury brands like Lincoln and Buick should score lower than their Ford and Chevy counterparts given their extra complexity.
Also, think about this... If you owned a Lexus and it blew up, but then they sent you a tow truck, dropped you off a rental, fixed your car in a day, did the work right the first time, then followed up, all for no charge, wouldn't you tend to rate Lexus pretty highly concerning dependability?

 

JD Power, Consumer Reports, Nielsen Ratings, Gartner Group - just more people making a buck trying to make decisions for people who can't make their own.

 

You're kidding, right? I have yet to meet or hear about a single person who looks at one of these studies, points to the winner, and says "Let's buy that car because it's the best one." That's not much different than going to a friend that is knowledgeable about cars and saying "What car should I buy?" That doesn't mean you shouldn't get that friend's input just the same, either. I think the people who do take an interest in the results of these studies typically factor them into the big picture and buy the one they feel is best for them.

I don't see what you say has anything to do with my quote. These companies are all in the business of trying to offer advice, as "experts," in purchases. There ARE some people that go with "it got a Best Buy in CR," and there are businesses who take the Gartner Group's IT advice as gospel. I agree that most factor in those opinions, but the point is that their advice typically is flawed or often not applicable. As Jeff said, 'The problem with these surverys is they measure "customer perception of dependability" instead of "actual problem tickets."'

IOW, if you don't read the specifics of the rating review, you are misinformed.

 

How did audi do so poorly, I think they have one of the nicest interiors out on the market.