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DEALER STATS

Vehicle Dependability "at its Best Level

Ever"

By Auto Remarketing Staff

In what certainly comes as good news given are a contributor to higher residual values,” dependability rankings — Lexus at No. 1
how many of these vehicles are resurfacing said Jonathan Banks, J.D. Power’s vice for seventh straight year with score of 99
in the used-car market — particularly as president of vehicle analysis and analytics. PP100; Porsche in second (100 PP100) —
off-lease units — J.D. Power reported that J.D. Power notes that mass-market brands
overall dependability of 3-year-old vehicles “Improving dependability ultimately have played some catch-up.
is up 9 percent year-over-year. supports new-vehicle sales and provides a
better perception of the brand,” he said. Led by Buick’s score of 116, mainstream
And the dependability of vehicles is brands’ average of 143 PP100 compared
“without question, at its best level ever,” a There was one trouble spot of note. The nicely to luxury counterparts (136 PP100).
company executive said. most frequent complaints came in what’s Fiat, for instance, trimmed its problems
called ACEN — audio/communications/ per 100 vehicles by 136 — the greatest
Releasing the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Vehicle entertainment/navigation. Within that improvement of any brand. Likewise,
Dependability Study on Wednesday, the group of in-vehicle technologies, built-in Nissan reduced PP100 by 37 and fellow
company said this gain marks the first voice recognition (9.3 PP100) and built- mass-market brand Ford (down 31) had big
annual improvement in five years. in Bluetooth (7.7) were at the top of the dependability improvements.
problem list.
For this study, J.D. Power measured Kia (in fifth), Dodge (in 23rd) and Nissan
dependability based on number of While two luxury brands topped the (11th) had their best-ever rankings. n
problems experienced per 100 vehicles
among owners of 2015 model-year vehicles
over the past 12 months.

Last year, there were 156 problems per
100 vehicles. That has been sliced to 142
problems per 100 vehicles.

“For the most part, automotive
manufacturers continue to meet consumers’
vehicle dependability expectations,” said
Dave Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president,
global automotive, in a news release.

“A 9-percent improvement is extremely
impressive, and vehicle dependability is,
without question, at its best level ever,”
he said. “For people looking for a new or
used model, now is a good time to find that
special vehicle.”

And greater dependability doesn’t just help
the owners of the cars.

It can drive new- and used-car sales as well
as a stronger brand perception, according
to J.D. Power.

“Strong dependability scores not only
improve demand for used vehicles, but also

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