LEXUS | MyCarlady.com

March 25, 2010 by mycarlady

JD POWERS 2010 TOP 10 Quality list is out! JD Powers recently released poll of car owners with three year old rides found that 7 out of 10 models in the TOP 10 Quality were Ford or General Motors name plates. Domestic Cars making the top of JD Powers list? Many peoplewould be shocked with disbelief. However, the truth is not shocking to the manufacturers, it’s more of a quandary as to WHY people not want to believe it. Porsche was the top car brand overall with the least amount of problems out of every 10 cars, and that is after three years of driving. Problems or annoyances, either way the car got dinged a demerit in the eyes of the owner and JD POWERS. We call it Quality but the offical term in the report is VEHICLE DEPENDABILITY STUDY, which follows-up on cars 3 ys. old.

Porsche leads the overall nameplate rankings in 2010, which is consistent with its performance in the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Initial Quality Study,^SM which measures new-vehicle quality at 90 days of ownership. Lincoln improves by six rank positions from 2009 to follow Porsche in the nameplate rankings. Rounding out the top five nameplates are Buick, Lexus and Mercury. In addition, seven of the 10 models with the lowest incidence of problems in the industry are from Ford and General Motors, including the 2007 model-year Buick Lacrosse, Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, Ford Five Hundred, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan, and Mercury Montego. The Cadillac DTS has the fewest problems in the industry, with just 76 problems per 100 vehicles. This marks the first time in more than a decade that a model from a domestic automaker has achieved the lowest PP100 score in the Vehicle Dependability Study.” JD. Powers announced.

Haven’t years of technology and employee empowerment meant anything? YES, it has. Car companies are global behemoths anxious to integrate, unify and homogenize the process into a streamlined state of consistency; hence, quality control success from drawings to driving. SO now the fear of buying a potential bucket of squeaking bolts should be all but gone. Equal in the eyes of the buyer shopping a Ford and a TOyoat, price will prevail as this survey persuades some to go with the pocketbook. Lexus and Toyota still had more cars total in all the TOP 10 categories by nameplate, but imagine Ford ahead of LEXUS? Check out the rest of the JD POWERS list in each category. Domestic cars and Top 10 has a new ring to it!

Top Three Models per Segment

Car Segments

Sub-Compact Car *

Highest Ranked: Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris,

Compact Car

Highest Ranked: Toyota Prius,

Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe

Compact Sporty Car

Highest Ranked: Mazda MX-5 Miata,

Saturn SKY, Pontiac Solstice Convertible

Midsize Sporty Car

Highest Ranked: Chevrolet Monte Carlo,

Toyota Solara,,Ford Mustang

Midsize Car

Highest Ranked: Buick LaCrosse,

Mercury Milan,,Honda Accord

Large Car

Highest Ranked: Mercury Montego,

Buick Lucerne (tie),,Ford Five Hundred (tie)

Compact Premium Sporty Car*

Highest Ranked: BMW Z4,

Entry Premium Vehicle

Highest Ranked: Lincoln MKZ,

Acura TSX,Cadillac CTS

Midsize Premium Car

Highest Ranked: Audi A6,

Lexus ES 350, Cadillac STS (tie), Infiniti M-Series (tie)

Large Premium Car*

Highest Ranked: Cadillac DTS,

Lexus LS 460

Premium Sporty Car*

Highest Ranked: Mercedes-Benz SL-Class,

Porsche 911

For more detailed findings on vehicle quality and dependability performance, visit www.jdpower.com

Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as the publisher and the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Vehicle Dependability Study SM as the source. Rankings are based on numerical scores, and not necessarily on statistical significance. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates study results

without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates.

TOYOTA RECALL NO NEED FOR PANIC

January 26, 2010 by mycarlady

Today’s announcement by Toyota corporate affects these models: 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia. Owners of these Toyota models purchased new or used can contact Toyota’s customer care hot-line: (800) 331-4331 to find out if their vehicle is involved in the recall. The vehicles involved in the recall involve approx. one third of all the models Toyota produces and the number of incidents is few and far between. However, kudos to Toyota for taking the high road in addressing the accelerator problem head on rather than hiding from it. Given the need to consider parts modifications, software changes and the distribution of service repair training information to the field, halting production while sales are traditionally slow this time of year, is a smart move. If for no other reason than the halting of production gives the company time to review the entire electrical system while dealer stock remains low, the dealers will suffer the least by having this disruption come now vs. later in the selling season. While some will use this situation to discredit Toyota’s premium for quality, the action taken with one death and less than 100 reported accidents makes the brand out to be the ultimate consumer safety conscious company. Not since the mid-80’s when Audi fell victim to the sticking gas pedal, has another product been scathed by this malady, however, you can bet NTSHA is reviewing the issue for all auto production post 2005.

The sales suspension DOES NOT AFFECT Lexus or Scion vehicles. Toyota said the Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and select Camry models, including all Camry hybrids. These models are still available for sale.

Scion Xd not affected by the production halt.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com

Top learn more about getting your best car deal click here: CAR DEALS