Ram, Porsche Lead Way in J.D. Power Quality

by Matthew Guy

Published: June 27th, 2024

ram porsche lead way in j d power quality

While one would hope their brand-new vehicle would have a measure of quality right out of the box, analytics company J.D. Power nevertheless continues to issue awards for vehicles which manage to not fall apart in the first three months of ownership.

Specifically, the U.S. Initial Quality (IQS) Study measures initial vehicle quality during the first 90 days of ownership, tracking problems per one hundred vehicles (PP100). It is based on responses from about 99,144 buyers and lessees of new 2024 model-year vehicles and focuses on ten vehicle categories including infotainment, powertrain, driving experience, and other areas of the car.

Alert readers will note some of those categories feature parts of the car which can frustration even if they are working precisely as designed. In fact, the analytics company specifically calls out problems such as issues connecting with smartphone mirroring or confusing touchscreen controls. In other words, the IQS survey will penalize a car if Android Auto doesn’t connect or if its transmission reduces itself to 10,000 oily bottlecaps. We will argue the latter is of greater consequence.

Anyway, this year’s data was taken between July 2023 and May 2024. Ram is the highest-ranking brand overall in initial quality with a score of 149 PP100. Among mass market brands, Chevrolet (160 PP100) ranks second and Hyundai (162 PP100) ranks third. Among premium brands, Porsche gets the highest with a score of 172 PP100. Lexus (174 PP100) is awarded second and Genesis (184 PP100) earns a bronze.

The industry average is 195 PP100 but mass market brands, bought by plebians such as this author, outperformed the mean with a combined average of 181 PP100. Gas- and diesel-powered vehicles average 180 PP100 this year, while BEVs are 86 points higher at 266 PP100. Feel free to use our always-spirited comments section and draw yer own conclusions about these numbers.

[Images: Ram]

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#J.D.Power #Quality #Ram #Porsche

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

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3 of 37 comments

Master Baiter 2 days ago
I just finished a week in a rental Mazda CX5. What a complete POS. Buzzy engine, poor throttle response, cheap interior; no wireless CarPlay. Came back home to my Macan in the airport parking garage—pure driving bliss. Porsche: There is no substitute.

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VoGhost 10 hours ago
IQS has become meaningless, because its essentially a measure of how amenable the buyer is to change. The top problems are customers not understanding infotainment icons; customers frustrated with Android and Apple CarPlay; and customers not understanding in-vehicle controls. So the "winners" are the companies that make the fewest changes to the interior. How is that a measure of quality? It isn't.

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- Bd2 2 hours ago
  It's a measure of usability and hence, satisfaction. Also, if controls are too complicated to access, it can be a safety issue.
  
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Recent Comments

Nrd515 Of course, it was a huge deal if not fixed in time, but it was taken care of in time and if it had blown my engine, it would have been covered, so I don't consider it a huge strike against Dodge. A friend's chain did break and he was reimbursed for the repair cost. The 6.4 has had no issues with timing chains.
Wjtinfwb A modded Audi (or VW) product with 100k and 10 years under its belt? No Thank You. These are time bombs about that time and mileage when left stock. The chip adds some amount of stress to an already boosted engine. Coil packs are particularly problematic but its the cam chain tensioners that can really set you back financially if those need replacement. The lowered suspension won't do anything for the ride and likely little for the handling but it will put expensive underbody components closer to obstructions in the road that can cause damage. I'd walk away at half the price.
FreedMike Customer service surveys are mostly worthless. Years ago, I worked for a company who sent customers surveys about the lending process. Our bonuses were determined by these responses; one negative response out of 10 in a month equaled no bonus. I got dinged for - in no particular order - a) the fact that the Fed didn't lower rates in time for their closing (I guess they thought I had Ben Bernanke on speed dial) b) the font on our website, c) getting declined for their loan and having to use another lender (after they decided to buy a brand new Escalade - with SPINNERS, no less - right before closing, which gave them a sporty 105% debt-to-income ratio), d) "The guy who poured our foundation looked at my daughter weird" (pro tip - I wasn't that guy), and e) my all time favorite, "she did a crappy job." I guess the last one wanted me to get in touch with my feminine side. Lots of folks are gonna hate for no good reason, making the responses about as useful as a monkey trying to program javascript. However, the surveys were a Godsend to the company - they saved a ton of money on bonuses. Good thing, too - they almost went broke in 2008.
Zerofoo JD Power is to automobiles as Gartner is to information technology.
Mebgardner I don't pay attention to it. But, I also don't know if I should, because I'm ignorant about its usefulness.