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 38 comments

VoGhost 21 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 13 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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3-On-The-Tree 6 hours ago
My experience with my F-150 forever soured my opinion of Fords in addition to the confirming the need for extended Warranties for American vehicles.

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Recent Comments

TheMrFreeze JD Power's surveys mean nothing to me. We live in an age where we have unprecedented access to actual, relevant data, and by that I mean working mechanics who see all of these cars up close and are willing to share what's good and what's crap. The wife drives a Fiat 500...had I listened to JD Power or Consumer Reports or whatnot we never would have bought one, but more than one mechanic I talked to said they were pretty reliable cars. Bought one, guess what...it's been reliable.
Akear Mary Barra has little or no feel for the market. This is yet another reason why GM will perform better when she retires. Barra's track record at GM is about as good as Biden debate performance last week.
Peter Nissan should hire someone to explain basic economics to their Board of Directors.
Jeff China now has the manufacturing capacity to produce 1/3 of the World's vehicles but under the current geopolitical environment this will not happen. As someone above stated all bets are off if China invades Taiwan. What many don't understand is that China plans for the long term and can wait it out till the geopolitical environment becomes less hostile toward China. I am not endorsing Chinese trade just stating that China is preparing for the future.
3-On-The-Tree Im glad it was fixed in time that would’ve been a huge pain and inconvenience to you if it had broke. My 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 has been great with no recalls. My 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 actually had a recall for the gas tank and seat belt warning stickers about 10 years go and Toyota fixed it, got a new tank, fuel lines and stickers.