According to J.D. Power & Associates annual Initial Quality Survey of new-vehicle owners, problems with 2011 models after three months on the road fell 5 percent from the previous year. But complaints about in-car electronics systems, especially voice controls, surged -- knocking Ford, which has pushed its MyFord Touch screen and Sync into about 4 million vehicles, to 27th out of 34 brands rated, down from fifth two years ago and 23rd last year.
For the second year in a row, Lexus owners reported fewer problems than any other brand, with 73 per 100 vehicles. The surprise winner in this year's results is Jaguar, which jumped from 20th to second, tying Porsche with 75 problems per 100. Honda and Cadillac rounded the top five.
The worst performers: Fiat and Smart, each of which sell just one model of minicar, and whose owners reported 151 problems per 100. The industry as a whole averaged 107 problems; Toyota, Honda and Nissan all rated above average, while GMC, Ram and Chevrolet were the only Detroit brands to do so.
Ford's woes didn't keep the Ford Mustang and the Ford Taurus from winning top quality honors in their classes. Toyota and Lexus each had two class victors as well -- the Yaris and Corolla for Toyota, and the ES 350 and LS sedans for Lexus. Other class winners included the Mazda MX-5, the Volvo C70, the Infiniti M-Series and the Chevrolet Malibu.
As mechanical defects have become rarer in new vehicles, the J.D. Power survey of 74,000 buyers has become more focused on subjective complaints; for more than a decade, the number one gripe from owners was wind noise. That approach does capture what makes people unhappy with their purchase, but can stumble because every buyer has their own definition of a problem.
Source Yahoo Autos
