By Moses Akaigwe
Korean carmakers have dominated the 2022 J.D. Power vehicle dependability study, grabbing three out of the top four spots. Buick scored an impressive second spot, while Toyota placed fifth. J.D. Power changed the evaluation procedure to include additional tech-focused inputs, such as software updates. This led to an increased number of problems, with an industry average of 192 compared to the 121 last year.
Autovolution reports that Kia is for the first time the leading brand in vehicle reliability this year after it finished third in 2021. The Korean carmaker was recorded with 145 problems per 100 vehicles in the study that analyzed vehicle reliability over the first three years of ownership.
GM’s Buick also showed impressive gains, placing second after tying for the fifth spot last year. Hyundai and Genesis placed third and fourth, with the latter also scoring the best among luxury brands.
This year’s study also shows good results for General Motors and Toyota, each winning five segments for the fewest reported problems. The Buick Encore, Buick Envision, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Silverado HD, and Chevrolet Suburban scored the highest in their respective segments for GM.
Toyota replied with the Lexus NX, Lexus RX, Lexus UX, Toyota Corolla, and Toyota Tundra. Hyundai Motor Group also received three segment awards with the Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Sorento.
Among the Detroit 3, Ford and GMC brands delivered big improvements that moved them above the industry average result of 192 reported problems per 100 vehicles. Ram, on the other hand, slid down the chart to place second-to-last.
Missing from this year’s charts is Tesla because the EV manufacturer does not allow J.D. Power to survey owners in key 15 states, including California. According to data gathered from owners in the remaining 35 states, Tesla scored an average of 176 problems per 100 vehicles. This would have placed it in the 12th position, right between MINI and Mazda.
Just like in the previous years, the 2022 J.D. Power dependability study shows that infotainment systems pose the most problems. Seven out of the top 10 problem areas in the study are related to infotainment systems. It also made the more complex luxury vehicles score less because of that.
This and the improved build quality for the mass-market vehicles led to the latter leading in the dependability study. Nevertheless, the Porsche 911 was the highest-ranked model in the study. It’s the second-straight time and third time in the past four years that the Elfer has earned the distinction.