Toyota Initial Quality

JD Power gets its data from actual vehicle owners like you, me or anyone else on here.

But unlike these forums, where the sample of owners is heavily biased, JD Power, as most reputable research firms do (excl. Consumer Reports), go through great lengths (a) setting specific quotas by demographic group (age, gender, income, etc.) and geography, and (b) weighting the data by actual sales, to ensure that their results are representative of the overall market.

 

Saw that thread and it seems to have been busted. Trailer was likely at least 1200# over the 2100# mark, and the trailer also had a bent axle. Driver error.

That aside, I’m not a GM fan...

But back to the topic.

 

Good to know! In terms of consumer reports, I always ignore those survey requests except when I have a complaint

 

All the car manufacturers use similar processes and parts suppliers. Some OEM’s even use the same suppliers as their competitors. GM and Ford use the same 10 speed automatic, for example.

All the OEM’s are guilty of cheapening paint quality and interior materials to offset the cost of the “tech” people expect in a new vehicle.

Toyotas from the indestructible era of the early 2000’s and older will always be my favorite. But I have no loyalty when it comes to new vehicles. The gap between the best and worst is smaller than its ever been.

 

Quality and reliability are all subjective. What is a perfectly comfortable seat to one person is a torture device to another. What is normal transmission shifting to someone is unrefined to another. And yes, dealers can make an issue appear less or worse than it really is.

And yes, negative experiences get voiced more than positive experiences, but this is true of all owners. There’s no conspiracy against Toyota, or GM, or anyone. That’s just how people are.

It is for this reason that JD Power, as do most reputable research firms (excl. Consumer Reports), set a minimum number of survey returns for each model. If the minimum number of returns is not received, JD Power won’t publish results for that model. Although infallibility can never be guaranteed, meeting a minimum sample size reduces noise in the data and increases accuracy.

 

Consumer Reports is trash. It uses the crummiest sampling methods. They would fail a basic stats class!

 

I love Honda, but the manufacturer has suffered some setbacks as of late. I must admit to experiencing issues within the first 90 days of ownership. I purchased a 2016 Honda Civic that went haywire and failed to start the day after purchase. The Vehicle was towed to the dealer where I purchased it. The dealership service department replaced the battery and starter, but issues remained. After three days at the dealer, Honda deduced the problem to an unbolted ground wire that was not secured during assembly. It was an absolute terrible experience and a direct contradiction to Honda’s beloved reputation I’d heard so much about.

I also experienced glitches with Honda’s infotainment system early on.

The latest generation of Honda Pilots also had reports of a transmission issue. Only higher trim level Pilots feature the nine speed tranny. For 2019, Honda claims the transmission issue has been resolved. I’m skeptical.

Honda’s 1.5L direct injection turbo motor suffers from oil dilution. While I’ve read this is a common occurrence with direct injection engines, the amount of gasoline reported in oil samples taken from these engines is above normal levels based stories shared by some owners. China even forced Honda’s hand to issue a recall of CR-Vs due to the issue. Interestingly, I haven’t heard of the oil dilution issue with Honda’s 2.0 direct injection turbo motor found in the Civic Type R and higher trim level Accords.

All in all, I still love Honda! If I didn’t want a truck so much, I’d have a Honda car in my driveway.

 

Yes, there’s a lot of truth in that. If you look at the JD Power ”rankings,” the differences in the scores across most of the brands are not statistically significant.

But like any other business JD Power makes money by selling. And “rankings” make dramatic headlines.

Having said that, automakers still learn a lot from analyzing JD Power data down to its deeper levels.

 

A person who puts any measure of faith in jd or cr is a simpleton.

 

I think what’s impressive about Toyota and Lexus in this study as well is that it’s measured on time (3 years) as opposed to miles. My gut feeling is that Toyota and Lexus vehicles are used more as commuter/work cars compared to many of the other brands, therefore would rack up many more miles in that time frame. Yet, they’re still at the top of the list.

I’ve owned two Porsches and can tell you they are not without their issues. They just generally get driven a lot less compared to other makes.

 

I agree that the average Toyota gets driven more than the average Porsche. But I wouldn't say more than other brands.

 

You are entitled to your opinion.

Having spent 25 years in market research, I can say that JD Power does decent work; Consumer Reports on the other hand is trash.

 

Many other brands have a likely garage queen or two in their lineup. Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Viper, Nissan GTR, BMW Ms, which would add a positive skew to their numbers (albeit probably very little). Although Toyota has the FT86, I wouldn’t expect it to be much of a garage queen for most. All of Toyota’s models are likely daily drivers.

I could be totally wrong. Just thinking out loud. Haha.

 

I tried to do a quick google search of average annual miles per make, but couldn’t find anything. Perhaps a good market study for JD Power to do...

 

Fiat (Dodge/Chrysler)

 

I turned in a Powers survey....No problems here in the first 90 days or 2 years since purchase.