JD Power IQS 2010 USA, and controversy on JD Power methodology

JD Power IQS is the most influential survey data used by the auto industry and consumers alike to measure vehicle quality. The JD Power brand name became synonymous with vehicle quality when Lexus started boasting its JD Power scores in the early 90s. However this year's JD Power IQS scores showed a very different result. 

Lexus, the brand which have many years top the JD Power IQS score charts have been bumped down to 4th. Topping the list is Porsche, followed by Honda's luxury sub-brand Acura, followed behind by third placed Mercedes-Benz. Toyota, also another JD Power IQS favourite have been knocked down to a lowly 21st place, overtaken by just about anyone including Honda (6th place), Nissan (15th), almost every GM brand including Chevrolet (14th), Cadillac (13th) as well as Ford (5th).

In short, Porsche is the new king of quality. Honda and Acura are the new Toyota and Lexus. At least according to JD Power. Why do I say that? Personally I am not convinced that JD Power is a final authority in independent vehicle quality assessment. One needs to understand that JD Power derived its income by selling the results of their survey to car manufacturers. And car manufacturers are more interested in how their new cars fare. They are really not quite interested in how well their cars do after the factory warranty period expires (i.e. more than 3 years). Hence the JD Power IQS survey is tailored to meet the needs of car manufacturers more than that of consumers. Thus, the survey only interviews owners of new cars, within a 90-day ownership period. Yes one may argue that if there is anything wrong with the car, it should appear within 90-days of use. But what about premature failures of major electronics / mechanical components within just 5-years of use, a question which consumers are actually more interested to know. JD Power IQS methodology is structured to meet the interest of their customers - and JD Power's customers are the car manufacturers, not consumers.

Another problem with JD Power IQS is that subjective design related issues (things that cannot be solved, i.e. iDrive user interface, climate control button positions etc etc) are lumped together with actual quality isses (things that can be solved, i.e. rattling, squeaks, component failures). In other words, how can one consider an ill fitting cup holder to be as serious as a transmission failure? But this is essentially how JD Power IQS survey is done. It only shows the problems per 100 vehicles. The problem could be as simple as an owner who dislikes the signal stalk position (which is a subjective and a design issue, not a quality issue) to something as serious as an engine component failure (a real quality issue).

In the United States, the alternative is Consumer Reports, but even they have recently shown a tendency to blow things out of proportion, case in point was the Lexus GX's slow responding electronic stability control issue.

The fact that JD Power ranks the Lexus GX 460 as the highest quality midsize premium crossover SUV when Lexus issued a worldwide recall to correct its ESC software is itself proving that there is a very strong contradiction between what JD Power calls a "high quality" car and a truly high quality car. Of course an owner is unlikely to notice a serious safety related flaw within 90 days of the car ownership.

Plus, how likely is an owner to criticize his newly purchased car? That would only make him / her look like an idiot for buying the car in the first place. People generally don't talk too bad about their new cars within the first 90 days. It is only after a longer ownership period, after thousands of kilometres of abuse do many more serious problems surface, and if the owner is unlucky, it could happen right after the factory warranty expires.

In other parts of the world, there is little other reliable sources to refer to. It all goes back to the very pragmatic question of will consumers pay for it? Hence nobody is really tracking long term reliability of cars. Consumers still don't have much choice, but where possible, speak to the actual owners of the vehicle who have had the cars for a much longer period. Just because JD Power says a Honda is better than a Hyundai does not necessarily mean that will be the case for you. It could also be a combination that Honda owners are more pleased with purchasing a Honda brand and is more easily pleased with his car's design than a Hyundai owner is with his / her purchased brand.

Consider the differences between the top ranking brand Porsche, with a score of 83, against the worst ranked brand Land Rover with a score of 170. The numbers seem very big, but remember these are in units of problems per 100 vehicle. So a Porsche is likely to have 0.83 problems per vehicle, while a Land Rover is likely to have 1.7 problems per vehicle. So the difference between the top brand and the lowest ranking brand is 0.87 problems per vehicle. Big eff-ing deal! Generally, car makers have greatly improved their overall quality to the point that there is very little measurable difference between them today.

Oh yea and remember, the scores here for in American context. It may not be representative of your local market.