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Car Quality Drops as Buyers Demand Increases
Filed under: Opinion, Volkswagen
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Quality—we all think we know what it stands for, although that can mean different things to different people. For some, it’s all about knowing that the bumper won’t fall off as you drive it home from the dealership, or at least that the plastic trim in the passenger compartment stays where it’s supposed to, and doesn’t look like it was manufactured at the People’s Glorious Plastic Materials Plant #5 in Bratislava during a raw-materials shortage in the 1950s.
For others, quality means excellence in fit, finish, and raw materials (Berlin-Wall-era Eastern European cars need not apply, although modern cars made in Bratislava by the likes of VW are apparently quite good). For others, being free of major mechanical defects over a car’s lifetime is how they rate the Q word (we think many Toyota and Honda owners fall under that category).
The rankings in a new quality survey centered mainly around initial quality, since owners need to have owned the vehicles for at least three months before taking the survey. Other factors weighed included reliability, vehicle characteristics, dealership experience, styling, and interior and exterior design. BMW came out on top, followed by Hummer, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Infiniti, Lexus, Land Rover, Cadillac, Lincoln, and Volkswagen. In terms of corporations that own these brands, VW (which includes Audi) led the pack with 892 points out of a possible total of 1000. GM took second place, with 867, while Ford and Honda tied for third place at 862 points. Toyota took the next rung down, with 860 points.
However, the industry’s overall quality dipped, from an average of 864 points across all manufacturers in 2007 to just 860 points this year. It may be only a four-point drop, but it was the first drop in this survey since the 2004 model year.
In part this may be due to owners’ expectation of their new vehicles. Some owners may have thought that their vehicles should have come with a particular feature, such as a keyless entry system, or perhaps a navigation unit. Some manufacturers have been reluctant to add such features across their lineup, in an effort to keep the sticker price from ballooning.
The Mercury Sable, a Ford product, won the “large car” category; Ford also garnered praise for the Mustang convertible, the Volvo C30, the new Edge crossover, and the Ford F-250 and F-350 large pickups. The Toyota Yaris subcompact, 4Runner small SUV, Sequoia large SUV, and Scion xB were wins for Toyota, along with its Lexus RX 350, which tied with Ford’s Land Rover LR2 in the near-luxury SUV rankings.
In terms of fewest defects, Honda and Acura vehicles reported the fewest number of customers with complaints, with only 19% of respondents indicating that they had a problem with their vehicle. Ford’s problem score was 20%, Toyota’s was 21%, and Nissan and BMW tied at 24%.
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