Quality counted

It's that time of the year again where automakers hold their collective breath as the JD Powers that be drop the gavel on new car quality.

OK, they ain't the Oscars. But JD Power's U.S. Initial Quality Study has become THE gold standard for measuring new-vehicle quality at 90 days of ownership. (BTW: at day 91, you're on your own.)

For 2008, the Big JD saw "substantial" improvements by nearly 3/4 of the 36 ranked nameplates, with overall quality at 118 screw-ups/100 vehicles, down from 125 last year.

Although Porsche as a brand led the pack with only 87 problems (the industry average is 118; Jeep brought up the rear with 167), Hondas nailed more segment winners than any other maker with its Civic, CR-V and Fit.

Second to Porsche overall, Infiniti jumped up from 9th in 2007, and Audi scored the largest improvement, moving from 26th place to 10th.

You can click on the reports, left, to get all the nitty-gritty on segment winners and runner ups. But according to JDP's vice president of automotive research, David Sargent, most of the reported initial problems are related to some of the new-fangled, in-car entertainment.

“As consumer demand for new and more advanced wireless communication, navigation and audio technology continues to grow, manufacturers face challenges related to how well these systems are integrated into their vehicles,” said Sargent.

“In particular, issues with difficult-to-use audio and entertainment controls and voice command recognition failure are among the top ten problems most frequently reported by customers. Since hands-free communication for drivers will become a mandate in more and more areas throughout the United States, this will need to be an area of continued focus for automakers.”

Just another reason to shut-up and drive, eh?

[Source: JD Power]