For the 14th year in a row, Lexus was ranked by JD Powers as the most dependable moniker. The JD Powers Quality survey is a highly researched and utilized report that guages history of vehicle issues after 3yrs of ownership. Lexus improved their score from 145 to 120 problems per 100 vehicles. Mercury (a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co) and Cadillac (a subsidiary of GM) ranked #2 and #3 respectively. Buick, which last year tied with Lexus for the #1 spot, slid back to 6th. Ironically, the best vehicle on the survey from Buick is the now defunct Century.
On average, 206 problems per 100 vehicles were reported, down 10 problems from last year. Over 60% of monikers showed improvement. Overall, the problems have leaned more towards soft problems (ergonomics, wind noise, etc.) than hard problems (engine failure, computer defects) in the past few years. Other quick notes:
Land Rover, which recently switched hands from Ford to Tata Motors India, ranked worst on the list with 344 problems. Also, Chrysler continues to have woes as not one of their vehicles fared better than average in complaints.
Read more about the survey here