Lexus Tops List Of Dependable Cars
Luxury automakers Lexus, Cadillac and Audi make the most dependable vehicles, according to J.D. Power and Associates’ latest ranking of how cars and trucks hold up after four to five years of driving.
Other high-ranking makes were Infiniti, Lincoln, Acura, MercedesBenz, Honda, Buick and Toyota, the market-research firm said Tuesday.
The rankings were based on a survey of 21,000 original owners of 1992 model-year cars and trucks who kept their vehicles for four or five years.
This year, J.D. Power combined results for cars and light trucks, which include minivans, sport utility vehicles and pickups. Chance Parker, director of product research, said that reflects shoppers’ new tendency to consider light trucks or minivans along with cars.
Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, had led the car ranking for the previous two years. Cadillac moved up from fourth place in last year’s car ranking to second in this year’s combined car-truck ranking.
Audi moved from below average in the 1996 survey to third place this year, but Parker noted the results only reflect the improvements in the one model line that the automaker sold in 1992: the 100 series.
For the first time in the survey’s five-year history, J.D. Power also did not publicly release rankings for individual models.
xxxx TOP PERFORMERS J.D. Power and Associates’ ranking of the 10 most-dependable car and truck makes after four or five years of ownership, based on a survey of owners of 1992 models: 1. Lexus 2. Cadillac 3. Audi 4. Infiniti 5. Lincoln 6. Acura 7. Mercedes-Benz 8. Honda 9. Buick 10. Toyota