WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA-The gap in long-term quality between luxury and nonluxury brands has been cut in half during the past four years, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS).
The study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of 3-year-old vehicles-2003 model-year-finds that there is an ever-smaller gap in reported problems between luxury and higher-volume brands-averaging 15 PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles), down from 31 PP100 in 2003. Quality improvements with nonluxury brands are seen primarily in two categories-ride, handling, braking, and engine and transmission-which both have a strong impact on customer satisfaction.