Lexus, Porsche, Cadillac Top J.D. Power 2012 Reliability Survey

J.D. Power has released its 2012 reliability survey and the top brands for this year are Lexus, Porsche and Cadillac.  The Toyota group of vehicles, which includes Scion and Lexus, had the most top rated vehicles with eight segment awards.  Ford had three segment wins, while GM and Nissan both had two.

The J.D. Power survey asks original owners of three year old vehicles how many problems they have had since the car was bought, and then reports the findings based on number of problems per 100 vehicles.  So a vehicle with a rating of 100pp100 has an average of one problem per vehicle over three years.

The Lexus LS, pictured here, was the top rated vehicle this year with only 72 problems per 100 vehicles.

Only Lexus and Porsche averaged less than one complaint per vehicle, with 86pp100 and 98pp100 ratings respectively.

Other winners this year were Mini and Scion, which both cut their reported problems substantially.  Mini had 60pp100 fewer complaints than in 2011 and Scion had 55pp100 fewer.

Top Three Models per Segment

Sub-Compact Car
1. Toyota Yaris
2. Scion xD
3. Honda Fit

Compact Car
1. Toyota Prius
2. Toyota Corolla
3. Hyundai Elantra

Compact Sporty Car
1.  Scion tC

No other cars were enough above average to be recognized

Midsize Car
1.  Ford Fusion
2. Mitsubishi Galant
3. Toyota Camry

Large Car

1. Buick Lucerne
2. Toyota Avalon
3. Ford Taurus

Entry Premium Car
1.  Lexus ES 350 (tie), Lincoln MKZ (tie)
3.Acura TL

Midsize Premium Car
1.  Hyundai Genesis
2. Mercedes-Benz E-Class
3. Volvo S80

Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle
1.  Scion xB

Compact Crossover/SUV
1. Chevrolet Equinox
2. Honda CR-V
3. Toyota RAV4

Midsize Crossover/SUV
1. Ford Explorer (tie) , Nissan Murano (tie)
3. Toyota Highlander

Midsize Premium Crossover/SUV
1. Lexus RX 350
2. Lincoln MKX

Midsize Pickup
1. Nissan Frontier
2. Ford Ranger
3. Honda Ridgeline

Minivan
1. Toyota Sienna
2. Honda Odyssey

Large Pickup
1. Toyota Tundra  
2. GMC Sierra HD
3. Chevrolet Silverado LD