Well almost, tied for #1. American car companies have really been trying to step it up in levels of reliability, design, and fit and finish. I am glad the press is finally recognizing we are better or at least equal to Toyota. We (American cars) are so often recognized for only the bad things that come out, or the American gas guzzling trucks. Every auto maker has horrible gas guzzlers and tons of recalls. Some how the media has a tendency to focus only on the home team. Hopefully this is a start to a great turn around. And for Buick….my Grandpa would be proud.

Buick ties Lexus as top brand in dependability study
from industry consultant J.D. Power and Associates

Buick tied with Lexus as the highest-ranking brand in a new study of vehicle dependability, marking the first time in 12 years that Lexus has shared the top award, according to auto industry consultant J.D. Power and Associates.

Cadillac, Mercury and Honda rounded out the top five brands in the annual survey, which measures problems experienced by owners of three-year-old vehicles. Buick and Lexus each had 145 problems per 100 vehicles. The worst-performing brand was Land Rover, with 398 problems. The industry average was 216 problems, down from 227 problems in the 2006 survey.

Neal Oddes, J.D. Power’s director of product research and analysis, says that it means people don’t have to necessarily spend premium money to get equal value.
Bobl Lutz, General Motors’ vice chairman, said the automaker is moving toward its goal of Buick becoming a direct competitor to Lexus, with the same level of quality and elegance, but selling for $10,000 to $15,000 less.

Bob Carter, group vice president for the Toyota division, says the firm is pleased its Toyota, Lexus and Scion divisions took 10 of the 19 vehicle segment awards, and that it does not see a problem when other auto manufacturers improve.

The 2007 survey is based on the responses of 53,000 owners of 2004 model year vehicles. The survey gives all problems equal weight. Oddes said the most frequent problem cited is wind noise, followed by noisy brakes, seat belts that fail to retract, poor ride handling and uneven wear on tires. He says complaints about seats and interiors rose slightly this time around, but in most categories, complaints were down.

Among the segment winners were the Lexus GS 300, LS 430, GX 470, LX 470 and SC430; Toyota RAV4, Sequoia, Tacoma and Tundra; Scion xA; Buick Century; Honda Civic and S2000; Mazda Miata; Infiniti I35; Ford Crown Victoria and Mustang; Chevrolet SSR; and Oldsmobile Bravada and Silhouette. The most-improved brand in the 2007 survey was Hummer, and the most-improved vehicles were the Volvo XC90 and Audi A6. (Associated Press)