Lexus and Toyota Score High in 2023 Vehicle Dependability Study
Lexus ranked first in the J.D. Power 2023 Vehicle Dependability Study, beating all automakers with fewer problems per 100 vehicles. Toyota was ranked eighth overall and fifth among mainstream marques with 168 PP100 — 18 less than the industry average. Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand, was firmly in the lead with just 133 PP100.
Top Performer: Toyota Sienna ranked as the most dependable minivan
The annual J.D. Power survey was based on responses from 30,062 original owners of 2020 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. It evaluates problems across various vehicle categories such as the exterior, climate system, seats, infotainment, and powertrain.
For 2023, the publication awarded Lexus and Toyota six awards for having the most dependable models in the following vehicle segments:
- Compact premium SUV (Lexus NX)
- Midsize premium SUV (Lexus RX)
- Small SUV (Toyota C-HR)
- Upper midsize SUV (Toyota Highlander)
- Minivan (Toyota Sienna)
- Midsize pickup (Toyota Tacoma)
The RX and C-HR were also tied for the highest-ranked models in the study with 111 PP100 each.
On the Toyota Motor Corporation’s heels was the Hyundai Motor Group, whose brands include Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis — all of which were also ranked highly. Asian brands performed well overall, followed by brands from General Motors, such as Buick and Chevrolet. Meanwhile, almost all German and non-GM American brands ranked below average. Ford, Audi, and Tesla performed particularly poorly, with at least 242 problems per 100 vehicles.
For all automakers, though, the long-running headache is infotainment systems. On average, owners report 50 PP100 related to these systems, often due to issues with voice recognition, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration, and hard-to-use touch screens.
On the upside, J.D. Power found year-over-year improvements in dependability. Mass-market brands had eight fewer PP100 than a year ago and increased the gap to premium brands. “Premium brands usually have more technology, which increases complexity and the inherent likelihood of additional problems,” J.D. Power explains.
Results of dependability studies change every year, and not every study comes to the same conclusions. Nonetheless, Lexus and Toyota are consistently high achievers across most studies pertaining to reliability and quality — and their reputation on the used car market reflects it.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.