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Transportation Technology

Quality of New Vehicles In US Declining On More Tech Use, Study Shows (reuters.com) 247

Quality of new vehicles sold in the United States is declining as factors such as growing use of technology and lower build quality of certain parts are making the models more "problematic", according to automotive consultant J.D. Power. Reuters reports: Build quality of certain parts such as audio systems and cup-holders have resulted in quality issues, the report said, which collected data from 93,380 purchasers and lessees of 2023 model-year vehicles. Automakers have been leaning on software and technology as they rush to roll out innovative models amid easing supply constraints and labor shortages. Problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) rose 30 PP100 during the past two years, the report said. A lower score reflects higher vehicle quality.

Quality ratings of Tesla, which is not officially ranked among other brands in the study as it did not meet ranking criteria, increased by 31 PP100 year-over-year to 257 PP100 in 2023. Electronic touch-point designed door handles offered on new vehicles have also become an issue, with seven of the 10 most problematic models seen in battery electric vehicles, the report said. Dodge ranked the highest overall in terms of initial quality, while Chrysler and Volvo were jointly ranked lowest, according to J.D. Power.
The wide range of quality problems in the automotive industry is "a phenomenon not seen in the 37-year history of the Initial Quality Study," said J.D Power's senior director of auto benchmarking Frank Hanley. "Today's new vehicles are more complex -- offering new and exciting technology -- but not always satisfying owners," Hanley added.
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Quality of New Vehicles In US Declining On More Tech Use, Study Shows

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  • by Alain Williams ( 2972 ) <addw@phcomp.co.uk> on Friday June 23, 2023 @06:16AM (#63625756) Homepage

    Many manufacturers have replaced knobs and buttons with a flat screen control. So: want to change radio station ? You need to take your eyes off the road to navigate a menu system. You might say "it only takes a few seconds" - but 30 at miles per hour you travel 13.4 meters (44 feet) per second - enough to wipe out a pedestrian. Put me into a new or rental car and it will take me longer to work out how to do something.

    They might save a few pounds when building the car but are less likely to sell such death traps to me. I should be able to execute common functions by touch - which means buttons that I can feel.

    • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @07:04AM (#63625832)

      30 at miles per hour you travel 13.4 meters (44 feet) per second - enough to wipe out a pedestrian

      Why do you think cars are equipped with automatic braking now silly?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      The only people I know who had a Tesla S experienced $35K warranty work in the first couple years. They got rid of it before the warranty was up and bought an ICE.
      • by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        The only people I know who had a Tesla S experienced $35K warranty work in the first couple years. They got rid of it before the warranty was up and bought an ICE.

        That's the thing, Tesla has (or at least had) pretty serious build quality issues, where they would screw up and not assemble things correctly, but for the most part, once you fix all of those problems, you're done. Things don't break in a Tesla nearly as often after the initial break-in period.

        As always, YMMV.

        But are there software bugs? Oh, yeah. And that's from a company that does tech relatively well. The legacy automakers are even worse at it.

        • Uh, yeah... No way after spending $35K on the car on warranty am I going to believe or have faith in, "for the most part once you fix all those problems you're done". There may be a 1-5 year break but I don't hold high hopes on the durability of the car over a long period of time.
        • What are the odds it will still be running in year 20? Or year 40? Yes, I have cars that old. They still run fine and parts are available for reasonable prices. "More tech" just means manufacturers will be able to orphan older vehicles more rapidly. And no right to repair means no third party support.

          Think about an Apple wrecking yard. With thousands of cars that can't be refurbished or even sold for parts. What do you suppose the carbon footprint of such an operation would be?

    • by ColdBoot ( 89397 )

      Many manufacturers have replaced knobs and buttons with a flat screen control. So: want to change radio station ? You need to take your eyes off the road to navigate a menu system. You might say "it only takes a few seconds" - but 30 at miles per hour you travel 13.4 meters (44 feet) per second - enough to wipe out a pedestrian. Put me into a new or rental car and it will take me longer to work out how to do something.

      They might save a few pounds when building the car but are less likely to sell such death traps to me. I should be able to execute common functions by touch - which means buttons that I can feel.

      You are spot on. I used to be able to change the temperature, radio station, etc by feel alone and never take my eyes off the road.

      • I'm just glad my car has automatic climate controls and spotify so I don't have to do either of those things.

        • by Malc ( 1751 )

          Spotify always plays what you want, even if your mood changes?

          • by Targon ( 17348 )
            Apple Auto or Android Car Play support voice commands to play what you want on Spotify. When my mood changes, I just say, "Play XXXXXXXX" and the Android Car Play system responds, "asking Spotify to play XXXXXXX".
        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          The car and Spotify are glad it has you to dictate their preferences to.

          For those of us that can feel, we generally have times where we do not agree with the car or Spotify's opinions, making adjustments not only desired but necessary.

    • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      This is likely less about that and more about having to reset supply chains, with a lot more shoddy quality components entering supply chains due to having to get new, untested suppliers for small things because old ones have fallen off.

      Once the reset is complete, quality will likely come back.

      • complete

        likely

        Those two words doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

    • 30 at miles per hour you travel 13.4 meters

      Also, at first, I thought what is this ungodly blend of imperial and metric, then I saw you are from the UK.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Not all manufacturers are that dumb. Honda have big screens now, but also physical controls for important stuff like audio, cruise control, climate etc.

      • That's why I love how people complain all the time about Tesla's in particular. Because they have clearly never driven one. All of those things can be done from the steering wheel controls.

      • I feel the removal of physical buttons has been a priority of some car companies looking to save cost while ignoring other factors.
    • by Jaime2 ( 824950 )

      My Chevrolet has a touch screen with all the controls, but I can change the radio station and volume with steering wheel controls and all the climate controls and defrosters have physical buttons very similar to what cars have had for the past thirty years. All the buttons cooperate with the touch-screen system, you can use either without disadvantage.

      However, this is beside the point. This vehicle is much more likely to break than cars used to be and likely to be more expensive to fix. I actually had a Maz

    • by endus ( 698588 )

      Yup.

      Everyone hates it, its an objectively bad design choice, but they just keep doing it.

    • > So: want to change radio station ? You need to take your eyes off the road to navigate a menu system

      Audio system controls are often integrated into the steering wheel. This has been a standard thing for like a decade now at least...

      HVAC controls, however...
      =Smidge=

    • by Teun ( 17872 )
      Indeed.
      Since last November I drive a Nissan Ariya that after a first software update in April behaves nicely, before it had various annoying problems.
      It is a great ride and several of the most used buttons have been retained but...
      Now there is a guy on a UK Nissan forum that sells 3-D printed shims to stick on the otherwise flat centre console where some of the buttons are so you can actually feel which one to press instead of having to look down to find it.
      This should have been enforced by the agencies
    • by dbialac ( 320955 )
      Yep. There's a reason using your cell phone while driving is illegal in many states, and putting a touch screen on the center dash has exactly the same hazards.
      • Not exactly the same. Most of those don't allow you to type a text, or use an on-screen keyboard at all when not in park.

    • by Targon ( 17348 )
      Or, you use the controls on the steering wheel to change the station, or use voice controls. Now, there is a huge difference between products that say they offer a feature, and those who have a good implementation of a feature, so it may be that I just don't buy cars that suck.
    • They can have my dedicated choke knob when they pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @06:30AM (#63625774)

    Overengineered solutions built with the cheapest parts you could get is a bad, bad combo.

  • Exciting for whom? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @06:56AM (#63625814)

    Today's new vehicles are more complex -- offering new and exciting technology

    New opportunities for driver tracking and surveillance, subscription options to unlock what the owner has already paid for and anti right-to-repair parts and scheme no doubt get the manufacturers excited. For the customers, not so much.

    My car is nearing 20 years old. It's simple, has minimal electronics, but it's a diesel. I'd love to buy an electric car, but I can't find one that won't treat me like a cash cow, ravage my privacy and take away my non-negotiable sovereignty over what I own.

    So I keep my old diesel. But when it dies, I kind of expect to stop driving altogether and ride the bus, because owning a car today isn't an option I'm willing to make the compromises the manufacturers demand of me now.

    Fortunately, I live in a place where public transport is a real, useful and nice-to-use service.

    • Today's new vehicles are more complex -- offering new and exciting technology

      New opportunities for driver tracking and surveillance, subscription options to unlock what the owner has already paid for and anti right-to-repair parts and scheme no doubt get the manufacturers excited. For the customers, not so much.

      My car is nearing 20 years old. It's simple, has minimal electronics, but it's a diesel. I'd love to buy an electric car, but I can't find one that won't treat me like a cash cow, ravage my privacy and take away my non-negotiable sovereignty over what I own.

      So I keep my old diesel. But when it dies, I kind of expect to stop driving altogether and ride the bus, because owning a car today isn't an option I'm willing to make the compromises the manufacturers demand of me now.

      Fortunately, I live in a place where public transport is a real, useful and nice-to-use service.

      Just buy a good used car

      • by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @07:25AM (#63625876)

        Today's new vehicles are more complex -- offering new and exciting technology

        New opportunities for driver tracking and surveillance, subscription options to unlock what the owner has already paid for and anti right-to-repair parts and scheme no doubt get the manufacturers excited. For the customers, not so much.

        My car is nearing 20 years old. It's simple, has minimal electronics, but it's a diesel. I'd love to buy an electric car, but I can't find one that won't treat me like a cash cow, ravage my privacy and take away my non-negotiable sovereignty over what I own.

        So I keep my old diesel. But when it dies, I kind of expect to stop driving altogether and ride the bus, because owning a car today isn't an option I'm willing to make the compromises the manufacturers demand of me now.

        Fortunately, I live in a place where public transport is a real, useful and nice-to-use service.

        Just buy a good used car

        This, exactly. If he has the money to buy a new mid-range car, then he can afford to buy a 15-year-old car and have it fixed up, including brakes, full suspension, and a nice paint job. And with his willingness to ride the bus, he can save wear and tear on the car, yet have it for longer trips, for transporting stuff that is inconvenient or impossible to move on public transit, and for those days when getting your ass on a bus is just a sucky proposition.

        • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @10:22AM (#63626280)

          This, exactly. If he has the money to buy a new mid-range car, then he can afford to buy a 15-year-old car and have it fixed up, including brakes, full suspension, and a nice paint job.

          This is not that simple. I own multiple classic cars and have done full and partial rebuilds multiple times. Getting an old car to as-new state is $100K+, it is by far more expensive to restore than buy a comparable new car. That is why rich guys drive new Huracans but really rich guys drive old Miuras or Countaches. However, the bulk of costs are esthetics, so "a nice paint job" is a Very Expensive proposition. This is because it requires removal of trim parts, panel disassembly, removal of windshields, sandblasting, multi-step painting process ... If you think Maaco paint job will get your car looking as-new or would last as long as factory paint job, you are sadly mistaken. I think full wrap is a more economical way to go.

          Say you are willing to live with patina or cheap paint job or wrap and focus on mechanical rebuild on a car from a dry climate (i.e., no rust). Then you can drastically reduce your restoration costs and likely get a reasonable job at around a new car cost. This still leaves a number of questions and pitfalls. First, and most important, what car make and model are you going to pick? Unless you are a car guy, or has inordinate time to research your choices, you can end up with something like old Range Rover or Nissan Pathfinder that are essentially unfixable. Second, who is going to do restoration? Mechanics in 2023 are crazy busy (people are not buying new cars due to dealer markups) and not going to take on such big job. Shops that focus on classic cars would not be interested in taking on low-key restoration; simply having your beater seen in the shop would likely cost them prospective clients.

          Last but not least, repairs and full rebuild are different things. Restoring to as-new condition requires replacing parts that are not yet broken (e.g., old strut that is not yet leaking but is past MTTF). This could be massively expensive, as you would be buying OEM parts at markup compared to what it cost factory or rolling a dice on aftermarket parts. For example, you mention "full suspension", however it is almost never done completely due to costs - typically it is just new bushings, boots, links. This still leaves you with a possibility of CV joint failure, wheel bearing failure, steering box/rack issues, strut leaks, strut caps cracking, sub frame bushing failing, etc. To give you an idea - when I put complete suspension on my track car, it was more than $25K in parts.

          Unless you are a capable DIY mechanic, driving an old or classic car is an expensive fashion statement. Don’t get into this unless regularly dropping $2-3K on the car is not a big deal (and you have something else to drive while the car is in the shop) or you are at least comfortable with DIY where replacing a wheel bearing yourself is not a big deal, you have space to work on the car, and already have all the tools to take on most jobs. Don't forget how much tools costs - over years I easily put $5K into 'modest' set that allows me to do some work myself.

          • This, exactly. If he has the money to buy a new mid-range car, then he can afford to buy a 15-year-old car and have it fixed up, including brakes, full suspension, and a nice paint job.

            This is not that simple. I own multiple classic cars and have done full and partial rebuilds multiple times.

            I'm not talking "classic", just "used", maybe no older than 2012 or 2013. Agree it makes a big difference if you can fix yourself. Just checking my local craigslist I see plenty of nice vehicles newer than 2012 for $7k-$8k with ~120k miles. I can easily drive one of those for 10 years and another 100k. My oldest car now is a 1999 RX300 with 349k miles. Lexus made them really well. I can easily get another one with half that mileage for ~$3k

      • by sinij ( 911942 )

        Just buy a good used car

        While this is exactly what I do, what about in 10 or 15 years? There is HUGE difference in reliability between 2-8 year old car and 10-16 year old car. What are you going to replace your current used car when it is too old?

        Unless you do your own work, costs of maintaining a very old car in fully working condition approaches lease payments on a comparable car. That is, if you can find a mechanic you can trust. So you start making compromises - is fixing loose steering worth $1-2K or do I just live with it?

      • by caseih ( 160668 )

        You're lucky to live somewhere where there are lots of used vehicles available. Where I live, not so much. Seems like arbitrage pressure (well greed mainly) has meant that 90% of all cars traded in here get sent down south. Buyers from the US have come up here and give the dealer more than they'd get selling locally. It's hard for them to pass that up. And it helps new car sales because there's little else available. Dealers are making money hand over fist despite record high new-car prices. For a sig

    • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      Good old diesels tend to run forever as long as you keep them maintained. The main problem is more in the realm of car frame rusting and such.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Get a Nissan Leaf. They are cheap now, the top spec models have decent range, and they don't spy on you if you decline the option to send telematics. You can also simply disconnect the cellular antenna, or buy an older one that has a now defunct 2G/3G modem.

      They are fairly simple vehicles too, easy to maintain yourself, not that they need a lot of maintenance. They are reliable, the most common issue being the struts rusting which can be averted by installing cheap plastic covers. The newer ones have the co

    • Disconnect the LTE antenna.

  • From the Chinese, "build it as cheaply as possible while selling as high as possible"
    • You think only the Chinese do that? I have a friend who works at BMW QA and once told me: If a part fails too often, they will replace it with a more expensive one. So far so good. BUT: If a part fails too seldom, they will replace it with a chepaer one.
      • BMW is working on making the entire engine from plastic. They already have plastic oil pans, plastic valve covers, and plastic intake manifolds. What else can they change to plastic?

    • Bro, corporations were already doing that before the Chinese even had incorporation

  • Dodge is best, Chrysler is worst, they are the same company, and I trust this report because? Because I care so much about quality of cupholders?
  • It's the inherent problem of all consumer product manufacturing. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it: Products degrade until backlashes temporarily reset to some point lower than previous highs, then trend long-term downward until someone replaces them from below (new entrants and aftermarkets), beside (other industries moving laterally), or outside (foreign business).
    • Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it

      Yes there is. Put all the current politicians and federal regulators against the wall and have them shot. Delete all US specific design standards and regulations (intended to segment our market for the purpose of higher profits). Let me buy products on the world market. If I want another Landcruiser, I should be able to purchase a Series 70 model. If I need insulin, I should be able to buy it from a Canadian pharmacy.

  • Cars are made by for-profit organizations. Their number one objective is to maximize profit for their shareholders, particularly for the next quarter. Making the best cars may be one way to achieve that goal - and I say "may be" because in order to make the best cars you have to spend extra money: for example, on better quality. The thing is, there are other ways to meet that goal, within or without the law, if one can get away with it. It would seem that carmakers are converging toward an equilibrium poin

    • A better example of the above is provided by airlines. For the last twenty-five years, the airline business has become a race to the bottom: airlines are competing on the basis of who can provide the worst service while still making an adequate profit.

      But, now everybody gets to fly. It is taken for granted now. It didn't used to be this way.

      https://commons.wikimedia.org/... [wikimedia.org]

  • by Junta ( 36770 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @09:11AM (#63626080)

    So my 2015 car had a warranty problem that my 2005 did not. It's back up camera wiring was faulty. Which made the car sometimes be a car without a backup camera, like my 2005. Someone busted my side mirror in a way that it could be physically put back together, but it had a fault. So that car's mirror showed a "problem" my 2005 did not have. The cross-traffic alert stopped working, which my 2005 did not have. I've heard of folks having a broken distance sensor somehow and their adaptive cruise or park distance warning not working. Again, the result is a car that is about the same as my 2005. My wife's car tire pressure monitoring rose a fault because of dead batteries, and thus again it "failed" down to the level of being the same as my 2005, no tire pressure monitoring.

    From the perspective of the fundamental "be a car", I've been very pleased. By this point my 2005 had a power steering issue owing to the hydraulic design while my newer car with electric power steering has been flawless. Technically my 1990 car was even more "reliable" by virtue of not having power steering, power brakes, airbags, or ABS brakes. Just a boring, low power engine coupled to a manual transmission with some wheels, seems there's not much to go wrong, but it sucked and was far less safe.

    I know, this is anecdote rather than data, but I'd love to see the metrics broken out more to delve more into whether the base level of functionality from years gone by is actually getting worse, or just more problems with the newer features that do not interfere. Currently it feeds into the hollow "they just don't make them like they used to" when my experience has been quite the opposite, with the risk of occasionally downgrading in some specific respect back to the "good old days" when such features didn't even exist.

    • The thing about manual transmission, though, is that it's not just relatively simple, and therefore cheaper to repair. It also lets you get more out of your engine than a lot of automatics. I imagine that difference will fade away as the cost of flappy paddle shifting keeps dropping and it becomes available in more and more cars. There's one huge advantage to old-fashioned manual, though...it makes your car a whole lot less interesting to car thieves.

      • by Junta ( 36770 )

        My 2015 still has a manual transmission, I like it.

        But some modern automatics leave no room to be considered worse on performance or efficiency anymore. An automatic transmission with electronically operated clutches provide all the abilities that the manual shifter does, much faster than a human can and in a way that makes, say, 10 gears bearable/used. Still cheaper to repair... for the select scenarios where you can still actually find it....

        Or go EV where single speed makes sense for the simplest scenar

  • Which is why these "surveys" are useless.

  • Dodge #1 again (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Freedom Bug ( 86180 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @09:37AM (#63626152) Homepage

    This JD Power survey very consistently ranks Dodge or Chrysler as #1. It's not just this year, it's the same most years.

    Any survey that ranks Dodge or Chrysler #1 in quality is either flawed or corrupt or both.

    • If you pay JD Power enough money, they will find some aspect where you are number 1 and then you can market that. Its just expensive marketing.

  • I think the issue is the complexity. Cars are not 'built' anymore, making a car is a process of integrating a ton of off-the-shelf tech from companies like Bosch.

  • by NotInKansas ( 5367383 ) on Friday June 23, 2023 @10:10AM (#63626252)
    Faults per 100 vehicles is a fundamentally flawed criteria, it penalizes features.

    The more features a vehicle has the more potential and real faults. Conversely a lack of features results in a high score.

    No cruise control - No Faults
    No air conditioning - No Faults
    No sound system - No Faults
    No car - ZERO Faults - absolutely perfect by their criteria
  • Just buy a vehicle that offers 5 years of warranty. If a manufacturer's internal analysis concluded that they can't profitably warranty a car model for a mere 5 years, this tells you that the vehicle sucks from a quality standpoint. Of course, this means realising that several "aspirational" brands (BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Tesla, Jeep etc) are hot garbage from a quality standpoint, and most people want the "aspirational" stuff for vanity reasons. Well, those people better get used to paying, and paying,
  • Yea, so there is such a thing as a low quality cup holder in a car? The last time I heard of a cup holder breaking was back in the 1990s when some clueless consumers mistook the CD drive for a cup holder.

We warn the reader in advance that the proof presented here depends on a clever but highly unmotivated trick. -- Howard Anton, "Elementary Linear Algebra"

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