Advertisement

Initial Quality of New 2011 Models "Declined Considerably," Cautions New Study

Annual J.D. Power report finds quality of older models “better than ever.”

Paul A. Eisenstein
The Dodge Durango was one of the rare all-new models to improve its quality score.
The Dodge Durango was one of the rare all-new models to improve its quality score.

New car shoppers will find some good news and bad in the latest Initial Quality Study: the quality of all-new 2011 models “declined considerably”, but the quality of carryover products was better than ever, according to from Power and Associates.

Japanese automakers, led by Toyota’s Lexus luxury brand, dominated this year’s Initial Quality Study, or IQS, which measures problems with new vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership.  Honda jumped to second in the annual survey, but the biggest improvement was posted by perennial quality laggard Land Rover

.