2010 J. D. Power survey

The results of the 2010 J. D. Power and Associates / What Car? UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study have been published.

Over 17,000 owners, who on average had owned their cars for two years, took part in the survey. They were asked to assess their cars across four areas:

• Vehicle appeal, which covered performance, design, comfort and features
• Vehicle quality and reliability
• Ownership costs, including fuel consumption, insurance and servicing / repair costs
• Dealer service satisfaction

Topping the table of manufacturers once again was Lexus, which had an overall score of 84.6%. Significantly, the spread of marks wasn’t that massive - the industry average was 78.9% and the ‘worst’ performer, Chevrolet, still achieved a fairly respectable 74.2%.

Top five manufacturers:
1. Lexus (84.6%)
2. Honda (82.5%)
3. Jaguar (81.8%)
4. Mercedes-Benz (81.7%)
5. Toyota (81.4%)

Bottom five manufacturers:
23. Vauxhall (76.8%)
24. Peugeot (76.4%)
25. Suzuki (76.3%)
26. Fiat (76.1%)
27. Chevrolet (74.2%)

As can be seen, Jaguar was the top-performing European make, just beating Mercedes-Benz to third place. Its result was helped by the XF, which was joint second (with the Lexus IS) in the individual model scores. First in that league was Lexus again, the RX taking top honours with 86.7%.

Some inconsistencies across ranges were revealed by the individual model table. For example, the Kia C’eed was placed fourth with 83.8%, yet the Rio and Picanto scored a relatively modest 75.9% and 75.5% respectively. As a result, Kia only managed joint 18th place in the manufacturer list.

Bottom of the model pile was the Ford Ka (73.3%), although presumably the majority of the cars in the survey sample were the first generation version.

Full the full results, click here.