Brimstone

Exactly, somewhere there's some guy with a lemon Porche and some other guy with a problem free Fiat scratching their heads at this chart.

Also its problems per 100 vehicles. Every manufacturer is batting above 1.000, the reality is if 1 vehicle has dozens of problems the manufacturer probably rolls dozens of vehicles off the line with 0 problems.

Also this chart doesn't state the nature of the problems. I'm sure some are cheap and easy to fix and others are much more serious. Also my guess is certain models are worse than others.

Certainly buying a brand higher on the chart decreases your odds of running into issues, but once you hit them its all irrelevant. To me its about how the brand responds when you have issues (and you hear good and bad stories for most of them) . I'd much rather get something I'm interested in and fix a minor quirk, then buy something I find bland but never have an issue with. (of course bland beats worthless because its constantly broken, but the chart only measures issues, not severity, nor response). Its not bad info, but don't take too much stock in it.

itiongo

Agreed. I'd rather have a few minor problems, such as exterior camera replacements, than 1 major problem, like transmission grinding/supercharger replacement.

JT4

I take these surveys "with a grain of salt" especially when I see MB at number 5 because of my experience in having an ML350 bought back several years ago, and knowing several people who have not had good experiences either.. Then again I am sure others with MB's love their vehicles.. Here is my unprofessional take on these studies / surveys.

IMO a lot of these low ratings are more in regards to a new owners lack of knowing how to properly use all the tech in today's vehicles and this what is bringing a lot of these ratings down, and not just for Audi, but for most brands

So I'm clear, I'm not talking about when an infotainment system blacks out, freezes or is extremely sluggish. Or if the cameras black out or something goes wrong mechanically with the vehicle. Of course that should be included. What I mean is when people get annoyed because they have to go through two sub menus to turn on the heated seats, A/C or have trouble getting carplay to work. Or in some cases they simply don't like how a particular controller (not broken) operates and then complain about it on a survey..

When we first got the Q7 we had a heck of a time getting the touch free tailgate to operate. This wasn't Audi's fault, we were doing it wrong, once we figured it out it works fine. My wife was having trouble with carplay and kept saying it was broken. It wasn't, she didn't have her phone set properly and once my 17 yr old showed her what to do it worked like a charm. Yet some people will complain about this on a survey and say these systems are broken / unreliable which isn't fair.

IMO I don't feel complaints like these should be allowed in the JD Power or any survey. After all, in the examples I described above it's not the vehicles fault that the owner didn't do his or her due diligence before buying the vehicle. And let's be honest, a lot of these same people are the ones who don't take the time to read the owners manual to understand how these systems work....

RJC 1

Of course all manufactures have problems, but it's important to look at the trends these studies/surveys find. The brands that have remained in the top 5 are generally safer bets than those that remain in the bottom.

JT4

^To each his own, if you feel these surveys are important that's fine, BTW below is what Consumer reports had to say about the Q7, in this same issue they rated the Lexus RX a 79, the Porsche Macan a 74 and the MB GLE (previous ML) a 68 so go figure....

However, as I said I take these surveys with a grain of salt based on my own experience. Like I mentioned in my previous post, MB is in the top 5 yet I had a vehicle bought back by them after 14 months of arguing..

On the other hand Infiniti shows near the bottom of the list yet my oldest son has a 2015 Q50S that he bought new two years ago next week that has 24,xxx miles on it and hasn't had a hiccup except for two software updates... Cadillac is at 15, yet I have had my CTS-V for over 4 years since new and it runs like a beast and has been rock solid. My parents had a 2014 SRX for 3 years in which the only issue was a software update for CUE. They now drive a 2017 XT5 for close to a year without an issue...

I have never bought a vehicle based on these surveys, but I do research the owners forums (obviously) to get a feel for what real owners are experiencing.

BigKutta

Exactly. My BMWs have been tiers above my ML, which has had a lot of issues fixed under warranty, and then lots of electrical issues that I had to pay $$$ for. I cannot imagine MB today is more trouble free than BMW...but perhapd they've shaken off Chrysler

RJC 1

When the results from any survey favor the brand, then they're considered acceptable and highly touted including by the brand...when they're unfavorable, then they have no merit.

These surveys help all brands to get better and are designed to help educate/protect the consumer.

Jim Jistel

Wasn't what I expected. Wound up being mostly questions about my dealership experience and my opinion on tires. Didn't ask about my main complaint which is intermittent electrical glitches.

OneOfOne

Consumer reports has Audi at 4th on their list.

RJC 1

There should be a section to add additional commnets