JD Power publishes an interesting metric for reliability- Vehicles three yeas old. The 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from 34,175 original owners of 2022 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. The study was fielded from August through November 2024.

Highest-Ranked Brands

Lexus ranks highest overall in vehicle dependability for a third consecutive year.

More here: https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...lity-study-vds

 

when we bought our cayenne, i chatted with the sales as we walked by the cars. the dealership is a combination of porsche, audi, and bmw. i asked him about the EVs and he said bmw EVs are overall OK. if we decided to go with porsche or audi ev, just be prepared to go in for issues here and there, and have the mindset that there could be a buyback. he already had 2 porsche and 1 audi buyback. i consider that a pretty funny story voluntarily told by the salesperson.

we ended up with ICE cayenne.

 

I dont have this info, but i wonder what the future holds for the current powertrain portfolio. Will they be as resistant to lack of maintenance and full sends as they were in the past?

 

No, yes. There are still a good amount of small parts that need attention but nothing insane like before but the main parts of the engine are very strong now.

 

I was at my Lexus dealer the other day and the service dept of the Tesla dealer next door was packed. And they’re supposed to be the best?

 

I live by the simple truth of all cars suck.

 

Speak for yourself. All cars do not suck. My 62 Coupedville didn’t suck, my 66 SS396 Impala, my 66 VW Bug, my 71 Superbug, my 79 VW Rabbit L, my 80 280 ZX, my 91 Coupedville, my 06 Corvette, my 06 STSV Caddy don’t suck and my current 15 GS350 F Sport doesn’t suck either. Never had a lemon. My car that sucked was a ford bought used. Even my 48 GMC and my 55 Olds were fine.

 

Went right over your head.........

 

….….. 🇯🇵

 

Wait a second. Why is Audi up there? There is no way in hell the EA888 is good enough to be anywhere near there and that POS is in over half the cars. they should be next to VW where that garbage is in all the cars.

EDIT: nvm, I looked at the survey conditions. They included everything from 2000-2024 so it makes total sense to me now and aligns very well with what I have seen come through my shop.

 

so the consumer reports chart is wrong?

 

No, consumer reports chart is right.

Granted the way I worded that was unnecessarily convoluted LOL

 

CR has such a hard time getting data nowadays and it shows in this chart. For Lexus none of the higher-end vehicles like the GX, LX, or LS are included. Only the Toyota-derived FWD breadboxes which of course tend to be tried and true.



Other brands have laughably few cars included that I question why they were at all in this.

 

Lexus set a standard in their golden era that they can't match and likely never will again.

 

I generally agree w/this. Meaning: These are all complex machines and if you want perfection, that comes at the cost of a lot of time spent on your back underneath it, and getting messy and dirty checking out all systems. Even on the “best” cars. There’s no free lunch, only a cheaper one here and there.

Agree hard. This becomes more and more apparent every passing year. And it applies to a lot more makers than just Toyota/Lexus.