Cars – they just don’t make ‘em like they used to

New cars these days have more problems than Jay-Z. At least according to the annual 2023 Initial Quality Study published yesterday by JD Power, which found the industry-wide problems per vehicle have reached their highest level in the report’s 37-year history.

The report, which is based on responses from ~93,000 participants over their first 90 days of car ownership, identified an average of 192 problems per 100 vehicles – a 7% YOY increase (and much higher than HOV’s 99 problems). That's on top of an 11% increase the previous year, when the industry was impacted by ongoing supply-chain problems caused by the pandemic.

Some other highlights from the report:

• Stellantis brands took the top three spots in initial quality (in this order): Dodge, Ram, and Alfa Romeo.
• Bringing up the rear were Chrysler, Volvo, and four unranked EV automakers: Tesla, Rivian, Polestar, and Lucid Motors. (The last four remain unranked due to the companies only providing JD Power with customer data for 15 states, though the numbers provided look like the Cybertruck – aka not very good.)

💥📈 Bottom line: The study calls out growing quality problems with the technology features included in cars, from wireless charging pads to advanced driver assistance features like lane-departure and automatic emergency braking. But these problems also extend to basic features like door handles – which has become a “percolating problem area,” with EVs making up seven of the 10 worst offenders.