Cars just keep getting better and better—even though they keep getting more and more complex. At least, that’s what J.D. Power and Associates researchers conclude after surveying more than 81,000 recent new-car buyers about their first three months of ownership. Overall, the quality of ’08 models improved 6 percent over ’07 models, with Porsche, Infiniti and Lexus leading the way among brands.
 
Honda placed three vehicles—the Civic compact, CR-V compact SUV and Fit subcompact—at the top of their respective classes. Several other carmakers had two models winning top awards: Chevrolet (the Malibu midsize car and Silverado LD large pickup), Dodge (the Dakota midsize pickup and Durango midsize SUV), Infiniti (the EX-Series crossover vehicle and M-Series midsize premium car), Lexus (the LS large premium car and RX midsize premium SUV) and Mercedes-Benz (the CLK-Class compact premium sports car and E-Class midsize premium car).

Despite the proliferation of navigation systems, DVD players, digital music systems and other sophisticated electronics, new-car owners reported significantly fewer defects, malfunctions and design problems in ’08 models. “As consumer demand for new and more-advanced wireless communication, navigation and audio technology continues to grow, manufacturers face challenges related to how well these systems are integrated into their vehicles,” says David Sargent, vice-president of automotive research at J.D. Power. “In particular, issues with difficult-to-use audio and entertainment controls and voice-command recognition are among the top ten problems most frequently reported by consumers.”