Were a little concerned about Jaguar/Land Rover's dead last in JD Powers' initial quality ranking last few years.
Just traded in my wife's Mercedes for '19 Jaguar XJ a month ago, to join my '17 F-Type & now great to see yesterday that Jaguar has moved up a few spots this year, just right above Mercedes...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...vs/3243994001/

Here's how the J.D. Power IQS study scored the major brands (problems per 100 vehicles):

• Dodge (136)
• Kia (136)
• Chevrolet (141)
• Ram (141)
• Genesis (142)
• Mitsubishi (148)
• Buick (150)
• GMC (151)
• Volkswagen (152)
• Hyundai (153)
• Jeep (155)
• Lexus (159)
• Nissan (161)
• Cadillac (162)
• Infiniti (173)
• Ford (174)
• Mini (174)
• BMW (176)
• Honda (177)
• Toyota (177)
• Lincoln (182)
• Mazda (184)
• Acura (185)
• Porsche (186)
• Subaru (187)
• Chrysler (189)
• Jaguar (190)
• Mercedes-Benz (202)
• Volvo (210)
• Audi (225)
• Land Rover (228)
• Tesla (250)

 

I reckon the position in the rankings says more about the expectations of the owners than of the vehicles themselves. Except Tesla, of course.

 

Personally, I feel "initial" quality is meaningless. This doesn't forecast long term reliability; rather it only shows issues repaired under warranty and sometimes before the customer even buys the car. As much as taking the car into the dealer for a warranty repair is annoying, its practically irrelevant compared to long term reliability issues that result in paying out of pocket.

 

Funny how there's a huge discrepancy between Dodge and Chrysler. Between the two brands there's only one model that has been around for less than 10 years (Chrysler Pacifica) and you'd think that after such a long time in production they would be able to iron out the initial quality issues...

 

True, this is only for Initial quality when the vehicles comes off the factory line. But at least it's ONE quantifiable indication of quality, & also give owners their first impressions of how likely they'll have to bring their brand new car to back to dealer for service.

Think they should have an ongoing quality measurement at 3 years, or 5 years intervals, somewhat similar to Consumer Reports, but with today's technology, they can probably track Manufacturers' service dept's numbers of factory repairs needed over those years.

Many of my clueless friends swear that their German vehicles still are the best quality cars today, & others swear that their Japanese cars are still best.
Now just watch out for the Korean & American made cars...

 

German engineering and reliability are as much a myth as they are the product of successful marketing campaigns.

Some of the IQS numbers are affected by the dealership's PDI attention to detail and the Sales Consultant explaining the feature functions during delivery.

At the end of the day, JD Power & Associates created their own self-importance, which the manufacturers trip all over. If consumers actually paid attention to this, the marques near the bottom of the rankings would never sell new vehicles.

 

Is it Jaguar quality that is improving or other manufacturer's quality getting worse?

 

Don't rule out "both".

 

I agree. This survey goes out to 90 days. I expect much more from a car that costs $70-110 K than I would $20 K. I would want every little thing fixed and complain about any squeak (something that gets asked about). What really matters is reliability and how the car feels after 2-5 years and more. Do you really think that Dodge has the best quality for the first 90 days of ownership compared to all other manufactures? The trucks drive like trucks and as long as a Challenger can smoke the rear tires the owner is happy because it can do what it was designed to do.

 

 

I don’t get it, I’ve had 4 new Range Rovers and 2 F-Types since 2012 and haven’t had any problems apart from needing a replacement suspension compressor in my last RR. And the odd O2 sensor here and there.

I’ve been asked by a few non JLR owning people if they’re unreliable and I always tell them the opposite is true, they always give me that weird non-believing look, but I stand my ground and look into their eyes.

 

Fair enough, but for every one of you, there are likely two other people that had the opposite experience. As I’ve always told people, there are cars with bad reputations where some owners will go a million miles without an issue and there are also cars with traditionally high reliability like Honda and Toyota that have built their share of lemons. There is always more than meets the eyes with this kind of thing. A quick example, a car with many more features is likely to have more defects or owners who don’t know how to operate a feature than a car with basic options and minimal frills. The former might result in a couple service visits and the latter maybe none. I have a German-made VW that is 12 years old and has given me almost no issues at all - and about 14 years ago I sued Audi over a car that they couldn’t get squared away (settled out of court). I didn’t think twice about purchasing my VW in spite of the Audi experience (both were A4 chassis cars). I’ve liked jaguars since I could drive, but always saw them listed for sale with like 100 new parts and needing 100 more or not running at all yet, in spite of their recent scores, my research indicated that the f-type was a reasonable risk and owners seemed to be pleased for the most part. Of course it’s not my primary driver, but it could be - it’s been perfect. The only tangible thing these scores do is provide leverage when buying a new one or diminish resale in the used market. Obviously great for buyers and less than great for sellers. But seriously, if someone pulled a Chevy Aveo up to you and said: “my car is better than yours...” would you lose any sleep. The f-type looks awesome and I would rather stand next to one that doesn’t run than be caught dead driving something that looks like a toaster with wheels.

 

Infotainment has a very effect on these ratings!

 

Absolutely correct - and actually reading the owner's manual would go a long way in eliminating many of the complaints!
Regarding long-term reliability of Jaguars (and I have owned many) the major factor is proper servicing. Example: our 2002 X-Type 2.5 manual which sits outside 24/365 and which is used daily. Apart from normal servicing it has had the following repairs and only these repairs over the past 17 years: water pump replaced when slight seeping was noted, 02 sensor replaced when CEL came on, replacement of nylon gear in driver's seat up/down motor, replacement of coolant tank when slight seeping noted. That's it! Nothing else. Nothing.
it runs like a new car and is a joy to own and especially to drive. This service history is typical for all the Jags I have owned except that some have been even better. The most troublesome car I have owned was a BMW.

 

LOL at the title alone: "Jaguar's Improving Quality."
Without having even read the article all I can think of is:
"Army Intelligence"
"check's in the Mail"
"I promise not to..."
"I'm from the gubbmit here to help you"

Jaguar: Beautiful, magnificent, fast cars. Quality: See "Lexus"

 

Yep. When you're at the very bottom last yr, there's nowhere else to go but up....

 

The 2017 F-Pace S I owned was very poor build quality. Trunk bolts came loose and I couldn't open the trunk. Coolant reservoir started to leak. Front brakes were not straight, had to be replaced immediately. A lot of interior rattles. Seat came loose. The list goes on and on...
2017 F-Type R... NEVER 1 single problem. Knock on wood. Fingers crossed lol No rattles...nothing.
2018 Range Rover supercharged... electronic problems. Computer system... seat memory controls... Other than that I love the Range. I'm keeping my '17 F-Type (forever) and probably the Range as well...

 

That's unfortunate. The 2017 F Pace S we had until just over a month ago was perfect. Not a single issue.

 

I had a 2001 XK8 that needed a new coolant expansion tank after 8 years, a 2004 XKR that burst an oil pipe after 95,000 miles (the engine survived the oil drought, too!) and a wiring issue on a 2010 XKR. No other issues apart from that. The FType is currently in the hospital having a fueling issue fixed, which turnied out to be the electical connector on the pump hadn't been secured at the facctory! And a slightly leaky front diff seal is being replaced too. Apart from that, nice and reliable, and I can check what the dealer is doing via the remote app ...