CarAndDriver

Mazda ranks fifth from last and is only ahead of Isuzu, Land Rover, Volkswagen and Suzuki from being in last place.

JD Powers looked at 2006 vehicle surveys. I am not surprised, Mazda is not known for being one of the star Japanese automakers when it comes to being problem free. Too bad it is just so low and with Land Rover and VW - reliability basket cases.

Whether you hate, despise, maybe even like JD Power studies, they certainly seem to have positioned themselves as an influential industry "authority."

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/19/j...icle-dependab/

jones75254

iTrader: (2)

Scion on the bottom?? When Toyota and Lexus are at the top? They are all built by the same enitity using pretty much the same parts, thats a bit odd. I have NEVER heard of Scion's having many issues at all.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

that's your PERCEPTION that Scions never have problems, the data collected by JD Powers shows otherwise

of course, there's that old saying, "there's lies, damn lies, and statistics", lol

ASH8

Funny how it is the complete opposite here in Australia and New Zealand where Mazda rates #1 or 2 on almost ALL occasions?..

Even in Europe Mazda rarely dips below 3 or 4, most times they are 1 or 2.

Must be a lot of Whingers in the US, or VERY poor Dealers that fail to fix an issue the first time?..my apologies to RX-8 club Members who never whinge or whine about their Mazda..

moRotorMotor

lol that can't be right. Mazda was inching up for last few years. Now for it to drop so far to the bottom.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

The Scion thing makes me feel its bs.

zoom44

ding ding ding ding give that man a prize

Texak

what's the prob with vw's? only ever heard of serious problems with the touareg...

exsequor

iTrader: (1)

for real..if dealers handled things correctly i'm sure mazda could very well be up there with the rest.

shazy

W.T.F is a Buick?

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

I buddy at work who had a Jetta wagon he bought perhaps 3 years ago - he had a lot of problems with it. Don't know the specifics but he complained about it regularly (and it's not in his nature to complain). I know VW makes desireable cars, but in this case, they lost a customer (he drives a Subaru now).

zoom44

here try this buick

shazy

Hehe, I was obviously kidding
The only cool one was the Buick back in the 80's. Think it was called the Grand National...
End Of offtopicstuff.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

I think it has a lot to do with targeted market.

Buick ? come the fuxk on. their target market is more "older" people. most of the time they dont even know that something is wrong. they just drive it. I saw it mad times that ppl in a buick, the car is making MAD noise from the outside (its not even old car, maybe 3-4 yrs). but it seems that the "driver" doesnt care or he never really hear it.

and Scion, most of the owners are younger "kids" that nag about every single thing. or they just fuxked their car up then bring it back and whine about the car suck (took the parts out first of course)

Mazda ... most Mazda people are enthusiast like us. and with TSB "easily" available. Its not surprised that a lot of people will go back and whine. Even when the problem is not there. Not to mention, Mazda's dealership ... some are ok. but most ... *sweat* like NYC. all 5 dealerships in the NYC metro area suck ***. so go figure.

SARRAS

VW's here in Oz have a bad rap for crappy electrics - blown door lifter motors, failed engine sensors etc. Plus some parts are ridiculously expensive - one repair I know of on a Bora - a four door Golf, came to over $AUD6,000 to replace a worn clutch - at 40,000klms. (that's $US4,000 and 25,0000 miles). It involved replacing the flywheel as VW won't let them be re-faced, and as it and the other parts were only available ex factory - hey ho - $6k clutch repair. Needless to say the owner promptly sold the car after it was back on the road.

Benjamz

Buick is very reliable. They have not changed their set-up for over 10 years. They have been running on that 3.8 engine forever. The late model century beat accord and camery in reliability a few years back. They are just making small visual changes.

But there new cars, I don't know. That new Buick Enclave SUV is pretty nice.

As far as volkswagon, I would only get their diesel cars. I would love to get my hands on a diesel Tourag.

ATL-GP

DAMN RIGHT......that thing was the KING of sleeper cars

alienRX8

I like the vw gti's but I am very scared of vw and their problems. I had friends with vw's and problems ranked from transmission problems, leaks from the seals so the inside of their cars would become pools when it rained, some small engine stuff, electrical, that and their dealer here in Puerto Rico is known for HORRIBLE and EXPENSIVE service.

Mazmart

iTrader: (12)

As small as Mazda is, they could really focus some time, effort and money on dealer training. Retention of those who are properly trained would be right up there in priorites if I had anything to do with the situation. The cars are great but the 'system' sucks. I worked as a tech with Mazda in the past and the 'flat rate' program that is used for paying techs is not conducive to quality repairs. Survival is based upon rushing and finding short cuts. My style is: Do it right the first time and it won't come back to haunt you. Happy customers will ALWAYS return and of course the opposite applies as well.

Paul.

Icemark

Hey what you guys are missing is what JD power rates.

For example you know what the number one complaint in that poll was.

Wind noise. Yep, If the car has wind noise JD powers considers it less reliable than a car without wind noise.

Wanna know what the number two complaint was... noisy brakes. So if you get a little dirt in your brakes and they make some noise until you wash your car, JD powers considers that to be a defect.

So right there, if you had both wind noise at 120 MPH and squeaky brakes you would have two deflects on your car according to JD powers and would rate around 200. Nothing about an engine lasting 100K miles or nothing about the interior not looking like crap after 50K miles (like most Honda's and Buicks I have seen)... but rather BS like squeaky brakes. That is why the Buick scores so high... little windnoise from its jelly bean shape and brakes that don't squeak (of course they don't stop the car either, but that doesn't matter to JD powers).

So you guys are reading too much into the JD Powers crap polls. They are not reliability/ dependability, they are instead BS answers from Americans that 90% are clueless anyway. That is why Mazda scores so high everywhere else in the world. It is the same car, but in some countries a little wind noise at 120 MPH is acceptable.

Don't get your panties in a bunch until you actually read the reports.

tjbourgoyne

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/mazda/2009 shows the reliabilty for each Mazda vehicle which are all good except the Tribute. Even the 8 is 4/5.

Feras

iTrader: (1)

well lets see my rx8 had two new transmissions and a new engine, amongst the many warranty necessary fixes during its first 4 years of life...surprised it wasnt last on the list. Fanbois please seriously get with reality. Stop trying to make up for whatever it is you're making up for, accept your ride for what it is.

tjbourgoyne

Buick should be up there with 3 cars in their lineup.

tjbourgoyne

The study is for 2008 cars.

Red Devil

I won't deny there have been issues, clearly recalls and reflashes, etc...but I have an '04 - 85K original engine - still on M flash, and original transmission. A few thousand of those miles are also from the race track.

Call me a fanboi if that's your excuse, but my reality is different from yours.