Despite what you might think VDS isn’t some sort of awful social disease, nor does it have anything to do with today being Valentine’s Day – will you be mine? No, the VDS is J.D. Power’a annual Vehicle Dependability Study, and it’s typically seen as a benchmark of auto brand quality. That’s because the study compares cars that are three year old, and hence after the new has worn off. In the latest report, Lexus takes the top prize, with only 68 issues per 100 cars. For an understanding of what that means, the industry average is 133. Following way behind Lexus are Mercedes Benz, Cadillac, Acura, and – as they used to say on Gilligan’s Island – all the rest.

Now, I find it interesting that Lexus is way up there at 68 and Toyota, upon which almost the entire Lexus model catalog is based, is down at 114. The likely explanation is dealer effort, but it brings up the transience of these kind of surveys. It also raises the question of which brands don’t, in your experience, seem to warrant such a lofty position on such a list.

Do you have any personal, or related anecdotes about certain brands that may belie their position in the general consciousness of quality? What do you think, are there brands that are enjoying a reputation that is wholly unearned?

Image source: JDPower.com