- Originated by
- J.D. Power III (J.D. Power and Associates, founded 1968).
- First formalized
- 1968 — first J.D. Power Initial Quality Study; Consumer Reports has published owner-reported reliability since 1953.
- Origin
- California, USA (J.D. Power) and New York, USA (Consumers Union).
How it came to be
James David Power III founded his market-research firm in 1968 around a radical idea: survey actual car buyers about quality, not just engineers and journalists. Toyota's dominance of the Initial Quality Study in the 1980s gave the brand its modern reputation. Consumer Reports' Annual Auto Survey, with roughly 300,000 respondents, remains the most comprehensive owner-reported dataset in the world. In Europe, Warranty Direct and What Car? play similar roles; in the UK, Honest John's Satisfaction Index covers the used market.
Key milestones
- 1953Consumer Reports begins surveying members about car reliability.
- 1968J.D. Power founded; runs its first quality study for Toyota.
- 1989Lexus launches; tops J.D. Power IQS in its first full year, redefining luxury quality.
- 1998TÜV Report begins publishing German inspection-failure rates by model — Europe's reliability gold standard.
- 2020Tesla appears in major reliability surveys for the first time; mechanically strong, software and build mixed.
How reliability is measured
J.D. Power's VDS tracks problems per 100 vehicles after three years; Consumer Reports surveys hundreds of thousands of owners; What Car? runs UK-wide reliability indexes. Look for trends across multiple sources, not single data points.
Most reliable brands
Lexus and Toyota top almost every reliability survey year after year. Honda, Mazda and Kia rank consistently above average. Their secret: slow, deliberate refinement of proven engines and transmissions rather than rushing new tech to market.
Least reliable brands
Land Rover, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Jaguar regularly sit at the bottom. Modern Cadillac, Lincoln, Volkswagen and Audi sit mid-pack but suffer from electrical and software gremlins. Tesla's mechanical reliability is excellent; build quality and software are mixed.
The role of complexity
Every added system is a potential failure point. Air suspension, twin-turbo V8s, dual-clutch transmissions, panoramic roofs and adaptive cruise all add convenience and break expensively. Simpler cars are more reliable cars.
How to protect yourself
Buy used after the depreciation curve and bad-batch year-one bugs are sorted. Get a pre-purchase inspection from a brand specialist. Budget 10% of purchase price/year for repairs on out-of-warranty luxury cars. Consider an extended warranty only from the manufacturer.