The Sporty Car category was led by the venerable Mazda Miata last year but now it's been bumped right out of the top three. Replaced at the top position is 2003's number three, the Dodge Stratus Coupe. Its sister car, the Chrysler Sebring Coupe that placed 2nd, is no longer among the leaders in this segment, now replaced by the Toyota Celica. Ford has definitely been working hard at improving its quality rating, as its Mustang came in the third and final place.
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| Lexus swept the first two spots in the Premium Luxury Car segment with the SC 430 roadster and LS 430 full-size sedan. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
And how do pickup trucks fare? If you bought a Ford in the compact class then you should be happy with J.D. Powers' findings, naming the Ford Sport Trac as number one and the Ranger in the 2nd spot. Pulling up 3rd place is Toyota's Tacoma. Last year's 3rd place holder, the Subaru Baja didn't make the cut, nor did the class winning Mazda B-Series, despite it being little more than a mildly restyled Ford Ranger. The Ranger, incidentally, came in 2nd in the 2003 IQS as well.
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| The Dodge Ram HD took 1st place in the heavy-duty truck category. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada) |
For 2004 J.D. Powers has split up the full-size pickup truck segment into light-duty (LD) and heavy-duty (HD). In the Light-Duty Full-Size Pickup range the Toyota Tundra took 1st place for initial quality, with the Ford F-150 LD making 2nd and 3rd tied between the Cadillac Escalade EXT and Ford F-150 Heritage/Lightning. While the F-150 LD came 1st in the 2003 survey, last year's Chevy Silverado LD 2nd place finisher didn't make the list. The 3rd place winning Dodge Ram HD managed 1st place in the heavy-duty category, followed by the GMC Sierra HD and Chevy Silverado HD clones in 2nd and 3rd respectively.