Good news for new vehicle buyers, going by the latest J.D. Power Initial Quality Study: quality is slightly improving in 2025.
All is still not perfect, however. If you're annoyed by touchscreens and the sometimes endless menus therein, you're not alone: infotainment remains, by far, the part of modern vehicles that most drives owners batty.
The results in numbers
The study measures the number of problems reported in the first 90 days after purchasing a vehicle, expressed as problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). This year, the average dropped from 194 to 192 PP100 - a modest but notable decrease.
Luxury brands saw their scores improve thanks, among others, to Tesla, which reduced the number of problems being reported from 230 to 203 PP100. Mainstream brands, meanwhile, backslid overall this year, going from 181 to 187 PP100.
The highest-rated brands
Lexus tops the luxury brands, followed by Jaguar and Genesis. On the mainstream side, Nissan leads, ahead of Hyundai and Chevrolet. Overall, Lexus and Nissan dominate all segments.
And the highest-rated car across all categories? The Porsche 911.
What's really bothering people
J.D. Power found that, once again, owners are particularly irritated by screens gobbling up commands that used to be physical buttons. In some cases, even the glove box release button is now virtual! Despite a slight improvement (a drop of 1.9 PP100), infotainment remains the most problematic category with a rate of 42.6 PP100.
Honourable mention for the most unexpected complaint to rank: cupholders unable to accommodate all cup sizes. We feel your pain.