POWER DEPENDABILITY SURVEY FAVORS IMPORTS (AGAIN)

J.D. Power surveyed nearly 50,000 owners of 2003 cars and trucks to develop the following results for that company's much-vaunted Dependability Study. All cars and trucks are getting better; just some are doing it faster and better than others. Mercury, part of a division which most folks bet won't even be here in another five years, scored much higher than generally expected. (Photo: Mercury Mountaineer). Buick and Cadillac ranked better than Toyota. And Lexus stayed on top of the survey for the 12th year in a row. That is pretty damn amazing! Yet Porsche dropped from 2nd to 22nd in this year's survey of three-year old vehicles, quite possibly due to the introduction of their Cayenne SUV around that time.  Mercedes-Benz suffered a likewise drop three years after the introduction of their American-built M-class SUV, a drop from which they have still not fully recovered. Here's what AUTOMOTIVE NEWS says about it all:

The quality gap between luxury and high-volume vehicles keeps narrowing.

The latest example: Mercury vaulted six places to take the No. 2 spot in J.D. Power and Associates' latest Vehicle Dependability Study. The report surveyed 47,620 owners to record problems after three years of ownership.

Lexus retained the top spot in the study's ranking for the 12th consecutive year with 136 problems per 100 vehicles for the 2003 model year. The Mercury brand scored 151 problems per 100 vehicles in the study, a reduction from 195 problems per 100 vehicles for the 2002 model year. (Photo: $100,00 Lexus LS600h hybrid, on-sale next year in the USA).

Rounding out the top five brands were Buick, 153 problems per 100; Cadillac, 163 problems per 100; and Toyota, 179 problems per 100. The industry average in the 2006 survey was 227 problems per 100 vehicles, compared with 237 problems per 100 vehicles in last year's survey.

Japanese automakers still dominate the survey's rankings of vehicles by segment. Of the 19 segments listed by J.D. Power and Associates, Japanese brands were top-ranked in 13 of them -- and 12 of the 13 were captured by Toyota or Honda vehicles.

Other big gainers in this year's survey included:

Jaguar, which jumped from No. 23 and 268 problems per 100 vehicles last year to No. 8 and 210 problems per 100 this year. Kia, which moved from No. 37 and last place in last year's survey to No. 34 this year. Problems per 100 vehicles declined from 397 in the 2005 survey to 310 this year. Mini, which moved from No. 35 last year to No. 29 this year. Problems per 100 vehicles declined from 383 last year to 280 this year.

Over the past four years, the quality gap between luxury and high-volume vehicles has been cut in half - from an average gap of 31 problems per 100 in the 2003 survey to 15 problems per 100 in this year's survey, the research firm said.

But paying high sticker prices is no guarantee of long-term quality.

The Porsche brand plunged from No. 2 in the 2005 study to No. 22 in this year's study, as its problems per 100 score jumped from 149 for the 2002 model year to 248 for the 2003 model year. (Photo: Cayenne).

Also, Land Rover, which ranked just above last-place Kia last year, was last on this year's list with a score of 438 problems per 100 vehicles. The gap between Land Rover and next-to-last Saab was 112 problems per 100 vehicles.

Other brands that tumbled in this year's survey include:

Infiniti, which slipped to No. 10 on this year's survey from No. 6 last year. Problems per 100 vehicles increased from 178 last year to 215 this year. Lincoln dropped to No. 11 from No. 3 last year. Problems per 100 vehicles jumped from 151 last year to 220 this year. Saturn, which dropped to No. 31 from No. 15 last year. Problems per 100 increased from 240 last year to 289 this year.  (Photo: Hummer).

Also, the Hummer brand made its first appearance on the firm's three-year dependability survey. Hummer ranked No. 33 out of 37 brands with 307 problems per 100 vehicles.