Buick Ranks High In J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study

Buick ranked high in the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS), an analysis that provides useful feedback to manufacturers by assigning a numerical score to brands and individual models based on problems per 100 vehicles, or PP100.

J.D. Power released the 2024 IQS results on June 27^th, 2024, revealing Buick to be in fifth place with its 164 PP100 score, but still offering significantly better quality than the auto industry overall with its PP100 score of 195.

Buick’s relatively low number of problems per hundred vehicles put it extremely close to second place in the rankings. While Ram’s score of 149 separates it significantly from the following brands, Chevy (160 problems), Hyundai (162), Kia (163), and Buick (164) are very nearly tied with only 4 problems per 100 vehicles difference at most between them.

General Motors, parent company of the Buick brand, also stood out in the IQS by having six individual models that won first place in half a dozen vehicle categories for their low number of quality problems. However, none of the vehicle models were from the Tri-Shield brand’s lineup, with four Chevy vehicles and two from Cadillac as category leaders.

A lower PP100 score indicates better quality, since it means fewer problems per one hundred vehicles from that brand. Buick’s score of 164 shows it has 31 problems less for every 100 vehicles than the auto market average as a whole, an excellent performance in the study. It is also well above the 181 PP100 average of mass-market vehicles and the 232 PP100 score of premium vehicles.

Premium vehicles showed much worse PP100 scores because of their higher concentration of new technology and features compared to plainer mass-market models. J.D. Power benchmarking director Frank Hanley summarized the situation by saying “it is not surprising that the introduction of new technology has challenged manufacturers to maintain vehicle quality.”

Some common issues include advanced safety systems such as collision warnings that activate distracting alerts when there is in fact no problem, trouble connecting smartphones to the vehicle’s systems, extremely complex and glitchy controls, and – oddly enough – many models producing disgusting or unpleasant smells from their climate control systems.

The latest IQS combined “Voice of the Consumer” surveys of 99,144 recent owners or lessees of 2024 model year vehicles, with electronic vehicle repair records, to produce an even more accurate picture of what is going wrong (and right) with the various models and brands.

Buick also ranked high in the 2023 study, coming in fourth with 162 PP100, and achieved first place for quality in 2022 with 139 problems per hundred.

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