Dependable Used Cars

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Leasing or Buying a Car

Used cars may represent one of the best values on the car market today. Of course that holds true only if you're able to find dependable used cars. Actually, that's one of the nice features of buying used cars - others have already put these cars though a real world test.

Dependability of Used Cars

By compiling the repair and dependability experiences of car owners, you can narrow down your choices to a list to include some of the most dependable used cars. And that's exactly what large research organizations such as J.D. Power do each year. They conduct surveys of car owners to figure out if they liked their cars and their experience with mechanical breakdowns. This research helps them to understand whether or not some of the car's features seemed to "wear out" faster than expected. This allows buyers of used cars figure out if the car is going to be dependable or not.

Used Car Research

Additional Resources

J.D. Power conducts used car research each year and uses that information to publish used car ratings. The research they conduct is pretty comprehensive. They gather the collective experiences of 48,000 owners of cars and light trucks via a questionnaire. Now this might sound like a lot of surveys, but when you think of all the combinations of car makes and models, they need a lot of information to be able to identify an undependable car from a dependable one.

When they do this research, they survey owners of three year old vehicles. This takes into account the fact that most of these cars are no longer covered by the original manufacturer's warrantee. This also means that most of these cars have been driven enough miles to start to show signs of their age. Think of it this way, if they surveyed owners of cars that were only one year old, then they might not have enough repair history to provide meaningful results.

Dependability Rating System

The J.D. Power dependability rating is based on categories of problems or symptoms that the 2004 model owners are reporting. The categories in this rating system include:

Mechanical Dependability - the mechanical dependability score is based on reported problems with the car's engine, transmission, suspension, steering, and brakes.
Body and Interior Dependability - the body and interior dependability score is derived from reported experience with the car's exterior paint, interior fit and finish, and noise from the wind and rattles / squeaks.
Feature and Accessory Dependability - the feature and accessory dependability score is based on problems with accessories such as the air conditioner, radio / stereo and speakers, automatic door locks, and windows.
Performance - the performance dependability score is based on reported experience with the vehicle's power-train and suspension systems. This measure would include acceleration, handling, and brake performance.
Style - the style rating is based on satisfaction with the automobile's interior and exterior styling, distinctiveness of styling, and the exterior and interior color combinations.

Dependable Cars and Manufacturers

The J.D. Power used car ratings are actually broken down into three types of ratings. First they rate the Corporation, then the nameplate or make, finally a model. For example, General Motors is a corporation that owns the nameplate of Chevrolet that makes the Malibu. So here is the list starting at the highest level - Corporation and closing with the most dependable used cars models.

Dependable Automobile Corporations

Here is the list of the most dependable automobile corporations, ranking them in terms of the number of problems per 100 vehicles made by all of the nameplates and models they own. This list was developed in 2004 - and was the last time dependability ratings were published at the corporate level. All other data is for the calendar year 2006.

So if a corporation averaged 200 PP100, this means all of the cars they make average 200 problems per 100 vehicles or 2 problems per vehicle.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. - 207 PP100
American Honda Motor Co. - 210 PP100
Porsche Cars North America, Inc. - 240 PP100
General Motors Corporation - 262 PP100
BMW of North America - 264 PP100
Nissan North America - 271 PP100
Ford Motor Company - 275 PP100
Subaru of America, Inc. - 288 PP100
DaimlerChrysler - 302 PP100
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. - 327 PP100

The industry average for all corporations was 269 PP100.

Dependable Nameplates

Here is a list of the most dependable car nameplates, this time ranking those companies with five star ratings in overall dependability.

Buick
Cadillac
Honda
Lexus
Mercury

As you can see, in 2007 there were only five companies to achieve this five star rating.

Dependable Used Cars by Category

Finally, J.D. Power produces used car ratings by the category in which the car competes. The category is usually defined by the way in which a car is used or size of the car. For example, there are minivans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and there are compact cars - these are categories. So finishing up with the top cars or most dependable used cars by category:

Most Dependable Cars

Sub-Compact / Compact Cars - Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Prius, Scion xA
Midsize Car - Buick Century, Buick Regal, Mercury Sable
Full-Size Car - Ford Crown Victoria