Japanese cars are the most reliable in the world. That’s according to J.D. Power and Associates, an international market research company. J.D. Power’s asked thousands of car owners about problems they had with their cars in the first three years of ownership. The Lexus car topped the reliability list, for the fourteenth year in a row. Lexus is Toyota’s luxury car brand. The survey found that Lexus cars were getting better and better. They had 120 problems per 100 vehicles, down from 145 problems in the 2007 study. "That's a pretty good track record," said Dave Sargent, a J.D. Power's executive. Lexus was first place in six categories, while other Toyota and Honda cars led four categories. Toyota's Prius hybrid was the winning compact car.
Mr Sargent said that reliability in cars is improving every year. In the past two years, the industry average has improved from 237 problems per 100 vehicles to 206. Land Rover, sold earlier this year to India's Tata Motors, was the worst-performing brand, with 344 problems. Sargent also said the “seriousness” of the problems was decreasing. The complaints being reported a few years ago were “hard” problems, such as serious technical defects. Sargent said these were becoming less common. He told reporters it is now more likely that car owners will complain about “soft” problems, like strange noises or wear and tear of the car’s interior. He added that: "Improved quality is good for everybody, especially for the consumers, who don't have the annoyance of problems and costs."