brackethead

I just saw this article, JD Power 2002 initial quality rankings, which has Nissan as #28.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...t-rankings.htm

Wow, I thought they'd be a lot higher. I've never owned a Nissan, and to be honest I'm concerned that they're ranked below Jeep, Hyundai, and Pontiac, etc. (The only consolation is that Mazda is #31!)

Maybe these ratings are overrated (pun intended). How much weight do you place on initial quality (problems reported in the first 90 days)? What about long-term quality of Nissan vehicles?

BTW, Nissan was #19 in '01.

ethan84ae

Interesting article- I'm curious about a few things:

1. This is based on problems <I>reported</I>. Perhaps many problems for the other brands were simply not reported by owners.

2. I'm more interested in the <I>types/severity</I> of problems experienced instead of the <I>number</I> of problems. If Nissan's are having problems, I doubt its with the VQ engine. Since 1987, my family has owned 4 Maxima's ('87, '92, '95, '01) & one 300ZX, and all have proven extremely reliable. We have had ZERO major issues (engine, transmission).

Ethan

ncrecordkeeper

Interesting what a difference a year makes. Nissan fell from 19 to 28 and I noticed Januar fell from 2 to 19 in one year. Hard to conceive quality dropping so much so quick...or are all the brands that close in quality such that slight change means a great change in the rank? Strange.

BILZ Z

I suspect that there is a direct correlation between how long it takes Nissan to build a car as opposed to, say, Toyota. If my recollection is right, it takes Nissan approx. 20 hrs. vs Toyota 26 hrs. I wonder if Toyota spends that extra 6 hrs. on quality control. Hmmmmmm. None the less, the Z will be awsome anyway. So what if the external antennae, falls off at 75 m.p.h.

AtlZ

Its interesting that lexus and acura are followed closely by their respective parent companies (toyota and honda), yet infiniti's parents company is way down at #28. How can nissan drop so far, yet, infiniti jumps to #2? i hope i dont regret getting the g35 coupe instead of the Z due to reliability problems.

Jill

tied with hyundai? below ford, pontiac? hmmm... very odd that infiniti is #2 and nissan is #28...good point atlZ.

brackethead

That's good to hear. Of course, the little problems like interior trim rattling or falling off, power windows not working, etc., can be really annoying.

Everyone keep their fingers crossed that Nissan will spend the extra 6 hours on quality control!

Flyingscot

Didn't Carl Ghosn mention "improve quality" as one of the objectives for the 180 plan? This could be a clue that cost cutting went a little too far. I know a lot of people aren't happy with the interior fit and finish of the new Altima.

Personally, I've never seen a company cut costs as fast as Nissan did without reducing either service or quality. I'm counting on the fact that Nissan will not F*k up the Z because of the serious ramifications it would cause for the company. The Z is their icon afterall (at least in this country).

That's my 2c.

jran76

iTrader: (1)

I can say this, I own a 97 Maxima that I got three years ago with 50,000 miles, it now has 140,000 miles, and I have had to replace a CV boot, and regular maintence (Oil, tunes, brakes), and the stock rotors were still good at 115,000. And that is it, I also drive it pretty hard.

Touring6MT_Z

Calm down everyone. brackethead, you can relax now.

If you want the REAL quality data that really mean something in REAL life, try Consumer Report, a non profit organization. J.D. Power is a for profit company, they charge company for referencing their survey results in advertising, whereas Consumer Report prohibit any company from using their result in advertising. So, who do you believe. Also, do you want to own your car for only 90 days.

Consumer Report data give you 5 (or may be 6, can't remember off the top of my head) years of reliability data by subsystem in the car, instead of J.D. Power 1st 90 days. Infiniti rank on the top of Consumer Report reliability survey, better than Lexus, Toyota and Honda. Made in Japan Nissan, my Maxima is one of them, also rank among the top. Tennesee made Nissan (e.g. Sentra, etc.) didn't fare as well, but is still better than the average of domestic big three. I suspect that Tennessee made car skew the J.D. Power 1st 90 day result.

Our Z is coming from Japan. I am expecting it to be as good as my Maxima, which is near trouble free. I am not worry at all. If you have any doubt, check out the annual April issue of Consumer Report at your local library for free, or visit them online at
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/home.jsp and pay a $3.95 first month subscription fee and cancel it thereafter.

articfury

Touring is correct.

In addition, notice that those listed as "below average" are as determined by talking to industry sources, not JD Power.

JD

Touring6MT_Z

Hey, articfury, where do live in Austin. I am in the North. Are you going to Maxwell Nissan on June 16 to see the Z caravan?