Lexus tops JD Power Satisfaction Study... again

No surprises here. Perennial quality benchmark Lexus has topped the JD Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Study in the UK for the sixth consecutive year, resisting the challenge of exalted German marques and all other comers.

The 2006 JD Power survey, presented in conjunction with What Car? magazine, was conducted among drivers of cars registered between September 2003 and August 2004, and the results were drawn up from almost 15,000 completed questionnaires from both private owners and company car drivers.

Lexus scored a total of 873 points out of 1000 in the ownership satisfaction survey, well above the industry average of 791 points. The Lexus IS (previous model) was voted the most satisfying model, demoting the 2004 and 2005 champ -- Honda's Jazz -- into second place.

In addition to topping the rankings for overall satisfaction, Lexus was the industry leader in three of the four key measures; Quality/Reliability, Service Satisfaction and Vehicle Appeal.

It wasn't just the build quality of its offerings that earned kudos: Lexus's customer service also earned it the highest Service Satisfaction score (899 points). The Japanese luxo marque topped the leader board in all five sub-measures within this category, including Service Advisor, Dealership Facility, and Service Quality.

Unsurprisingly, Lexus had the lowest problem incidence rate with 70 problems per 100 vehicles, well below the industry average of 198.

It was a strong outcome for Japanese manufacturers as a whole, but what was surprising was that four of the 10 "most-satisfying models" were built in Britain -- no doubt this will come as a shock to anyone that's owned an elderly (or even not so elderly) MG, Rover, Lotus, Jaguar, etc.

Be that as it may, the UK-built Honda Civic, Toyota Avenis, Toyota Corolla and Jaguar S-Type all figured in the top 10. Times are clearly changing...