J.D. POWER 90 DAY QUALITY RELEASED

In the mind of The Good Car Guy, J.D. Power's Initial Quality Survey matches quite well with Zero-to-Sixty times. It's a telltale sign.... of something. We're just not quite sure how much emphasis should be placed on either. 

For one thing, the J.D.P. IQS is basically a poll; not an election. Secondly, these numbers only represent the first 90 days of ownership. 81,500 consumers respond to a 228-questions about their cars (are your cupholders malfunctioning or does your engine fail to run on all cylinders?). Thus, you see that this is a sampling of a sampling. Some of the cars are exposed to some consumers who respond to some question. 

However, just as the 0-60mph time will guide you to faster or slower vehicles, so the IQS will certainly help you understand which company is building the higher quality stuff. And as the theory goes, if it's decent for the first few months, it'll likely continue to be a reliable piece. Here the Numbers you need to know.

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100 - number of vehicles, or sample size, to which the 'problems' in the IQS relate

87 - problems (per 100 vehicles, remember) for Porsche, 11 fewer than second place Infiniti; 12 fewer than Lexus; 17 fewer than Mercedes-Benz and Toyota; and 22 fewer than sixth place Mercury

118 - average number of problems per 100 vehicles across the industry, as well as Buick's figure; one ahead of T-17th Acura and Kia; six ahead of Nissan and Volvo

112 - average number of problems/100 German branded vehicles; three manufacturers being better than average (Porsche, Mercedes, Audi) and two being worse (BMW and Volkswagen)

123 - average number of problems/100 Japanese branded vehicles; with four manufacturers being better than average (Infiniti, Lexus, Toyota, Honda) and seven being worse (Acura, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Scion, Mitsubishi, Suzuki)

117 - average number of problems/100 Korean branded vehicles; Hyundai at 114 and Kia at 119

145 - average number of problems/100 British branded vehicles; Jaguar at 112, Land Rover at 161 and Mini at 163

137 - average number of problems/100 Swedish branded vehicles; Volvo at 124 and Saab at 149

128 - average number of problems/100 American branded vehicles; seven being better than average (Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Lincoln, Buick) and six being worse (GMC, Hummer, Dodge, Chrysler, Saturn, and the worst overall Jeep at 167)

67 - average number of problems/100 Porsche 911s, the lowest overall and 20 below Porsche's total

7 - drop in number of problems/100 vehicles from 2007's total of 125

Check jdpower.com for a more thorough look