WORST 5 - POWERTRAIN DEPENDABILITY FROM J.D. POWER'S VDS OF 2008

Bad engines manage to take a good hold of resale value and flush it. Bad transmissions try very hard to do the same. J.D. Power asks thousands of owners of 2005 model year vehicles to describe the problems they've had over the last 12 months in nine categories. 

Powertrains deemed to be the most dependable can be seen here in a Top 5 post while this Numbers post checks out all the highlights of this year's J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study. Automakers ranking at the bottom of this this year's powertrain dependability section can be seen below in no specific order of their worstness.

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SUZUKI: With 302 problems per 100 vehicles for model year 2005 vehicles in just the last twelve months, things didn't bode well for Suzuki in the engine/transmission department. Perhaps those motorcycle engineers can start contributing some of their talent. GSX-R1000 mill in an SX4, perhaps?

MAZDA: This Japanese Ford outpost was 22 problems per 100 vehicles worse than the industry average of 206 and sits alongside another company that was Ford-owned at the time at the bottom of powertrain dependability.

LAND ROVER: Could you genuinely expect a company whose vehicles produce 224 problems more per 100 vehicles than the most dependable brand to be anywhere but at the bottom of the powertrain dependability survey? No, you couldn't and didn't genuinely expect anything like that at all.

KIA: Most, but not all, Kia engines of 2005 were sitting in Hyundai vehicles, as well. Hyundai ranked "about average" in this section of the VDS while Kia was in the bottom 5. Kia's '05 vehicles were third-worst overall as well, with 278 problems per 100 vehicles. Expect better results next year and drastically improved numbers in the 2010 study.

JEEP: 253 problems per 100 vehicles wasn't significantly worse than Chrysler and Dodge, but enough consumers reported problems in the engine and/or transmission of their all-American SUVs to place Jeep in the lower rung.