J.D. Power has released its annual Initial Quality Study (IQS) and it paints a not-so-rosy picture when it comes to plug-in hybrids: they experience the most problems.
Now on its 39th year, the U.S. Initial Quality Study surveyed respondents after 90 days of car ownership. This year, it represents 92,694 purchasers and lessees, and even incorporates repair data based on hundreds of thousands of real-world events reported to new-vehicle dealers.
Using a PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles) scale, where a lower score reflects higher vehicle quality, plug-in hybrids are the most problematic compared to their BEV and ICE counterparts. PHEV owners reported 237 problems per 100 vehicles (237 PP100) versus EVs which had a 212 PP100 score. ICE and traditional hybrids have much fewer problems than both at 184 PP100 and 196PP100, respectively.
While seen as a bridge between traditional combustion engine and pure electric offerings, PHEVs potentially can be the “worst of both worlds.” J.D. Power notes that PHEVs can be impacted with issues from both combustion engine (shifting, hesitation, NVH) and electric powertrains (range, charging issues) side.
Other key findings in the 2025 U.S. IQS find that while customers do find larger touchscreen more appealing, their functionality within the vehicle is fast becoming a source of frustration. With carmakers now incorporating more functions into the screen—like climate control and even glove box releases—it remains the most problematic aspect with 42.6 PP100.
J.D. Power notes that “owners find these things to be overly complicated and too distracting to use while driving. By retaining dedicated physical controls for some of these interactions, automakers can alleviate pain points and simplify the overall customer experience.”
In terms of brands, Lexus is the highest-ranking brand overall in initial quality with a score of 166 PP100. Among premium brands, Jaguar (175 PP100) ranks second and Genesis (183 PP100) ranks third. Meanwhile, among mass market brands, Nissan ranks highest with a score of 169 PP100. Hyundai (173 PP100) ranks second and Chevrolet (178 PP100) ranks third.
Worst performers are all from luxury brands with Infiniti (242 PP100), Volvo (258 PP100), and Audi (269 PP100) taking the last three spots. The worst ranked mainstream brands? Mitsubishi (222 P100), Mazda (225 PP100), and Volkswagen (225 PP100).
Volvo with Chinese roots that is why it is problematic
ReplyDeleteAnd Audi (which scores worse) with German roots is why it is problematic? Geely has been very hands off as an owner and Volvo operates very independently. Maybe management and not ownership is the reason?
DeleteSurprised to see Mazda. I guess to much focus on becoming upscale that quality downscaled
ReplyDeleteDoes it include super hybrid system?
ReplyDeletePHEV many parts to maintained: electric motor, ICE, many batteries = too many problems
ReplyDeleteAnd I prefer PHEV.
DeleteVs the number of moving parts in a traditional ICE car? ICE cars have like more than 10x the moving parts. That's 10x more moving parts that need to be monitored and maintained.
DeleteP/HEV batteries are just checked for health and swapped out if there is a problem (unlikely but also most cars out there have around 8 years warranty, if it breaks you get a new battery for free, if you buy a battery to replace one that's out of warranty you get a new 8 years warranty).
The engine also doesn't get abused like in full ICE cars because it doesn't need to dramatically increase output if you work the car too hard. And even the electric motors are like super simple (compared to IC engines).
I don't claim to be an expert but the assumption about the parts difference is the exact opposite of what is understood about these cars.
Jaguar second?? I thought they stopped selling vehicles and are currently rebranding.
ReplyDeleteWill never buy a PHEV, 2 engines on one car. Always go for a regular hybrid or ice.
ReplyDeleteDo you mean 2 power sources (ICE engine + electric motor)? Because those aren't the same as 2 engines. Also, it's the same setup for regular hybrids unless you're talking about mild hybrids like you find in Suzuki or Toyota cars.
DeleteGood thing this study came out!. One thing it did not mention is that PHEVs and BEVs are almost impossible to repair in a collision.
ReplyDeleteStick to the old ICE and hybrids for a more peace of mind. Good job JD power!
Are you talking about getting into a total collision? Aside from being crazy and not having insurance to take care of your problem, IF you get into a total collision where the damage is enough to destroy the battery structure then the same collision would also make almost any other non-battery powered car unrepairable. Why? Because batteries for (modern) P/HEVs are built into the vehicle frame/structure. If the main vehicle frame/structure of any car is damaged severely then that car is no longer safe to drive again. A non-P/HEV may look fine after a collision that would take out the hybrid but the inner structure would then be severely compromised. The next collision you encounter would flatten you and the normal crumple zones won't work as intended.
DeleteExactly. If my ICE car suffers from the same crash that would total an EV, I’d rather have my ICE car declared as a total loss than have it repaired.
DeleteThis is true, but it applies to old tech of Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes and Ford.
ReplyDeleteToyota HEV proven reliable and durable, also very fuel efficient.
ReplyDeleteMazda is one of the worst likely for its clunky hybrid powertrain on CX-xx models
ReplyDeleteI read the results on the J.D. Power website and I want to highlight this section (which is partially quoted in this article):
ReplyDelete"For the first time, PHEVs, on average, have more problems than their battery electric vehicle (BEV) counterparts (237 PP100 vs. 212 PP100, respectively). Gasoline (184 PP100) and hybrid (196 PP100) vehicles have fewer problems than PHEVs and BEVs. The improvement in BEVs is driven by a 62 PP100 improvement for Tesla."
This says that this is the first time PHEVs have scored this poorly. So what happened last year?
Also, having infotainment issues as part of the score, while somewhat understandable, will naturally give dumber/plainer cars a natural advantage. As someone who's worked customer service you don't know the littlest issues customers call to complain about (or try to bring their car to the dealer to fix - assuming they think their problem is actually not a feature). But to be fair I've seen reviews showing really stupid design decisions with infotainment so people should really do their research before buying I guess.
Also, the last sentence talking about Tesla shows how a single brand can affect an entire segment. Yes I know they have about ~40% of the US EV market BUT PHEVs are around 2% of total sales sa US so if there are some REALLY bad (but popular) models with frustrating issues I can see them dragging down the average for all PHEVs (again in the US).
Toyota is so low on the list (6 places below average!) while Lexus is number one. Why is there such a difference? I mean I've seen some videos on youtube saying that Toyota's quality has been going down recently (like using less/thinner materials than their usual 'overbuilt' style) but this result is a big surpise.
ReplyDeleteSo HEV is better! Way to go toyota!
ReplyDeleteUS Toyota's (especially Lexus') PHEVs actually score very high in reliability (you can check with Consumer Reports). It seems like other brands just have bad PHEVs.
DeleteInterestingly enough, Toyota as a brand does not score well (or at least below average) on this report.
Volvo Geely independent of each other. Bro try going to Geely dealerships never mawala that they mention Volvo. In good times one and same in bad times Iwan sa ere.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you're trying to say here. Of course Geely dealerships would mention Volvo. The technology sharing was the main motivator for their purchase of Volvo way back when. So they definitely share underlying tech and it adds reputability. Outside of that, the direction of management (including major design decisions) is left mostly sa subsidiary (Volvo in this case). For another example, you can go to youtube and watch the video titled: "Lotus Should Have Been The Next Porsche: How Did They Get It SO WRONG!?" by JayEmm on Cars where he talks about the current state of Lotus after having been acquired by Geely. Geely came in with more money for Lotus and increased expectations but the problems and direction of the company is the continued result of existing problems within Lotus (British) management and Geely has not interfered (for good or bad).
DeleteSo most hybrid china cars really are shit? Got it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a US only report, chinese cars aren't sold there. Try another commenting in another article that you won't bother to read and maybe your random comment might get lucky and somewhat connect.
Delete/whoosh
Delete