By Gary S. Vasilash

In the J.D. Power U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS), researchers use “problems per 100 vehicles” (PP100) as a metric.

A lower number is better.

In an ideal world, 0 PP100.

But in the real world, in the 2023 IQS, it was discovered that the PP100 was up on average by 12 over 2022’s IQS.

And that’s on top of the 18 PP100 increase the year before.

So in two years, there has been a 30-point rise, which means a 30-point quality drop.

Clearly: quality is declining.

While there are things like difficult-to-use infotainment systems, there are also problems with. . .door handles.

Safety systems are certainly a good thing to have in a vehicle. But lane departure warning/lane keeping assistance and forward collision warning/automatic emergency braking both saw considerable increases—meaning, more troublesome.

The industry average is now 192 PP100.

Think of that: every 2023 model vehicle has approximately two problems that rise to the level of notability by those surveyed by J.D. Power.

The brand with the best quality: Dodge. 140 PP100.

The brands at the bottom: Chrysler and Volvo. Both score 250 PP100.

(Although Tesla doesn’t make the “official” list due to restrictions on surveying its owners, J.D. Power calculates that it would be below the bottom: 257 PP100. Which just goes to show there isn’t necessarily a correlation between popularity and quality.)