I'm sure by now, everyone on the planet has heard of this.. but Porsche tops JD Power's Inital Quality Survey. The winner of the 'Compact Premium Sporty Car' segment was none other than a Cayman!


http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/07/Auto..._iqs/index.htm

There is a thread on this topic:


http://www.caymanclub.net/topic.asp?...le=Cayman+Chat


But this is great news. I think the 987 & 997 models, and in particular the 987 CS, are very much responsible for this jump in initial quality ratings. This news could even help sell those Caymans languishing on some Porsche dealer's lot in Nor Cal.







Edited by - mpollard on 06/07/2006 6:50:58 PM

i guess filling out that questionarre was good for something....

__________________


My Cayman may be gone...but not forgotten.

it is good to see porsche get some great press coverage for the fine automobiles that they produce.[img]/fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/drive.gif[/img]

LOL!

<div class="inStoryHeading">Highest-ranked vehicles</div>



Sub-compact car: Kia Rio/Suzuki Aerio (tie)



Compact car: Toyota Corolla



Compact Sporty Car: Mazda MX-5 Miata

<h2>Compact premium sporty car: Porsche Cayman</h2>



Entry Premium car: Lexus IS250/IS 350



Midsize Premium Car: Lexus ES330



Large Premium Car: Lexus LS430



Premium Sporty Car: Lexus SC430



Premium Sporty Car: Toyota Solara



Midsize Car: Toyota Camry



Large Car: Pontiac Grand Prix



Compact Multi-activity Vehicle (MAV): Hyundai Tucson



Midsize MAV: Toyota Highlander



Large MAV: Toyota Sequoia



Midsize Premium MAV: Lexus GX470



Large Premium MAV: Lexus LX470



Large Pickup: Chevrolet Silverado LD



Midsize Pickup: Ford Ranger



Van: Chrysler Town &amp; Country

<h5 class="legacy">J.D. Power: Initial Quality Numbers Show Huge Increases for Jaguar, Hyundai</h5>
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<div class="eb-photo-txt">With a sleek, low average of 91 problems reported per 100 vehicles, Porsche's Cayman (pictured) was tops in the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study compact premium sporty-car segment. (Photo courtesy of Porsche) </div>
<p class="dateposted">Date posted: 06-07-2006
<p class="legacy">WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. &mdash; The J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study ranks Porsche as the most reliable brand and gives five Toyota models top marks for few quality complaints.

The top five brands were Porsche, Lexus, Hyundai, Toyota and Jaguar. The bottom five were Land Rover, Isuzu, Volkswagen, Hummer and Suzuki.

The Lexus LS 430 and the Porsche Cayman S were tied as models with the fewest quality problems, and Lexus and Toyota together received 11 initial quality awards out of 19 for 2006. Lexus received the top ranking for the 11th consecutive year out of the 20 years J.D. Power has conducted the study.

The organization has changed the Initial Quality Study for 2006 to gather responses from consumers both on production quality &mdash; which includes malfunctioning and defective components in a car &mdash; and design quality.

The Toyota Corolla, Camry, Solara, Highlander and Sequoia each received top rankings in their segments. But General Motors and Ford made notable strides in reliability as well, with GM vehicles placing at the top of eight categories and Ford vehicles in five.

The auto industry as a whole improved in reliability by 12 percent this year, in terms of number of problems per 100 vehicles reported by owners of new vehicles.

What this means to you: It's no shocker that Toyota and Lexus got good marks, but the real news is that the auto industry as a whole is getting better at initial quality.

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<td class="storyHeadline">Porsche, Hyundai score big gains in J.D. Power quality survey </td>
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<td><span class="storyByline">By MARK RECHTIN | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS [/quote]

<em class="black_11">AutoWeek[/i] | <span class="updatedStamp">Published 06/07/06, 5:06 pm et[/quote] </td>
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LOS ANGELES -- <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Porsche[/quote] leapt to the top of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, while perennial top finisher Lexus was a close second.

More startling, however, was <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Hyundai[/quote]. The Korean brand - which stunned the automotive world in 2004 by beating <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Toyota[/quote] in the study - repeated the feat this year by jumping to the third spot. Jaguar, which has boasted that its strong quality perception lags reality, finished fifth.

The top domestic brand was Cadillac, in the seventh spot.

Overall, domestic, Asian and European brands were scattered equally throughout the quality range. The study measures reported problems per 100 vehicles after 90 days of ownership. About 63,000 consumers were polled.

The Power survey also ranks individual vehicles -- and that's where the Asian brands shone.

In 19 car and truck segments, Asian brands took top quality honors in 14 categories. Eleven of those winners were manufactured by <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Toyota [/quote]<span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Motor[/quote] Corp.

Among the top-three finishers in 11 car segments, 22 were from Asian brands, seven were European and five were from domestic brands. On the <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">light-truck[/quote] side, in eight segments, 11 top finishers were from Asian brands and 12 were domestics. However, many of the domestic truck winners were in segments in which the Asians don't yet have a full complement of entries, such as full-sized pickups and SUVs.

The domestic automakers were not entirely shut out. In ratings of the top-quality assembly plants worldwide, <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">General [/quote]<span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Motors'[/quote] Oshawa No. 2 plant in Ontario was named the top plant in North America. <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">DaimlerChrysler's[/quote] Windsor, Ontario, plant tied for third with Toyota's Georgetown, Ky., plant.

Two of the top three plants in Europe were subcontractors. MagnaSteyr's plant in Graz, Austria, took top honors. Valmet Automotive in Finland, which builds Boxsters for Porsche, took third place.

For this year, J.D. Power recalibrated the survey, with more detailed questions and more questions about new technologies installed in cars.

As a result, the 2006 survey eliminated some of the parity that has appeared in recent years. This year's results showed more problems per 100 vehicles than in past years, although that doesn't necessarily reflect a decline in quality, Power officials said.

Power also split the survey into subcategories, one reflecting product-design issues and another defects and malfunctions.

Brands with the fewest defects and malfunctions include BMW, Chrysler, Hyundai, Lexus, Porsche and Toyota. Brands with the fewest design problems include GMC, Hyundai, Jaguar, Lexus, Nissan and Porsche.

Because the new survey's problem count is not comparable with the old results, Power also conducted a version of the old study so that <span class="kLink" style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #cc3333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">automakers[/quote] could track year-over-year progress. Those results will not be made available to the public.
<span class="aw_artsubheadline">2006 Nameplate IQS Ranking[/quote]
<span class="black_14_b">PROBLEMS PER 100 VEHICLES[/quote]
Porsche 91
Lexus 93
Hyundai 102
Toyota 106
Jaguar 109
Honda 110
Cadillac 117
Infiniti 117
GMC 119
Acura 120
Chrysler 120
Lincoln 121
Nissan 121
Chevrolet 124
Industry Average 124
Ford 127
Mercury 129
Saturn 129
Audi 130
Dodge 132
Pontiac 133
Volvo 133
Buick 134
Mitsubishi 135
Kia 136
Mercedes-Benz 139
Scion 140
BMW 142
Subaru 146
Mazda 150
MINI 150
Jeep 153
Saab 163
Suzuki 169
HUMMER 171
Volkswagen 171
Isuzu 191
Land Rover 204
Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Initial Quality StudySM
NOTE: Due to changes in study methodology, 2006 IQS scores are not comparable to previous years.
Scores are based on rounded figures for problems per 100 vehicles.


<span class="aw_artsubheadline">Top three models per segment[/quote]
<span class="black_14_b">[/quote]
Car Segments
Sub-Compact Car: Kia Rio/Rio Cinco and Suzuki Aerio (tie)
Compact Car: Toyota Corolla
Compact Sporty Car: Mazda MX-5 Miata
Compact Premium Sporty Car: Porsche Cayman
Entry Premium Car: Lexus IS 250/IS 350
Midsize Premium Car: Lexus ES 330
Large Premium Car: Lexus LS 430
Premium Sporty Car: Lexus SC 430
Midsize Sporty Car: Toyota Solara
Midsize Car: Toyota Camry
Large Car: Pontiac Grand Prix

Truck / Multi-Activity Vehicle (MAV) Segments
Compact MAV: Hyundai Tucson
Midsize MAV: Toyota Highlander
Large MAV: Toyota Sequoia
Midsize Premium MAV: Lexus GX 470
Large Premium MAV: Lexus LX 470
Large Pickup: Chevrolet Silverado LD
Midsize Pickup: Ford Ranger
Van: Chrysler Town &amp; Country

Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Initial Quality Study

This is actually just amazing, and is an unexpected way for the Cayman to garner some of the biggest press it has in awhile. Yesterday it was right up at the top of google news, and quality is something that just about every new buyer asks about.



I hope it holds up for the long term, as this is pretty early in the Cayman S life-cycle.