I found the info on BMW interesting:

I am pleased to announce that J.D. Power and Associates released its 2010 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) in which Mercedes-Benz moved up 10 rank positions, to 9th in the
industry. Lexus was again in third place, BMW held at 17th and Audi dropped 14 rank positions to 26th.

This is the first time Mercedes-Benz ranks in the top 10 in all the major JD Power syndicated surveys: Sales Satisfaction (3rd), Initial Quality (6th), Product APEAL (6th), Customer Service (9th), Vehicle Dependability (9th) and finally, Customer Retention (1st). It is clear that the pride and passion that is so much a part of CustomerOne and all the collective initiatives are yielding tangible results.

 

For 2010 test they use cars made in 2007, correct?
So 2009 test they use cars made in 2006?

How can these ranking change so much year to year when models stay the same?

 

Looks that way:
I know for 2006 the E Class' transmission sucked badly but by 2007 it was fine. So I guess it's things like this?

 

I'm gunna say that this hasn't changed my opinion on how great BMW is...My family (immediate and relatives) have owned numerous BMW's. Now that I think about it...they only own Benz's and BMW's with an exception of my dad's 57 Bel Air, and my aunt's Jaguar and my uncle's CTS. Anyways, the BMW's in my family have only been to the shop for REGULAR TUNE-UP's. And I am talking about at least 7 BMW's...so it really can't be lucky or a coincidence...

 

Audi needs to get rid of the Q7. It's an albatross.

 

Personally, I don't know about it's reliability or reputation, but looks alone, I love the Q7.

 

I wonder how much of the "Audi unreliability" is from owners not taking good care of the vehicles? Meaning, regular services, not thrashing the cars, etc...

 

I think Audi pays for the servicing so you'd have to be the Sofa King to not take advantage of that.

 

Wouldn't they take owner negligence into account, though? I'm sure good mechanics could tell if something had excess wear because the owner didn't take care of it, as opposed to faulty parts or materials from the factory.

 

At some point they stopped free maintenance and transfer of CPO to a 2nd owner (after first being CPO'd) and I wonder if THAT had something to do with this too.

 

I think Audi has a 4 year/50,000 mile warranty and the study only concerns itself with cars that are 3 years old and owned by their original buyer.