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Jaguar, Buick Dethrone Lexus

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Jaguar and Buick surged to the top of the 2009 J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study. Jaguar jumped from the No. 10 spot in 2008.

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By DAN STRUMPF

The Associated Press

Published: March 21, 2009

NEW YORK - Jaguar and Buick surged to the top of the 2009 J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study, tying for the No. 1 spot and dethroning Lexus for the first time since the Japanese luxury brand became part of the survey.

Lexus, Toyota Motor Corp.'s luxury brand, took the next spot in the study released Thursday, followed by Toyota's namesake brand, then Mercury, Infiniti and Acura.

"Buick and Jaguar both lead the industry in nameplate performance," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power.

The annual study measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Suzuki owners reported the most problems among the 37 brands assessed by J.D. Power.

Despite losing its crown to Jaguar and Buick, Lexus swept top awards in four segments, and Toyota's namesake brand took five awards. General Motors Corp.'s Buick LaCrosse was J.D. Power's top midsize car, and Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand took two awards. Chrysler LLC, which took no segment awards in 2008, won top honors for its Dodge Caravan in the van segment.

Jaguar jumped from the No. 10 spot in 2008, and Buick leapt from the No. 6 spot. The movement is notable for a study that is fairly consistent from year to year, and the results marked the first time Lexus was not first or tied for first since it was included in the study in 1995. Oddes said Jaguar and Buick have made significant improvements recently.

Oddes said this year's study was redesigned to exclude routine fixes from a vehicle's list of problems. For example, the study no longer counts tire or windshield wiper replacements as a reportable problem.

The industry average was 170 problems per 100 vehicles.

The dependability study surveys owners of 3-year-old vehicles. "The 2009 Vehicle Dependability Study provides information gathered from over 46,000 original owners," J.D. Power's Web site states.

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