Porsche emerge tops of J.D. Power and Associates Dependability Study

The survey gave Porsche a score of 110 PP100, or problems per 100 cars, which was the lowest of any brand sold in the US. Ford’s luxury brand Lincoln came in second, Buick from GM was third, Lexus ranked fourth, and another Ford brand, Mercury, was fifth.

According to J.D. Power, certain consumer perceptions do not really tally with the true reliability with certain brands. For example, Lincoln and Cadillac scored well in the dependability tests despite being viewed as problematic by consumers.

"It takes considerable time to positively change consumer perceptions of quality and dependability - sometimes a decade or more," said David Sargent, vice president of global vehicle research at J.D. Power and Associates.

In terms of specific models, Toyota was the big winner, with four models topping their respectively classes. They were the Highlander SUV, the Prius hybrid, which won in the compact car segment, and the Tundra and Sequoia pick-up trucks. J.D. Power also reported that overall dependability has improved for all cars, with a 155 PP100 average rating this year compared to 2009's 167 PP100.