On the Motor Trend blog , Todd Lassa waxes poetic about J.D. Power and As  sociates’ top performing vehicles for 2008 (the ranking is based on the number of problems for every 100 vehicles). Todd reports that the top ten are Porsche, Infiniti, Lexus, Mercedes, Toyota, Mercury, Honda, Ford, Jaguar, and Audi.

Over at automotive.com’s blog, Joel Arellano used the same J.D. Powers and Associates data to jump on the Ford bandwagon, noting that the company improved more quickly than the industry average, and that Ford is the only manufacturer that’s shown steady improvement since 2004. He also exclaimed that three Ford models merited the highest rankings: Lincoln Navigator, Ford E-Series, and Mazda MX5 Miata.

That sounds all well and good, but Todd, Joel, and J.D. Power may have lost their bearings (if not their marbles). If Porsche is ranked number one, with “only” 87 problems per 100 vehicles, their definition of “quality” escapes me. Of course, the bottom-ranked manufacturer, Jeep, had almost twice as many (167 problems per 100 vehicles), but still…. 87 problems seems like about 87 too many. Do manufacturers (and those living in the rarefied air of J.D. Power and Associates) even live in the real world? If you’re putting out that much money for a Porsche (or a Jeep, for that matter), you have the right to expect that the vehicle is problem-free. Hey Todd and Joel, how about a zero tolerance policy?

We’ve talked about the Center for Auto Safety’s Car Complaint Index, which takes 2008 models and assigns a ratio that represents the number of vehicles sold and the number of complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. So far, we’ve talked about numbers 10 (Volkswagen Passat), 9 (Volkswagen Rabbit), 8 (Jeep Wrangler), and 7 (Mitsubishi Outlander). Today, we’ll move on to the 2008 models that captured the sixth and fifth slots on the list of cars with the most complaints: the Jeep Commander and the Toyota Camry.

The Jeep Commander has an unenviable list of complaints, ranging from cracking windshields to under-acceleration to broken front axles. The vehicle has also been subjected to two recalls: the front brake calipers may have been made from the wrong material, causing them to fracture; and the front control module, causing stalling problems or windshield wiper malfunction. The Commander also has six Technical Service Bulletins.

 As for the 2008 Toyota Camry, the complaints are too numerous to go into detail. Some owners have reported power train problems, while others have experienced speed control malfunctions. Leaking fuel plagued some owners, and many more reported visibility problems from windshield glare due to a design flaw. 

 Stay tuned for the next cars ranked on the Complaint Index. 

In my June 23 post, I questioned whether the Toyota Prius might turn out to be the first hybrid lemon car. It looks as though the Prius might have some competition from the electric Dynasty IT. According to Seattle’s KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, a letter carrier on Marrowstone Island bought the electric car for her mail route. Frost Freeman is now calling her vehicle a lemon, reporting problems involving everything from the IT’s underperforming range of 16 miles, to melted battery wires, to a broken brake cable.

There’s a lot of “he said, she said” going on, with the dealer making one set of claims and Freeman making another. So far, the manufacturer is refusing a buyback, but Freeman is marshalling support from locals on Marrowstone Island and appears to have an advocate in KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy. From my perspective, what she really needs is a Lemon Law attorney.

Over on the cars.com blog, Kicking Tires, David Thomas passed along a recall alert for the engine control modules on VW’s 2009 Tiguan compact SUV and 2008 Passat wagons. Apparently, the problem can cause an engine surge, and VW says owners should take their vehicles in for an inspection and possible replacement as soon as possible. In the meantime, new sales are at a standstill until dealers are able to inspect the modules.

My take on it? Dave, in Kicking Tires, you hit the nail on the head. Volkswagen isn’t known for its reliability, and this latest recall is the last in a long line of VW problems. Here’s a sampling of VW recalls for 2008 models:

• VW GTI, Jetta, R32, and Rabbit - Headlights can’t be adjusted, and could cause reduced road visibility, thus increasing the risk of a crash (340,000 vehicles potentially affected)
• New Beetle - The wrong glue was used to attach roof spoilers, meaning they could come loose or fall off the car and create an obstacle to other vehicles or hit a person outside of the car
• Touareg - A faulty fuel supply line could lead to a gas leak, which could cause a fire.

Recalls for 2007 included more headlight problems (GTI, Jetta, R32, and Rabbit), brake lights that could stop working (New Beetle), inoperative windshield wipers (Passat), and brake power assist problems that could lead to a crash (Passat and Passat Wagon).

Consumer complaints about 2007 models piled on to the recalls. Subframe bolt failures, braking problems, faulty fuel pumps, power train malfunctions, and a myriad of electrical system problems plagued 2007 VWs.

Worst of all? Volkswagen is notoriously uncooperative when it comes to settling Lemon Law cases. Nevertheless, we were able to help two of our clients to get Lemon Justice. In one case, a 2008 VW Jetta had a variety of electrical problems. After our client returned her vehicle to an authorized VW service center five times during the first two months of ownership, we were able to settle her case for $4,000.

In another case, our client had a 2007 VW Rabbit that had problems starting. After taking the car in four times, VW was finally able to resolve the problem. Our client had no problems with the vehicle for three months, but with tenacity, we were able to get VW to compensate our client with $3,000.

The Consumerist recently wrote about Chrysler’s cute new undertaking to get serious about quality.  That’s all news to us and to Consumerist too.  Pretty soon, each of Chrysler’s top 300 executives will get on the phone and call a customer who recently bought a Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle and ask a simple question: “Having any problems?”  Cars.com’s Kicking Tires blog wrote about the same topic as well, though the Consumerist’ sceptical tone is more along the lines of my personal opinion.

I could give them a few numbers to some of my lemon law clients, but my hunch is that they won’t have any problems finding dissatisfied customers.  It’s sort of like shooting fish in a barrel, I suppose. 

Get this, though… the execs are going to call one customer a day every day until Chrysler chairman and chief executive officer Bob Nardelli (freshly dumped by Home Depot) is satisfied that if his customers have troubles, their problems will be fixed. Nardelli, by the way, is going to make the calls, too.

I say, dude, you’ve got to be kidding me. How about you start with designing and manufacturing quality products, instituting strict quality controls, training mechanics to fix problems, and just generally, why don’t you start making good, reliable transportation.  That would be where I’d begin.  Forcing your execs to talk to customers is just a PR gimmick, nothing more!