J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study methods The study rates quality by "problems per 100 vehicles" in the first 90 days of ownership. This is the first year that the study incorporated franchise dealership repair visits with its "voice of the customer" data to create a more expansive metric. The industry average this year was 195 problems per 100 vehicles — put another way, it means that the average new vehicle had 1.95 customer-reported problems, Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, told the Detroit Free Press — a part of the USA TODAY Network. That's a modest decline in quality from a year-ago when the survey found 192 problems per 100 vehicles. The lower the score, the higher the vehicle's quality. Last year, Dodge, Ram and Buick took the top three spots. J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study best cars See what J.D Power named best in its category: Best vehicle brands and scores (mass market) Ram with a score of 149 Chevrolet with a score of 160 Hyundai with a score of 162 Best vehicle brands and scores (premium) Porsche with a score of 172 Lexus with a score of 174 Genesis with a score of 184 GM came in high for quality across the most models Of GM's four brands, only Chevrolet and Buick ranked above industry average with scores of 160 and 164 problems per 100 vehicles, respectively. GMC and Cadillac came above the industry average. GMC had a score of 201 and Cadillac 214. Nevertheless, J.D. Power said GM won six model-level awards, the most of all the automakers. GM models ranked highest in their segment: Cadillac XT5 midsize SUV (Lexus RX second) Cadillac XT6 upper midsize SUV (Porsche Cayenne second) Chevrolet Equinox midsize SUV (GMC Terrain second) Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty pickup (Ford Super Duty second, Ram 2500/3500 third) Chevrolet Tahoe large SUV (Chevrolet Suburban second) Chevrolet Traverse midsize SUV (Ford Explorer second) The other automakers to win the most model awards were Hyundai and Toyota, each with four awards. Hyundai models that rank highest in their respective segment are Genesis G80, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Kia Carnival and Kia Forte. Toyota models that rank highest in their respective segment are Lexus IS, Lexus LC, Lexus UX and Toyota Camry. Toyota has the highest-ranking model overall, the Lexus LC, with 106 PP100 Among brands, Chevrolet received the most segment awards (four), followed by Lexus (three). Cutting edge cars, cutting edge problems But the study found that new technology on vehicles actually hindered some automakers' ability to maintain high quality. The study showed EVs and plug-in hybrids require more repairs than gasoline-powered vehicles in all the repair categories. Electric carmaker Polestar topped the list with 316 problems per hundred cars. EV automakers Tesla and Rivian rated poorly too, with a score of 266 each.