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Buick takes top spot in 2022 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study

People, economies, and supply chains weren't the only things continuing to get sick over the past year. The 2022 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) is out, showing the average rate of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) during the first 90 days of ownership increased overall. The average figure for the 32 ranked manufacturers in 2020 was about 166 problems per 100 vehicles. In the 2021 IQS, that dropped to an average of 162. This year, the average jumps to 180 problems. J.D. Power says that figure is a record high over the 36-year history of the study. Buick leapt to the top of the rankings this year with the fewest issues, at 139 problems per 100 vehicles in the first 100 days of ownership. After Dodge became the first American automaker to lead the IQS in 2020, followed by Ram in 2021, this year marks a three-peat for U.S. carmakers. Dodge took second this year at 143 PP100, Chevrolet third with 147 PP100, Genesis the first luxury maker on the chart in fourth with 156 PP100. Between February and May, this year's study gathered responses to 223 questions from more than 84,000 new 2022-model-year car owners and lessees. The questions are designed to zero in on real-world problems new owners encounter with nine categories of vehicle features: Infotainment; features, controls and displays; exterior; driving assistance; interior; powertrain; seats; driving experience; and climate. As has been the case in the past few year, infotainment has proved to be the most problematic bugbear making scores worse. Considering features individually, six of 10 of the worst problem areas dealt with infotainment, causing infotainment's score of 45 PP100 to be 19.5 PP100 worse than the second-placed feature. Consumers ranked getting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to connect reliably as the most troublesome.  GM didn't just score with Buick, which was one of only nine of the 33 ranked brands to show improvement this year. The conglomerate earned first place with the fewest PP100 among all the automaker groups, and scored the most model-level awards with nine, ahead of BMW with eight and Hyundai Group with three.  This year's study again showed a gap between luxury and mass-market makers, thought to be down to the amount of tech in luxury vehicles that consumers aren't properly informed about or that doesn't act as expected — that latter issue exacerbated by the chip shortage.

This Dodge Challenger was stolen, used in police chases and recovered all in the week before its SEMA debut

Most of the drama in a SEMA build is in getting the car ready in time for the big show. That was all Quintin Bros Auto and Performance was expecting when they built a supercharged Dodge Challenger Scat Pack with custom carbon fiber body parts, aftermarket wheels and upgraded brakes. But unfortunately, a bigger drama happened in the week leading up to the show. And it was the worst kind. As part owner Pete Quintin told us, the car was shipped out in a small trailer, and while the delivery driver was spending the Monday night a week before the show at a hotel, a thief showed up in a stolen pickup and made off with the trailer and the car. It wasn't an easy task, either, as the delivery driver had parked the trailer in with the truck blocking it. The thief used his own (well, not his own, but you know what we mean) truck to shove the trailer hitch out where he could access it, then hooked it up and took off. Several miles down the road, he parked, opened up the trailer and vanished in the Challenger. The following morning, the delivery driver discovered the theft, and Quintin Bros immediately informed the owner so that a police report could be filed and a search could begin. The trailer was found not too long after, thanks to someone who was following the story on social media. But obviously the car was missing. Folks on social media were also helpful in tracking the car, in addition to the help of the Las Vegas Police Department (LVPD). What followed was a week of chasing the car down. Twice the car was found in parking garages, Quintin said, and both discoveries resulted in police chases. The second chase was the most dramatic, with a police officer stopping after noticing the car. The thief was in it, and he bolted upon seeing the officer. He powered the Challenger right through the nose of the police car, damaging both. The chase culminated on the highway, where Quintin told us 14 cars were in pursuit, and the thief got up to 150 mph. Police ended up calling off the chase because of the danger. But the car was damaged enough that the thief eventually abandoned it at one last garage, where it was picked up on Thursday. Once the car was recovered, things gradually began looking up for the Quintin family. Pete Quintin said that as soon as LVPD found out the Challenger was meant to go to SEMA, the department got the car out of evidence impound as fast as it could so the shop could show off the beat-up car.

Jay Leno gets his denim mitts on Dodge's new Challenger Hellcat

The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is definitely the performance car of the moment. The fact that in the near future, people will be able to buy a 707-horsepower muscle machine straight from a major automaker for $59,995 and with a factory warranty almost seems absurd. We drove it recently and found the Hellcat to be just as much of a beast as its numbers would suggest. Now, it's a certain comedian's turn behind the wheel in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage.
This week's guest is Dodge President and CEO Tim Kuniskis, and he's there to drop all sorts of interesting factoids about the Hellcat. For example, its Pirelli P Zero tires retail at around $300 each, he says. That makes its smoky burnouts a rather expensive proposition. Kuniskis, who recently hinted at a mystery Woodward Dream Cruise debut, also talks about the genesis of the 2015 SRT project with a goal to get over some of the standard Challenger's weight and size disadvantages. The fix is a supercharged V8, massive brakes and other goodies to smooth over the platform's more glaring shortcomings.
Leno appears to get a big kick out of the Hellcat. However, he can't seem to stop bringing up his desire to drive one with a six-speed manual. They obviously exist, but Kuniskis has an eight-speed automatic for the retired Tonight Show host to try out. Of course, as with any Hellcat video, there has to be at least one burnout. Despite the expensive tires, it seems like enthusiast's law at this point - and dear ol' Jay wouldn't want to break any rules, would he?