2009 J.D. Power Quality Rankings Shake The Establishment

Each year, consultancy firm J.D. Power and Associates releases its annual Vehicle Dependability Study and each year automakers quake in anticipation of how they'll place.

This year’s results must have come as something of a shock to Lexus, after - for the first time in 14 years - being knocked out of the top spot.

This year, Jaguar and Buick shared the number one ranking.

The Vehicle Dependability Study results are gathered from data collected from over 46,000 original owners of three-year-old vehicles.

Owners are questioned from a list of 202 problem symptoms, covering all areas of the car.

Scores are then calculated in a ‘problems per one-hundred vehicles’ (PP100) score. The lower the score, the higher the ranking for an auto maker.

Buick and Jaguar scored 122 PP100 each, while Lexus rose to 126 PP100. Toyota and Mercury round out the top five on 129 PP100 and 134 PP100 respectively.

This year's industry average was 170 PP100, with the worst performing brands for the year being Volkswagen with 260 PP100 and Suzuki at 263 PP100.

See our gallery below for the full results of the 2009 J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study.