Owners Rank These Brands Best (And Worst) for Initial Quality: Ep. 128

Are cars actually getting more reliable, or are we just getting better at designing cupholders?

In this episode of The AutoGuide Show, we dive deep into the shocking results of the newly released 2026 J.D. Power U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS). To help us unpack the data, we sat down with Frank Hanley, Senior Director of Automotive Benchmarking at J.D. Power. He gives us the unfiltered truth on which automakers are crushing it, which ones are crashing out, and what these rankings actually mean for everyday car buyers. If you want to know if your favorite brand made the top of the list—or sunk to the absolute bottom—this is the episode you can’t miss! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices