Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity problems topped the list of complaints in J.D. Power’s 2026 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study for a third consecutive year, at a rate of 8.9 problems per 100 vehicles. The study, now in its 37th year, surveyed 33,268 original owners of 2023 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership, and the phone-pairing complaint outranked every other issue across 184 separate problem areas.
Three of the four other most-reported problems in the study trace back to the same root cause: owners trying to connect a phone to a car’s infotainment system. Built-in Bluetooth pairing, wireless charging pads, and automaker-branded companion apps rounded out a cluster of complaints that, combined with the CarPlay and Android Auto figure, accounted for 24.2 of the roughly 57 problems per 100 vehicles reported in the infotainment category alone.
The study covers 184 specific problem areas spread across nine broader categories, from powertrain and seats to climate control and driving assistance. Infotainment topped all nine as the single most problematic category, followed by exterior complaints such as unusual noises and trim fit, at 27.5 problems per 100 vehicles. That ranking is notable mainly for what it is not: neither engines nor transmissions, the failures that once defined long-term dependability studies, cracked the top of the list this year.
Software updates that owners barely notice
J.D. Power’s 2026 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study shows an industry increasingly reliant on over-the-air updates to fix the same connectivity gremlins that keep resurfacing. Forty percent of owners in the study said they had received a software update in the prior 12 months, and 63 percent of those updates were delivered wirelessly rather than through a dealer visit.
Fewer than three in ten of those owners, 27 percent, said the update actually improved their vehicle. Fifty-eight percent reported no noticeable difference at all, and the wireless updates themselves were tied to a nearly 14 percent increase in reported problems this year, adding 2.5 problems per 100 vehicles on top of the connectivity complaints they were meant to resolve.
Jason Norton on a widening owner-education gap
Jason Norton, director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, tied the pattern to how automakers communicate with owners rather than to the underlying software itself. “As owners hold onto their vehicles longer, the long-term ownership experience matters more than ever,” Norton said, adding that “many vehicle owners cite ongoing mobile phone integration problems and little to no benefit after an update is performed.”
Norton’s recommendation was for automakers to focus on delivering meaningful improvements and clearly communicating the intended benefits of software updates so owners understand how the changes are designed to enhance their vehicle. That framing puts the fix on the manufacturer side of the relationship rather than on drivers learning to pair a phone correctly.
Premium badges post the sharpest decline
Vehicle dependability overall moved in the wrong direction this year. The industry averaged 204 problems per 100 vehicles, up 2 from 2025 and the highest total since J.D. Power redesigned the study’s methodology in 2022. Premium brands drove much of that increase, climbing 8 points to 217 problems per 100 vehicles after two years of relative stability, widening the gap with mass-market brands to 17 points.
Lexus still ranked highest among premium brands for a fourth consecutive year, at 151 problems per 100 vehicles, ahead of Cadillac and Porsche. Buick led mass-market brands for a second straight year at 160, with MINI and Chevrolet close behind.
Toyota Motor Corporation collected the most individual model awards in this year’s study, eight in total, led by the Lexus IS, which ranked as the single best-scoring model in the entire study. General Motors picked up four model-level awards of its own, covering the Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT6, Chevrolet Equinox, and Chevrolet Tahoe, evidence that the connectivity complaints dragging down the industry average are not evenly distributed across every brand’s lineup.
Electrified powertrains carry the heaviest problem count
Plug-in hybrids posted the worst dependability of any powertrain type in the study, climbing 39 problems per 100 vehicles year over year to 281. Battery-electric and conventional hybrid vehicles each rose 14 points, to 237 and 213 respectively. Gas-only vehicles were the sole category to improve, edging down 2 points to 198, making them the least problematic powertrain in the study for the second straight year.
J.D. Power has already signaled changes to how it tracks these issues going forward. Beginning in April 2026, the enhanced 2027 study is set to add year-round data collection, continuous reporting, and integrated verified repair data rather than a single annual snapshot, a shift the company says should let automakers catch dependability problems sooner. Whether that earlier detection reaches phone connectivity specifically is still an open question, since the CarPlay and Android Auto problem has now topped the list three years running despite full product cycles of software patches from automakers, Apple, and Google, none of which report to the same J.D. Power scorecard.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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