The Lexus IS, a compact rear-wheel-drive sport sedan, posted the lowest problem rate of any model in the 2026 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study. The survey covered 33,268 original owners of 2023 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership, and the IS was named the most dependable model in the whole field.
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That result extended a long Lexus run at the top of the dependability rankings. As a brand, Lexus finished first for the fourth straight year, and a sedan that has changed less than most of its rivals ended up beating crossovers, pickups and electrified vehicles that carry far more new technology.
How J.D. Power counts problems
The study ranks brands and models by problems per 100 vehicles, known as PP100, where a lower score is better. According to the J.D. Power press release for the 2026 study, the Lexus IS was the top overall model among three-year-old 2023 model-year vehicles. The industry average came in at 204 PP100, up two points from the 2025 study, so a typical owner is reporting slightly more trouble than a year earlier. Because lower is better, 204 works as the yardstick, and the 151 that Lexus averaged as a brand sits 53 points below it.
Owners were surveyed between December 2024 and November 2025, according to CarPro’s summary of the results. The questionnaire spans nine problem areas: climate, driver-assistance technology, how the vehicle drives, exterior, controls and screens, infotainment, cabin interior, powertrain and seats, as a separate write-up of the study lists them. A problem can be anything from a failed part to a feature that owners find confusing.
Lexus, Cadillac and Porsche lead the premium group
Lexus scored 151 PP100 as a brand, the best result in the premium segment and the best of any brand in the study, SlashGear reported. Cadillac followed at 175 and Porsche at 182. Among mass-market brands, Buick led at 160, Mini was second at 168 and Chevrolet third at 178, which means Buick’s score would also have beaten every premium brand except Lexus.
Jason Norton, director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, framed the findings around how long people now keep their vehicles. Norton said that “the long-term ownership experience matters more than ever” as owners hold onto vehicles for more years, according to CarPro. That focus on year-three reliability is what gives a model like the IS an edge with shoppers who buy used or plan to keep a car for a decade. The 2026 edition reflects vehicles that spent the survey window in the hands of their original owners, which makes the numbers a fair picture of ordinary daily use rather than showroom impressions.
Segment winners and why the IS stands out
The IS also won the compact premium car segment, based on the winners listed by Yahoo Autos. Other segment awards went to the Toyota Corolla in compact cars, the Toyota Camry in midsize cars, the Subaru Crosstrek in small SUVs, the Chevrolet Equinox in compact SUVs, the Nissan Murano in midsize SUVs, and the Toyota Tacoma in midsize pickups. The Toyota Sienna took minivans, the Ram 1500 won large light-duty pickups, and the Lexus UX and Lexus GX won in their premium SUV segments. Buick’s Enclave tied with the Toyota 4Runner in upper midsize SUVs, the BMW X4 won compact premium SUVs, and the Cadillac XT6 took upper midsize premium SUVs, so the awards were spread across several makers even though Toyota and Lexus collected the largest share.
The write-up credits the IS with a well-established rear-wheel-drive design and an engineering approach that favors refinement over rapid change. The reasoning is simple: fewer all-new systems usually means fewer first-year bugs left to surface by the third year, and the IS has avoided much of the screen-heavy redesign churn that tends to produce complaints.
Phone connectivity and powertrain trouble spots
Phone connectivity, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, remained the most common complaint in the industry for the third year in a row, according to the same Yahoo Autos summary. Over-the-air software updates have delivered mixed results, with most owners reporting little or no improvement from them. Premium vehicles averaged 217 PP100 across the study, a wider gap above mass-market brands than in previous years.
Powertrain type mattered as well. Plug-in hybrids showed the highest problem rates, followed by battery-electric vehicles and then conventional hybrids, while gasoline-only vehicles recorded the lowest PP100 score. For shoppers weighing a three-year-old used car, the pattern points toward mature gasoline models from brands with long dependability records, and the IS sits squarely in that group.
One caution applies to every ranking built on this survey. The scores describe 2023 model-year vehicles, so a newer IS or any other redesigned car is not guaranteed the same result, and an individual vehicle can still fall well outside its model’s average.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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