New Cars Get Better Scores

J.D. Power poll find modest uptick but still much room for improvement on tech.

Hannah Mitchell・Executive Editor

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July 25, 2025

BMW's 4 Series won one of the German automaker's industry-leading five segment awards in the J.D. Power study.

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BMW

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Recent vehicle buyers’ satisfaction with their new rides rose with 2025 model year for the highest score in five years.

An annual J.D. Power automotive performance survey tallied an overall satisfaction score of 851 on a 1,000-point scale in a poll of about 93,000 consumers after 90 days of vehicle ownership, up four points.

Respondents particularly liked fuel economy, which gained 13 points, followed by interior and infotainment, which both rose six points. Many consumers, especially of premium models, are taking advantage of interior customization through the creation of “user profiles” for settings such as temperature control and seat position, the research found.

But for the second straight year, new models didn’t fare as well as carryover models, largely due to infotainment features and vehicle setup via mobile applications, J.D. Power found. The satisfaction gap was particularly pronounced among premium vehicle owners.

“This suggests that increasing technology and menu complexity remain persistent challenges for the industry,” said J.D. Power Senior Director of Auto Benchmarking Frank Hanley in a press release on the report.

The study also found owners of new gas-powered and hybrid vehicles more consistently satisfied than their electric-vehicle counterparts and that premium vehicle owners’ emotional satisfaction surpassed that of mass-market buyers’.

Among brands, Porsche took the checkered flag among premium makers with a satisfaction score of 890, followed by Land Rover with 886 and BMW with 881. MINI outpaced mass-market competitors, scoring 876, with Dodge second at 868 and GMC third with 852.

Model-level awards are as follows:

The most model-level awards went to BMW, with five segment awards and highest-ranking model, followed by Hyundai with four segment awards, and Ford and Volkswagen, both with three segment awards.

The complete list of award recipients is: