People Still Coming Back to Toyota

When it comes time to replace their old Toyota, most consumers say they buy a new Toyota.

Well, J.D. Power and Associates contacted nearly 170,000 new-vehicle buyers and says Toyota had a 64.6 percent retention rate among owners this year — that’s both a 1% gain from 2006 and the highest retention rate in the industry.

Toyota was followed by Lexus (63%), Honda (62.8%), BMW (58%) and Chevrolet (56.8%), the only domestic in the top five this year.

Chevrolet’s retention rate rose from 55.3 percent a year ago. Ironically, Chevrolet displaced Scion — another Toyota brand — in the fifth spot. Scion plummeted to just a 30.8% retention rate, finishing near the bottom of the pack. That happened in large part because the xA was axed to make room for the new xD, but also because consumers say its number of offerings is too limited.

A wide variety of products, improved quality and more-appealing styling were the reasons cited for Chevy’s rise in retention, said Neal Oddes, director of product research for J.D. Power.

The five brands that were the worst at retaining owners were Isuzu (1.5%), Mini (21.1%), Jaguar (24.5%), Pontiac (27.8%) and Scion (30.8%).

Isuzu’s rate is so low you have to wonder if it’s on life support.

“It has had no new products recently, and no new ones are planned,” Oddes said of Isuzu.

Power said automakers’ failure rates are significant because it costs four times as much to attract a new buyer as it does to keep a current one.

Toyota maintaining first place was a bit surprising because in the past few months the manufacturer has been the subject of multiple recall reports, leading its quality to be questioned. Some critics insist it’s growing so fast it’s making mistakes.

“We found that owners don’t question Toyota quality unless they get a recall notice, and even then don’t see recalls as a negative,” said J.D. Power spokesman John Tews.