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How stupid we are as consumers, right? We fall into a trap believing Honda is still the most-reliable, but in reality, Honda is rated near dead-last in initial-quality and dependability by JD power.
Who has been the top rated brand on JD Power's initial quality list for two years running? Kia. #1 in 2016 and 2017, #2 to sister brand Genesis in 2018. Ahead of everyone mentioned so far. But no mention of the Optima in this thread.
Kia Optima is an excellent choice, and I would rate it #2, but many cities across America don't have a Kia dealer nearby yet. Most rural US towns are forced to ignore Kia and Hyundai in ratings.
So, 2019 Ford Fusion S wins Gold platinum by me for reliability and durability, based on supply availability and excellent value.
Who has been the top rated brand on JD Power's initial quality list for two years running? Kia. #1 in 2016 and 2017, #2 to sister brand Genesis in 2018. Ahead of everyone mentioned so far. But no mention of the Optima in this thread.
Initial quality doesn’t mean anything and doesn’t tell the story of how the car will hold up years down the road.
JD Power's initial quality study often sees vehicles rank poorly because of design features or elements, or how they function as not meeting owner expectations and is not a yard stick for mechanical reliability or dependability.
I could not say why Honda's are low for certainty, but my suspicion is that it is due to the functioning of their tech packages. In general, I have found Honda to have less user friendly and intuitive tech interfaces than some other competing brands... and that is just the type of thing that causes low JD Power initial quality scores.
Back years ago the Hummer H2 scored poorly in JD Power's initial study, mainly because people were upset with it's poor gas mileage. You may wonder why they did not assume it would be bad based on what they were buying, but it was and they hammered it in the survey.
The original mini coopers scored near dead last too... due to a poor cupholder design.
Anyway, such scores may reflect poor design or execution on something about the car, but generally are not at all reflective of long term mechanical/operational reliability.
Basically, any study provides some value but only so long as it is understood what it is really studying (and not what the publisher is advertising it as)
Camry is nice but the Avalon? Can't design a worse front end, ridiculously horrible.
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I am huge Toyota fan. Owned 2 Toyota cars. My dilemma is between Camry and Avalon. 
We fall into a trap believing Honda is still the most-reliable, but in reality, Honda is rated near dead-last in initial-quality and dependability by JD power.
