The average new vehicle logged 204 problems per 100 vehicles in J.D. Power’s 2026 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study — the worst industry-wide score since the study was redesigned in 2022, and up two points from last year. Pop the hood looking for the culprit and you’ll be looking in the wrong place. The single biggest problem category isn’t the engine, the transmission, or anything under the hood at all. It’s the screen on the dashboard.

Infotainment problems accounted for 56.7 problems per 100 vehicles, more than double the next-closest category, and J.D. Power’s data zeroes in on one specific complaint driving most of it: Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity issues ranked as the single most-reported problem in the entire industry for the third consecutive year, at 8.9 problems per 100 vehicles. Bluetooth pairing failures, wireless charging pad glitches, and manufacturers’ own in-house app connectivity round out a mobile-integration cluster that alone accounts for roughly a quarter of all infotainment complaints.

The Screen Problem, By the Numbers

• 56.7 PP100 — infotainment’s total share of reported problems, the largest category in the study by a wide margin.
• 8.9 PP100 — CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity specifically, the top individual complaint industry-wide for three straight years running.
• 27.5 PP100 — exterior problems, the second-largest category and less than half of infotainment’s total.
• 217 PP100 — the premium-segment average, up 8 points year over year, as luxury brands pack in more screens and more software layers than mainstream trims.

Software Updates Aren’t Fixing It — They May Be Making It Worse

J.D. Power’s data included a detail that cuts against the industry’s own pitch for over-the-air updates: 40% of owners received at least one OTA update over the past year, but only 27% of those owners said it actually improved their experience. Fifty-eight percent noticed no difference at all, and the study found updates were associated with a 14% increase in reported problems rather than a reduction. “Software updates and new technologies should enhance the ownership experience over time, yet many vehicle owners cite ongoing mobile phone integration problems,” said Jason Norton, J.D. Power’s director of auto benchmarking, in the study’s release.

Automakers have spent the last several years selling software-defined vehicles as the future of dependability — updates delivered wirelessly, bugs patched remotely, no dealer visit required. The data says the patches themselves are showing up as new problems almost as often as they’re solving old ones.

It’s Not Just Mainstream Brands

The premium segment actually fared worse than the industry at large. Luxury brands averaged 217 problems per 100 vehicles, up 8 points year over year and outpacing the overall industry’s 2-point rise by a wide margin — a reversal of the assumption that a higher price tag buys a more dependable vehicle. The gap makes sense once you account for what’s driving complaints: premium trims tend to carry more standard tech, more screens per vehicle, and more layered software features than the mainstream models sitting one tier down, which multiplies the number of places a connectivity glitch or a laggy interface can show up. A luxury buyer paying a premium for a car is, statistically, also paying a premium for more of the exact feature category generating the most complaints in the entire study.

Who’s Getting It Right

Lexus topped the study for the fourth consecutive year at 151 problems per 100 vehicles, and Buick led all mass-market brands for the second straight year at 160 — both scores dramatically below the 204 industry average, and both brands notably more conservative about how much touchscreen real estate and how many redundant software layers they cram into a dashboard compared to segment rivals chasing a Tesla-style, screen-first interior.

Coverage of the release from Yahoo Autos reached the same conclusion independently: technology, not mechanical hardware, is now the thing driving the industry’s top dependability complaints. None of this is unique to J.D. Power’s methodology, either. Owners across every major review platform have spent the past several model years describing the same frustration in different words: a car that starts, steers, and stops exactly as it should can still feel broken because the screen won’t hold a phone connection through a full commute. The dependability conversation used to be about head gaskets and transmission rebuilds. In 2026, according to the industry’s own most-cited benchmark, it’s increasingly about whether your phone will talk to your dashboard — and for a growing share of owners, the answer is no.