Car buyers, in a surprising shift from a year ago, are more satisfied with their American-made Buicks and Lincolns than they are with their Toyotas these days, according to a University of Michigan study published Tuesday.
But the turnabout isn't indicative of quality and reliability improvements up and down model lineups at both General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) .
Instead, the study contends, it's a function of Toyota's (TM) brand, which has suffered from recalls and other uncharacteristic hiccups, dropping from first place and allowing offerings like Buick and Lincoln-Mercury to climb the list.
"What goes up must come down, but it remains to be seen whether this is just a stumble for Toyota or a sign of something more serious," said Claes Fornell, who heads the study.
"But Detroit automakers would be making a huge mistake if they think the Asians will keep falling back to them," he added. "They have to do it on their own."
Domestics have made gains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index in prior years based on price promotions, which tend to erode profits and sully the brand, Fornell said. Lately though, improvements from General Motors and Ford have come on the crucial quality side. Still, Lexus owns the top spot with a score of 87 out of 100, up from 86 last year and easily topping the industry average of 82. The high-end brand dethroned parent Toyota's namesake brand, which fell all the way to sixth. Toyota's score of 84 now trails GM's Buick and Cadillac, Ford's Lincoln- Mercury, and BMW, all of which came in at 86.
A Toyota spokesman, without having seen the full report, declined to comment on the findings.


Toyota, like most high-growth companies, is just dealing with the growing pains that come with rapid expansion, Fornell said.
"I'm a little bit skeptical on their approach to fixing their current problems," he said. "But in the long run, Toyota will find a way to handle it."
Ford, which has been closing plants, cutting jobs and shopping some of its luxury brands, has dealt with the opposite problem. The Blue Oval brand has recently improved quality more than any other on the survey, up 7% over the past two years. Still, at 80, it still lags the benchmark.


Chrysler's Jeep brand brought up the rear yet again with its score falling to 75. Mazda and Kia were next from the bottom at 78 each.
The University of Michigan index is based on interviews with more than 65,000 consumers a year and has been released quarterly since 1994. Specific sectors are updated annually.

Last week, J.D. Power's closely watched dependability survey reported similar results, with Buick joining Lexus as the most reliable brand. Lexus had ruled the roost all by itself for 12 straight years.



But while it's true the Big Three are making some headway against the Asian manufactures, as a group, they still rank last. And it'll likely take more than a few positive study results to make a measurable difference in car buyer preferences.