Infotainment Problems Persist as Overall Vehicle Quality Improves: Survey

As digital touchscreens become an increasingly important part of the driving experience, they are also a major source of frustration for Americans with new cars, a recent survey suggests.

Infotainment systems accounted for 42.4 problems per 100 vehicles in 2026, according to the U.S. Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study released Sept. 9 by automotive analytics firm JD Power.

That figure was little changed from a year earlier. But because quality improved in other areas of new vehicles, infotainment systems now account for 25 percent of all reported problems.

Infotainment was also the only major vehicle category to worsen from a year earlier.

“The industry continues to make progress improving overall vehicle quality, but multimedia remains a persistent challenge,” Lisa Boor, director of customer success at JD Power, said in a statement.

According to Boor, vehicle quality problems are increasingly shifting away from hardware failures and toward software performance, system complexity, and connectivity.

The study was based on responses from 78,514 buyers and lessees of 2026 model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership.

Not every aspect of in-car technology deteriorated. Navigation-related problems declined, while overall satisfaction with vehicle navigation rose 17 points to 933 on JD Power’s 1,000-point scale.

The findings echo JD Power’s broader Initial Quality Study released in June.

That report found that overall new-vehicle quality improved significantly, with reported problems falling to 175 per 100 vehicles from 192 a year earlier. Nine of the 10 categories measured showed improvement.

Infotainment was the only exception, with 44.4 problems per 100 vehicles among mass-market brands and 38.3 among premium brands.

Problems involving Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity were the biggest contributors to the decline in infotainment quality.

The study also found that, among owners who complained about features that distracted them while driving, 46 percent blamed infotainment systems or touchscreens.

A separate JD Power technology study released in August found that adding more screens and features does not necessarily improve the ownership experience.

According to the study, passenger-side display screens were among the most problematic technologies, with 21.3 problems reported per 100 vehicles.

At the same time, 35 percent of owners whose vehicles had passenger screens said they had never used them. Just 6 percent said they used the screens every time they drove.

“As more technology is introduced into vehicles, keeping the experience simple matters more than ever,” Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at JD Power, said in a June press release.