NEW YORK (AP) — Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

It’s the 14th straight year Toyota Motor Corp.’s high-end brand has held the top position in the annual study, which measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Lexus had 120 problems per 100 vehicles, down from 145 last year.

“That’s a pretty good track record,” said Dave Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president of automotive research. “They benefited to some degree … where a couple of their very important models in their second year on the market — the ES and the RX, which together account for over two-thirds of lexus sales — both improved significantly.”

Ford Motor Co.’s Mercury brand ranked second, followed by General Motors Corp.’s Cadillac. Toyota was fourth, and Honda Motor Co.’s Acura luxury brand was fifth. Land Rover, which Ford sold this year to India’s Tata Motors Ltd., was the worst-performing brand, with 344 problems.

The industry average improved to 206 problems per 100 vehicles, from 216 a year ago.

Buick, owned by GM, fell to sixth place in this year’s study with 163 problems, although its now-discontinued Buick Century was the top-ranked vehicle in the midsize car segment.

“The lower score is largely due to vehicles that are no longer in the marketplace,” Sargent said. “The vehicles are still out there, so the study is still relevant. But obviously they had some problems.”

Buick spokeswoman Debbie Frakes said J.D. Power’s study is only one of several that the company focuses on.

“Obviously we’re disappointed not to have been at the top, but as a brand we consistently rank high in many, many quality studies,” she said.

GM’s Saab brand was the most improved in this year’s study, improving to 254 problems from 319. More than 60 percent of the 38 brands in the study improved from last year.

The No. 1 problem cited in the study, based on responses from more than 52,000 original owners of 2005 model-year vehicles, was wind noise, followed by noisy brakes, pulling to the left or right, dashboard issues and window fogging. The study weights all problems equally.

Vehicle dependability has been steadily improving across the industry overall, Sargent said. Since the 2005 study, the industry average has improved from 237 problems per 100 vehicles to 206 this year. That equates to slightly more than two problems per vehicle.

Furthermore, the types of problems reported have trended toward “soft” problems, like funny noises or aesthetic wear, in place of “hard” problems such as major technical defects, Sargent said.

“Improved quality is good for everybody. It’s good for the consumer — they don’t have the annoyance of problems, they don’t have the costs associated,” he said. “For the manufacturer, it’s obviously good news because they don’t have to pay so much in warranty repairs.”

Broken out by segment, Lexus took top honors in six categories for its IS 300, ES 300 and LS 300 sedans, the SC 430 coupe, and the GX 470 and LX 470 utility vehicles. Toyota led four categories and tied Honda for a fifth. Toyota’s Prius hybrid was the top-ranked vehicle in the compact car segment.

Bob Carter, Toyota group vice president and general manager, said the J.D. Power results are important because they reflect the performance of cars after “real-world exposure.”

He said the Prius’ performance in the study signals the extent to which hybrid technology has improved since the company unveiled the car in 2000.

The technology is bulletproof, and customers understand it,” Carter said. “In today’s environment, the only concern I have with Prius right now is meeting expectations with availability.”

Besides the Buick Century, one other GM vehicle was ranked the best in its segment: The Chevrolet Monte Carlo took the honor amid midsize sporty cars. Ford led three categories with the Crown Victoria large car, the Ford Ranger midsize pickup and the Mercury Monterey minivan.

Chrysler LLC was the only Detroit automaker with no brands ranked better than the industry average.

Chrysler spokeswoman Mary Beth Halprin said its namesake and Dodge brands improved their ranking from the 2007 study and have improved by 24 percent over the past five years.

“In the last year, significant changes have been made in the way the new Chrysler LLC works on improving quality and customer satisfaction,” Halprin said in a statement. “Those changes have already had a significant impact. The cars we are selling today are greatly improved.”

J.D. Power’s dependability results are watched closely by automakers and are often used in advertising. Owners’ opinion of a car after three years can be a major influence on their opinion to buy that brand again.

The largest mainstream gas-electric hybrid car on the U.S. market isn’t a Toyota or a Honda.

It’s the new-for-2008, family-size Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, which stretches 16 feet from bumper to bumper, has a roomy, midsize sedan trunk and carries more than 16 gallons of gasoline.

Best of all, the five-passenger Malibu Hybrid offers the top fuel economy of all Malibus � a federal government rating of 24 miles per gallon in city driving and 32 mpg on the highway.

The hybrid car with a larger exterior is the 2008 Lexus LS 600h L, but at more than $104,000, the LS 600h L luxury sedan is hardly “mainstream.”

In contrast, Chevrolet’s hybrid version of Malibu has a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $24,290. Unfortunately, today’s MSRP, plus destination charge, for the Malibu Hybrid � already increased from the original $22,790 starting price � no longer makes the Malibu Hybrid the lowest-priced gas-electric hybrid on the market as officials at Chevrolet’s parent company, General Motors Corp., had hoped.

Both the 2008 Toyota Prius, which starts at $23,135, and 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid, which starts at $23,235, have starting retail prices that are lower than that of the Malibu Hybrid.

Add in early delays in getting appreciable numbers of Malibu Hybrids out to dealers � caused in part by leaking nickel-metal-hydride battery packs on earlier GM hybrid vehicles � and the fact the Malibu Hybrid doesn’t have all the hybrid features of Toyota and Honda vehicles, and you can see why Malibu Hybrids didn’t exactly start out as a hot seller.

The leaking battery pack was “a battery supplier issue,” according to Chevrolet spokeswoman Nancy Libby, and has been corrected.

But because new battery packs had to be diverted for installation in Saturn Vue and Aura hybrids with the problem, Malibu Hybrid production for the 2008 model year did not crank up for the numbers planned.

The test hybrid had the clean, pleasing looks of all 2008 Malibus. Styling inside and out is modern, without being gimmicky. On the outside, the only thing that noticeably distinguishes the hybrid model from nonhybrid Malibus is the hybrid badging.

Inside, the Malibu Hybrid doesn’t have the eye-catching energy display � complete with a diagram of a car � that the Prius typically has. The reason: The Malibu doesn’t have a full hybrid system, one that can propel a vehicle for a certain distance at times on electric power only.

Rather, it is a “mild” hybrid whose fuel savings come primarily from the ability of the four-cylinder engine to turn itself off automatically when the car is stopped at traffic lights and stop signs and cued up at school loading zones.

Thankfully, there’s an “auto stop” light that comes on in the instrument cluster at these times so the driver knows the car is still OK and hasn’t stalled or quit working.

But with the engine off, the Malibu isn’t using gasoline, resulting in improved fuel mileage.

The 2.4-liter, double-overhead-cam, Ecotec four-cylinder starts up on its own the instant a driver begins to lift a foot from the brake pedal.

But be aware that some drivers may need to change their driving styles. I tend to try to stop a vehicle smoothly, but my gentle brake pedal movement often didn’t initiate the engine shutoff in the test car. The Malibu Hybrid’s regenerative braking also kicked in and would alter my planned braking distance.

I discovered I could get the engine to shut off when I pushed sharply on the brake pedal, but then the Malibu Hybrid stopped more abruptly than I liked.

Don’t worry that on hot summer days, passengers will swelter in a car whose engine turns off automatically. The Malibu Hybrid monitors air-conditioning needs and in the test car readily started up the engine even at traffic lights when cool air was needed.

Too bad, though, that the startup often felt rough and unrefined � like a car dieseling and trying not to stall.

There’s generous room in the back seat of the Malibu Hybrid. I could sit there, with a front seat up a ways on its track, and stretch my legs. Seats were comfortable, and the built-in, nonadjustable back-seat head restraints appeared to be positioned well for all kinds of passengers.

Rear-seat headroom of 37.2 inches, however, is a tad less than what’s in the Prius, Civic Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid.

Rear-door openings on the Malibu Hybrid are good-sized, and the test car rode smoothly over most roads.

The 164-horsepower four-cylinder, with a maximum torque of 159 foot-pounds at 4,400 rpm, got buzzy in demanding acceleration, and I needed a good amount of room to pass other vehicles.

At 3,537 pounds, the Malibu Hybrid is 605 pounds heavier than the Prius. And, in contrast with the Prius and Civic Hybrid, there was no gratifying “oomph” from electric-motor torque in the Malibu.

The Malibu Hybrid also has an unwieldy turning circle of 40.4 feet. That compares with 34.1 feet in the Prius.

In combined city and highway travel, I managed 25.7 mpg. Even the Malibu Hybrid’s government rating of 24/32 mpg is less than those of the Prius, Camry Hybrid and Civic Hybrid, which have full hybrid systems.

Six air bags, anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control are among the Malibu’s standard features. The 2008 Malibu Hybrid earned across-the-board five-out-of-five-stars ratings in frontal and side crash testing, according to the federal government.

OnStar, an emergency notification system, also is standard and is something not on the Honda and Toyota hybrids.

A final note: There is a $1,300 U.S. tax credit available on the Malibu Hybrid. It doesn’t come at the time of purchase and isn’t cash. But buyers can document their purchase to reduce their federal income taxes by $1,300. Taxpayers subject to alternative minimum tax may not qualify.

2008 CHEVROLET MALIBU HYBRID

BASE PRICE $23,640

AS TESTED $24,290

TYPE Front-engine, front-wheel drive, five-passenger, midsize sedan

ENGINE 2.4-liter, double-overhead-cam, Ecotec four-cylinder with nickel-metal-hydride battery pack

MILEAGE 24 mpg (city), 32 mpg (highway)

TOP SPEED NA

LENGTH 191.8 inches

WHEELBASE 112.3 inches

CURB WEIGHT 3,537 pounds

BUILT IN Kansas City, Kan.

OPTIONS None

DESTINATION CHARGE $650