Go buy a Buick. Really.

It wound up 3rd in J.D. Power's annual rundown of most dependable cars. Mercury was 5th. They both topped Toyota, Honda, Lexus and Mercedes as having greater long-term reliability. Unfortunately for these makes, changing perceptions takes time, although the Toyota fiasco may be speed up that process. The study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of three-year-old vehicles, includes 198 different symptoms across all areas of the vehicle. All told, 25 of 36 brands improved their overall quality, a circumstance that auto repair shops are noticing all too well. They're becoming a new version of the Maytag repair man - not good news for dealerships that typically rely on the service side for a big chunk of their profit margins. By the way, the Toyota recalls didn't factor into the ranking because the survey was taken between October and December of last year.