Though U.S. consumers’ overall take on new autos’ quality is on the upswing, their long-held dim view of their infotainment systems is headed in the opposite direction.

JD Power’s latest Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study found that infotainment features accounted for a quarter of all new-vehicle problems, up from 22% last year.

Such technologies have long been like interior potholes for consumers, many of whom find them too complex, cumbersome and problem-prone, so much so that some people don’t even bother to use them.

Multimedia problems amounted to a high 42 per 100 vehicles, based on JD Power’s survey of nearly 79,000 buyers of 2026 model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership.

“As vehicles become increasingly software-defined, quality issues are leaning less toward hardware failures and more toward system complexity, software performance and connectivity,” said company Director of Customer Success, OEM Solutions Lisa Boor.

“Customers expect these technologies to work seamlessly every day. Brands simplifying the experience while delivering reliable execution are best positioned to improve quality and satisfaction.”

The survey did unearth some multimedia gains, including navigation, whose satisfaction score rose 17 points on a 1,000-point scale to an impressive 933 on improved usability and accuracy.