THE BEST: FORDS, HONDAS, TOYOTAS LEAD CONSUMER RANKING.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

When it comes to quality, Fords, Hondas and Toyotas are tops with consumers, according to a widely watched J.D. Power and Associates analysis released Wednesday.

Those three companies placed the most models in Power's annual Initial Quality Study, which tracks the number of problems owners of new vehicles experience within the first three months of purchase.

The study was introduced in 1987 and, as usual, Asian and European manufacturers placed more models on the list than domestic manufacturers. But domestic manufacturers are building better cars now, said George Owens, the study's product director.

``Quality as a whole continues to improve and while a gap still exists, domestic automakers seem to be working hard to close it,'' he said.

The study ranked the best model in each class and the top two finishers and ties.

Cracking the study for the first time, Chrysler nameplates swept the important midsize car categories. The redesigned Concorde was named best premium midsize car and the Cirrus best entry midsize car.

Most new models typically encounter break-in problems but Chrysler apparently avoided this pitfall with the Concorde, the Agoura Hills-based market research firm said.

Power said the Concorde's performance was especially noteworthy because the car's designers relied heavily on virtual design and very little physical mock-ups.

Seven Ford and Honda products made the list while Toyota accounted for six. Five General Motors models were ranked and Nissan placed four. Chrysler and BMW had three each.

Toyota's Lexus LS400 received the award as the best premium luxury car and the top score in the survey. It's the fifth time in the past six years the model won best in class.

This year, J.D. Power made major changes in the study, which means the findings cannot be compared directly to previous year's results. The number of potential problem areas consumers were asked to address was expanded to 135 from 89, and included features such as air bags and anti-lock brakes.

As a result, the industry average per 100 problems hit 176 this year, nearly double the 1997 results. This was expected to happen, Owens said.

``We tried to pick up on anything that could be a possible issue for consumers. When we started 10 years ago, some of these things were just on the drawing board as dreams and now they are on the most standard of vehicles,'' he said.

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PHOTO The widely watched J.D. Power and Associates annual Initial Quality Study was released Wednesday. A total of 58,117 owners of 1998 participated in the study. Their picks:

(1--Color) FORD ESCORT compact car

(2--Color) HONDA CRV compact sport-utility vehicle 

(3--Color) CHRYSLER CIRRUS mid-size car

(4--Color) LEXUS ES300 entry luxury car

(5--Color) HONDA PRELUDE sporty car

(6--Color) LEXUS LS400 premium luxury car

(7--Color) MERCEDES-BENZ SLK sports car

(8--Color) CHRYSLER CONCORDE premium mid-size car

(9--Color) TOYOTA FRONTIER compact pickup

(10--Color) HONDA ODYSSEY compact van

(11--Color) TOYOTA T100 full-size pickup

(12--Color) FORD EXPEDITION full-size sport-utility vehicle

(13--Color) LINCOLN NAVIGATOR luxury sport-utility vehicle

(14--Color) INFINITI QX4 luxury sport-utility vehicle