The latest J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index revealed customers were happier with dealer service departments for the second straight year. However, the results also show that dealers are missing chances to improve the experience and engender more loyalty from vehicle owners.
The latest J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index revealed customers were happier with dealer service departments for the second straight year.
While overall scores were better, Power’s study noted dealers are falling short in some areas of the service experience. This biggest issue is the amount of time customers must wait to get an appointment to bring their vehicle in for service.
It’s improved during the past two years, but it’s still longer than from 2018 to 2022. Other shortcomings cited by customers include a lack of effective communication from dealers and simply not getting repairs done correctly the first time.
Simple fixes
If dealers can address these three things, according to Power officials, they would garner more loyalty from those vehicle owners and secure more sales in the future as well as get more business through their service departments — a big source of revenue for dealers.
“While it’s no surprise that customers gravitate to operations that serve them well, the study clearly shows that good service leads to loyal customers,” said John Tenerovich, director of automotive retail at J.D. Power.
“This phenomenon proves true across all service types — oil changes, repair, tires and brakes. While complimentary maintenance programs drive strong retention, the level of intent to return for actual customer-paid service depends on the service experience delivered by the dealer.”
What’s wrong
The study revealed that 12% of repairs aren’t done right the first time with the repairs made not fixing the actual problem or parts not being available being the most cited reason for the problem. When that happens, just 50% of those vehicle owners brought the vehicle back to that dealership to give them another crack at it — 5% went to non-dealer service centers.
Improving communication with the customer would raise scores, the study noted. Only half the time is a customer greeted by service personnel. Other shortcomings include not keeping vehicle owners apprised of the progress of their vehicle repair, focusing on what the customer needs and not following up after the appointment to make sure the customer is happy.
The study found customer satisfaction with the service of electrified vehicles — EVs and hybrids —lags satisfaction rates of gas- and diesel-powered vehicle owners — by a lot. Satisfaction (on a 1,000-point scale) among mass market EV owners is 51 points lower than among owners of mass market ICE vehicles, and satisfaction among premium EV owners is 57 points below that of premium ICE vehicle owners. The ongoing lack of well-trained EV technicians and frontline personnel is a key factor in the shortfall, Power officials noted.
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Best brands
Typically premium brands score higher overall in this study and that trend continued this year with Porsche scoring 912 out of 1,000 points. Subaru was highest ranked of mass market or mainstream brands with a score of 896.
In the premium segment, Lexus (900) ranked second and Cadillac (888) came third. Mini (888) and Honda (881) were second and third respectively in the mass market segment overall.
Subaru (886) ranked highest in the mass market car segment, followed by Honda (879) and Mini (879). Subaru also was the highest among mass market SUVs/minivans with a score of 897. Honda (884) ranks second and Buick (878) ranks third.
Porsche ranked highest in the premium car segment with a score of 906, followed by Lexus (891) and BMW(887). Porsche took the top spot in the premium SUV segment too with a score of 917. Lexus (902) was second and Cadillac (891) came third.
Chevrolet finished atop the truck segment with a score of 877, followed by GMC (876) and Nissan (873).
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