As a mass-market brand, there’s no beating Buick when it comes to service. The award-winning automaker just ranked highest with a score of 857 in the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Customer Service Index Study. This is the third year in a row that Buick has earned the top spot.
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The study evaluates the responses of new-vehicle lessees and owners regarding customer-pay maintenance and repairs/maintenance covered by a warranty. Brand-specific new-vehicle dealerships are reviewed based on five customer interactions: Service Advisor, Service Initiation, Service Quality, Vehicle Pick-Up, and Service Facility. The study also reviews customer responses who have serviced their cars at Independent repair shops.
In addition to ranking automakers, the study reveals what service departments are doing right and identifies the areas that need improvement.
“Service customers want the convenience that technology offers them,” said Chris Sutton, vice president, U.S. Automotive Retail Practice at J.D. Power. “For example, 34 percent of customers indicate they prefer to communicate via text message — but this only occurs 9 percent of the time! There’s no reason why this isn’t a more widely adopted practice across the industry. Dealers have easy access to these tools, so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Technology not only improves efficiency, but also the more satisfied a customer is with their overall service experience, the more likely they are to return to the dealership for service and to recommend the dealership to friends and family members. Customers now expect technology to enable more efficient interaction with businesses — and that includes dealers.”
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Approximately 57,286 lessees and owners were involved in the study. Respondents had to own/lease 2016-2018 model year vehicles.
News Source:J.D. Power, J.D. Power
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