Its latest studied looked at how satisfied vehicle owners and lessees said they were with a dealership's service center. In the luxury segment, Porsche and Lexus were at the top and Cadillac was a close runner up in third place. Out of 1,000 points possible, Porsche earned 893, Lexus earned 881, and Cadillac earned 880. The study looked at five areas that owners and lessees rated a brand's dealer service center on: service quality, service initiation, service advisor, the facility itself, and vehicle pick-up.
Among non-luxury brands, Buick took the top spot with a score of 857. Mini followed in second with 853 points and Mitsubishi placed third with 846 points.
The study also revealed a major satisfaction trend among customers: they like to handle everything online. Satisfaction scores were 75 points higher among customers who said their entire service experience was completely digital compared to those who reported one that is all analog (i.e. phone calls). Customers by far preferred to communicate with a dealer via text messages rather than phone calls. The use of a tablet also helped increase scores for customers when they were at the dealer service center.The trend wasn't saved for the youngest car owners and lessees, either. Every generation, save for pre-boomers, showed a changing preference for internet scheduling. Generation Y has made the switch faster than baby boomers, for instance.
Analysts involved in the study said it's important that service centers respond to these trends as the tools are not hard to use and can help turn a one-time customer into a repeat visitor.
