For the first time in 28 years, customer satisfaction with the dealer service experience has declined. What’s responsible for the dip in performance? According to the JD Power 2023 U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, the decline in satisfaction with the electric vehicle (EV) service experience is causing an overall reduction in customer service satisfaction. Automakers recall EVs at more than twice the rate of internal combustion vehicles, and the service experience itself can be bumpy as managers and technicians learn.
Chris Sutton, vice president of automotive retail at JD Power, notes that service will play a pivotal role as EVs grow, calling it a “make or break” part of the experience. Citing the increasing numbers of EVs coming in for service, Sutton says the dealership training model must focus on the vehicle and the owner’s needs. JD Power believes there are plenty of opportunities to streamline the service experience and improve processes, but the industry hasn’t reached that point.
Service managers face a learning curve with EVs, and their inexperience shows in the study. Satisfaction with service advisor knowledge is more than half a point lower for EVs than with internal combustion vehicles (8.01 vs. 8.59 on a 10-point scale), highlighting the need for dealer training and development.
In conducting the 2023 CSI Study, JD Power received survey responses from 64,248 vehicle owners of 2020 to 2022 model-year vehicles. The company groups customer feedback into five major categories, weighted by importance. The categories include:
The 2023 CSI Study finds that recalls are responsible for a 23-point decline in customer satisfaction when owners had to bring in a vehicle for a recall repair rather than routine maintenance and repairs. Recalls also drive a decrease in auto brands’ net promotor scores (NPS), which is how likely buyers are to tell someone else about a positive experience. Strikingly, NPS drops 13 points for vehicles with recalls.
At the same time, owners are waiting longer to get service appointments. According to the 2023 CSI Study, wait times for service visits climbed by 1.9 days for premium brands and 1.3 days for mass-market brands. That extends the wait to 5.6 days for premium vehicles and 4.8 for others. The study cites parts and labor shortages as drivers of the extended wait times.
Four years ago, the 2019 CSI Study found that more than a third of owners would rather get a text message than talk to a dealer on the phone, but less than 10 percent received texts at that time. That number increased to 21 percent in the 2023 study, and most Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z customers prefer texts to calls. Survey respondents say they trust franchise dealers more for complex repairs, but independent shops provide an easier business experience.
Previously, JD Power published CSI rankings only at the brand level. In 2023, the company splits the study into vehicle segments for the first time. “Each vehicle segment has a unique service experience based on customer preferences, demographics and vehicle use, wear and tear, so it’s appropriate to recognize the different journeys that car, SUV, and truck customers have in the service experience,” noted Sutton.
With a score of 900 (on a 1,000-point scale), Lexus takes the top spot for dealer service satisfaction among premium brands. Porsche (880) ranks second, followed by Cadillac (879). In the Premium Cars segment, Lexus (902) and Porsche (880) capture the top two spots, with Infiniti (878) ranking third. Among Premium SUVs, Lexus (900) again takes home the award, with Cadillac and Porsche tying for second with a score of 880.
Among mass-market brands, Mitsubishi leads the rankings for the first time, earning a score of 884, followed by Mazda (870) and Buick (867). Mass-market segment award winners include Subaru (Cars), Mitsubishi (SUVs/Minivans), and Nissan (Trucks).
When you’re ready to learn more about how individual vehicles from these top-ranked brands perform, head to the Shopping Guides section of our website.
Chris Teague is an experienced writer in the automotive and technology fields. In addition to JDPower.com, his work appears at Forbes, The Drive, Autoweek, and others.
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