Despite customers having to wait longer for an appointment and dealers struggling to find qualified technicians, customer satisfaction with dealer service has increased from last year.
According to the JD Power 2024 U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, which measures satisfaction with service at franchised dealer or aftermarket service facilities for maintenance or repair work among owners and lessees of one- to three-year-old vehicles, satisfaction increases from 846 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2023 to 851 this year.
“It’s encouraging to see an improvement in service satisfaction, but, unfortunately, the capacity and wait time issues have gotten progressively worse since the pandemic and show no immediate signs of easing up,” said Chris Sutton, vice president of automotive retail at JD Power.
While automakers have successfully ramped up new-vehicle production and kept incentive spending largely in check post-pandemic, difficulty staffing their dealership service departments and lingering parts shortages have resulted in longer wait times for a service appointment for many owners.
According to the 2024 CSI Study, owners of mass-market vehicles had to wait an average of 5.2 days for a service appointment—up from 4.8 days in 2023. On a positive note, owners of premium vehicles saw their wait times decrease slightly to 5.4 days.
Non-Tesla battery electric vehicle (BEV) owners are the least satisfied with dealer service. At the heart of the problem is their lack of faith in the dealer’s ability to perform complex repairs and to explain them, compounded by low satisfaction with recall work.
According to the study, overall dealer trust among non-Tesla BEV owners is 5.62 (on a 7-point scale). In comparison, trust among owners of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) is 5.74. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle owners express even greater trust at 6.00.
So, why all the bad BEV vibes? According to the study, owners of non-Tesla BEVs must deal with more than twice as many recalls as those who drive an ICE vehicle. Further, overall satisfaction with recall work for non-Tesla BEV owners (782) is significantly lower than for ICE vehicles (832).
“Excluding Tesla owners, the service experience for BEV owners is underwhelming,” said Sutton. “As sales of BEVs continue to grow and the industry moves out of the early-adopter phase, the typical owner will not be as willing to tolerate a less-than-stellar service and ownership experience. On the manufacturer side, a higher rate of BEV recalls is also contributing to an inconsistent experience. This is an area that automakers and dealers need to address now to help make the transition to electrification as pain-free as possible for owners in the future.”
One side effect of the longer dealer appointment wait times is that more customers are looking to aftermarket facilities to get their vehicles serviced. According to the study, 35 percent of mass-market service customers now take their car, truck, or SUV somewhere other than the dealer to be serviced immediately. Those customers also cite cheaper service costs (34 percent) as a reason for going elsewhere.
Dealers are increasingly embracing technology to boost customer service satisfaction scores. Indeed, the preferred method of contact is text messages. According to the study, customers strongly prefer service updates via text (68 percent) instead of receiving a phone call (16 percent).
Another way dealers can boost customer satisfaction with their service is by having service advisors send photos and videos post-inspection. According to the study, customer satisfaction with their service advisor is 31 points higher when they receive photos and videos than when they don’t (911 vs. 880).
With a score of 897 (on a 1,000-point scale), Lexus ranks highest in dealer service satisfaction among premium brands for a third consecutive year. Porsche (894) ranks second, followed by Cadillac (883).
Among mass-market brands, Buick leads the rankings with a score of 887, followed by Mini (884) and Subaru (877).
Lingering parts and labor shortages continue to challenge dealer service departments. However, embracing technology to communicate with owners can ease the pain.
To learn more about JD Power’s benchmark automotive studies, visit the Shopping Guides section of the website.
Jeff Youngs has over 25 years of experience in the auto industry, including 19 years with JD Power in marketing and editorial management roles. He also spent nearly six years as a media relations pro with General Motors. As a freelance automotive journalist, his work has appeared on JDPower.com, CarGurus, Kelley Blue Book, Autotrader, Autolist, and iSeeCars.
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