Photo: Lexus
J.D. Power has tweaked its Customer Service Index study for 2022 to include new services like valet service, remote servicing, and online payments. The latest results show that most car owners are satisfied with the dealer service experience, although the owners of electric vehicles showed a lower level of satisfaction compared to those who drive gas or diesel-powered vehicles.
According to the 2022 J.D. Power Customer Service Index (CSI), dealer service departments are overloaded with requests while the staffing became thinner. The parts supply chain was also disrupted, causing further delays in servicing the customers. This led to increased waiting times for the scheduled appointments by nearly one full day among owners of premium and mass-market vehicles (to 4.5 and 4.3 days, respectively).
Despite the problems, the car owners trust dealer service departments to properly service their vehicles, even when they need complex repairs. Timely communication is also highly appreciated, with 42% of customers preferring to receive simple text messages to provide status updates or remind of upcoming appointments. Many appreciated the dealer service departments sending them photos or video communication related to the work in progress. Having the vehicle picked up by a valet or serviced on the spot increased the level of satisfaction.
This year, Lexus regained the top spot among luxury brands, beating Cadillac to the punch. Porsche lost 20 points compared to 2021 and slipped to third place after being the first in last year’s study. Acura and BMW rounded out the top five among luxury brands in the U.S. market. In the mass-market category, Mini leads the pack just like it did last year but only narrowly managed to beat Buick. Mazda came in third, followed by Mitsubishi and GMC. We would’ve loved to see Tesla in this study, but Elon Musk’s company is not open to sharing its customer database with J.D. Power.
The 2022 study was based on responses from 67,185 verified registered owners and lessees of 2019-2021 model-year vehicles. The J.D. Power Customer Service Index study measures five key areas of satisfaction: service quality, service adviser, vehicle pickup, service facility, and service initiation.
Despite the problems, the car owners trust dealer service departments to properly service their vehicles, even when they need complex repairs. Timely communication is also highly appreciated, with 42% of customers preferring to receive simple text messages to provide status updates or remind of upcoming appointments. Many appreciated the dealer service departments sending them photos or video communication related to the work in progress. Having the vehicle picked up by a valet or serviced on the spot increased the level of satisfaction.
This year, Lexus regained the top spot among luxury brands, beating Cadillac to the punch. Porsche lost 20 points compared to 2021 and slipped to third place after being the first in last year’s study. Acura and BMW rounded out the top five among luxury brands in the U.S. market. In the mass-market category, Mini leads the pack just like it did last year but only narrowly managed to beat Buick. Mazda came in third, followed by Mitsubishi and GMC. We would’ve loved to see Tesla in this study, but Elon Musk’s company is not open to sharing its customer database with J.D. Power.
The 2022 study was based on responses from 67,185 verified registered owners and lessees of 2019-2021 model-year vehicles. The J.D. Power Customer Service Index study measures five key areas of satisfaction: service quality, service adviser, vehicle pickup, service facility, and service initiation.
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