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Porsche and Mini are tops with J.D. Power for service satisfaction

But things aren't always going smoothly for those servicing their electric vehicles

Jil McIntosh
Mar 11, 2021  •  May 20, 2021  •  2 minute read  •  Join the conversation
Car services
Car dealership, roadside assistance and auto repair shop with people and workers banners set Photo by Getty

Porsche and Mini are tops with customers for their service departments, while electric-vehicle owners aren’t quite as happy overall, according to the latest report by J.D. Power.

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The U.S. report, J.D. Power 2021 Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, marked the sixth consecutive annual increase in customer satisfaction. The study covers customer visits to U.S. dealerships throughout 2020, by owners and lessees of 2018 to 2020 model-year vehicles.

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Despite the fact that many states had pandemic-related stay-at-home orders throughout the year, and many people drove much less – which in turn increased the interval for scheduled maintenance – dealership service visits only fell by 6 per cent from 2019. Overall satisfaction was 847 points on a 1,000-point scale, up from 837 in 2019. The scores measure service quality, the facility, service initiation, service advisors, and vehicle pick-up.

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“Dealerships made the most out of a disruptively bad situation,” said Chris Sutton, vice-president of automotive retail at J.D. Power. He noted that customers responded well to some of the services added because of the pandemic, such as picking up and delivering the vehicle so that customers didn’t have to visit the shop.

Ranking the brands

Among premium brands, Porsche ranked highest with a score of 899, followed in order by Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, and Lincoln. All were above the segment average score of 870 points. Below the average, in order, were Acura, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Genesis, Volvo, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Alfa Romeo, which scored 797 points.

Among mass-market brands, Mini scored highest with 864 points. The segment average was 843 points. Behind Mini, and above the average, in order, were Buick, Mitsubishi, GMC, Kia, Nissan, Chevrolet, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru.

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Below the average, in order, were Mazda, Hyundai, Ford, Dodge, Volkswagen, Jeep, Chrysler, and Ram, which scored 817 points.

EVs are proving problematic for some dealers

Among the study’s other findings, satisfaction increased when customers could use remote or online payments; and more customers were happy with their dealer’s “express service” for no-appointment oil changes.

But while many other customers were satisfied, those with electric vehicles (EVs) tended to be less so. Only 54 per cent of owners had taken their EVs in for service, but compared to conventional-car owners, their overall satisfaction was 69 points lower, and 76 points lower for service quality. The study found that EV repairs weren’t done right the first time at a level 2.5 times higher than with conventional cars. Sutton said that EVs are “in their early stages, and dealers seem to be experiencing growing pains with servicing these vehicles. Automakers may want to invest more in dealer service training.”

LISTEN: We kick off Season 4 with at look at new EVs available in Canada.

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