Filed under: Car Buying, Maintenance, Etc., Buick, Cadillac, Lexus
J.D. Power says Lexus, Buick and Cadillac serving up satisfaction
J.D. Power and Associates has released the results of its 2006 Customer Service Index Study that measures which brands have the best service departments. Not surprisingly, Lexus nabbed the top spot with a CSI score of 912. Whoa, but there's Buick right behind it with a score of 911, followed by Cadillac with 909. The bottom of the list is occupied by Isuzu with a score of 781, some 29 points below Volkswagen's 810. Of note: six out of the top ten service departments came from domestic brands.
The Customer Service Index Study measures quality of service in the areas of service initiation, service adviser, in-dealership experience, service delivery, service quality and user-friendly service. Survey responses were gathered from 79,580 owners of model year 2003 through 2005 vehicles.
(Follow the jump for the complete list)
[Source: Automotive News]
Customer Service Index Ranking
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
Lexus - 912
Buick - 911
Cadillac - 909
Jaguar - 908
Lincoln - 906
Mercury - 905
Saturn - 904
Pontiac - 903
Audi - 890
MINI - 890
Volvo - 890
Acura - 889
Chevrolet - 887
Infiniti - 887
Porsche - 887
BMW - 884
Honda - 883
HUMMER - 882
Saab - 880
GMC - 879
IndustryAverage - 873
Mercedes-Benz - 872
Hyundai - 869
Chrysler - 867
Ford - 866
Dodge - 862
Toyota - 861
Subaru - 858
Jeep - 851
Nissan - 849
Mitsubishi - 848
Kia - 843
Mazda - 843
LandRover - 840
Suzuki - 823
Volkswagen - 810
Isuzu - 781
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Kevin 9:13AM (7/21/2006)
I don't doubt that Mazda score (5th from bottom). Love my Mazda, hate the dealers. I've been to four in the area, and still can't find one that's competent and that I trust.
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Daddy-O 9:15AM (7/21/2006)
wow... there is no GM car brands below industry average... maybe its time to look into that chevy ive been eyeing.
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Pa Kettle 9:18AM (7/21/2006)
Can anyone subscribe to Automotive news? Didn't it use to be an industry trade paper.
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Puff Chippy 9:47AM (7/21/2006)
Only 4 Japanese makers above average and neither Toyota nor Nissan are among them. First GM passes the Japs in quality and now service. How long before perception catches up to reality?
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Gardiner Westbound 9:56AM (7/21/2006)
There are so many contradictory surveys from so many sources, including several from J.D. Power, I have difficulty accepting any at face value.
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G 10:06AM (7/21/2006)
Pleasing to note as well that Jaguar is up there at the top. It only confirms good personal experience by way of J.D. Power testing.
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
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Whydrive 10:07AM (7/21/2006)
I don't doubt that Toyota score either. It's virtually impossible to convince the Toyota dealerships to cover repairs under warranty unless you have a good lawyer.
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Ken C. 10:11AM (7/21/2006)
So, the moral of the story is: perceptually, Toyota makes great cars (reliable), but the dealers suck poo. So, buy your TOyota from the dealer, then service it elsewhere.
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Michael Karesh 10:13AM (7/21/2006)
Four things about this study:
1. This study measures satisfaction with dealer service, not the car itself. Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac have generally scored near the top of this study. Toyota has usually been below average. Chevrolet and Pontiac used to be below average, so they have improved a bit. Aside from Saturn and Lexus, what it measures doesn't seem to have much impact on sales.
2. Perception doesn't have much catching up to do. When buying a car, most people focus on the car, not the quality of dealer service. Partly, they figure that a reliable car won't require much dealer service.
3. Except for the three on the bottom, all of the scores are within 4.5% of the average. This is a very tight spread. That said, if you look at the level of dissatisfaction (1000-score) the spread appears wider. Customers of the worst brands are almost twice as dissatisfied as those of the best (88 vs. 160 points away from a perfect score).
4. Nearly everyone who talks about dealer service on the Internet says it's awful, for just about any brand save Lexus and Saturn. So why is the average score so high? Essentially, all but the bottom three brands score between 8.4 and 9.1 out of 10. Very high scores that don't seem representative of reality. Are most people happy with dealer service, they just don't speak up? Or do dealers have to merely be open to get the first 800 points?
Overall, my gut tells me that the scores should be lower and spread over a wider range. Why aren't they?
http://www.truedelta.com
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RWD fan 10:40AM (7/21/2006)
http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/mostrecall_1.html
"So much for Toyota's vaunted reputation for quality. On July 18, the Japanese auto giant announced a recall of 418,570 vehicles worldwide for faulty engine parts. This follows an even larger global recall of nearly one million cars and trucks at the end of May for faulty parts that could cause drivers to lose control of the steering wheel. "
Looks like someone's PR firm is kicking it into high gear to rattle Toyota's cage...
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Steve K 10:46AM (7/21/2006)
That earpiece looks like a Moto H300 but something's not quite right. Maybe a plantronics one? That's a pretty slick idea if a mechanic needs to get troubleshoot something over the phone.
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JMa 11:05AM (7/21/2006)
I agree with #9. Other than a small problem (fixed under warranty) with my 05 Acura (25,000km), it has met my high expectations about quality/reliability. I would however not rate my dealer experience anything better than average.
dealer service is important, but not important enough that I would be trading in my car for a GM in any hurry.
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Ryan 11:19AM (7/21/2006)
MITSUBISHI OUTSCORES LAND ROVER and VW and MAZDA?
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Ryan H 11:41AM (7/21/2006)
Figures, I've always heard that VWs are a pain in the ass as far as maintaining them.
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John B 12:02PM (7/21/2006)
#1 Kevin:
Too bad about youe dealer experiences. My wife bought a Mazda3 over two years ago and the Toronto area dealer has been top notch.
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blm 12:23PM (7/21/2006)
I agree w/ VW on the list. I have a new beetle and when it breaks down the dealer in Abilene TX schedules your appt. usually 5-7 days, then it takes a week to get the part. So i am out usually 10 days without my car
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Dave 12:30PM (7/21/2006)
In my experience, aren't most GM dealers GM dealers? How many dealerships are Chevy only or Cadillac only?
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Aki 12:57PM (7/21/2006)
Puff Chippy: If you don't mind being called a Yankee then by all means continue calling Japanese Japs. But I wish they'd ban your IP, given your negative contributions and backwards rhetoric. What a sad and pathetic little person you are.
Back to topic, I love my Honda but freakin can't stand the customer service. I always get "nope, nothing wrong with your car" even if there is something wrong. Granted it's minor things (dash rattle, 3rd gear crunching in), but dangit they treat you like an idiot. Maybe I just need to go to a different dealership.
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jon 1:19PM (7/21/2006)
I got my MB e 320 serviced.It cost me 1.8k and they turned it over to me with grubby fingerprints on the windows and a nice big dirty bootprint in the passenger footwell.Southampton N.Y.
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zane 1:31PM (7/21/2006)
GM should have great service departments as their cars make many many many visits as a result of poor craftsmanship, giving the mechanics LOTS of experience.
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