Porsche, Mini take service satisfaction crowns in Power survey

Two small, niche auto brands scored top marks in the industry's major dealer service satisfaction survey.

Compact-car maker Mini scored the highest among mass-market brands in J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Customer Service Index study, released Thursday. Among luxury brands, Porsche grabbed the top spot, reclaiming the segment crown from Lexus.

Despite a year of operating challenges and disruptions that roiled the industry, consumers' overall satisfaction with dealer service visits actually rose 10 points, the J.D. Power report found. The improvement occurred as stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic tapped the brakes on service-lane traffic last year.

Customers responded positively to newly implemented pandemic-era convenience services, such as vehicle pickup and drop-off, Chris Sutton, J.D. Power vice president of automotive retail, said in a statement.

“When 1- to 3-year-old vehicles required service in 2020, dealers captured an even greater share of service visits, which is the highest level in at least five years,” Sutton noted. “Dealerships made the most out of a disruptively bad situation.”
 

Porsche reclaimed the lead from last year’s luxury winner, Lexus, with an index score of 899 on a 1,000-point scale. (See table, below.) Lexus, which scored 895, was trailed by Infiniti (887), Cadillac (883) and Lincoln (872).

While nearly all luxury brands saw an uptick in satisfaction scores this year, Hyundai Motor Co.'s Genesis brand accelerated fastest — up 30 points from its debut on the CSI list last year.  Alfa Romeo, which also made it onto the list for the first time last year, trailed the pack, rising 5 points with a score of 797.

Mini sprinted to the top in customer satisfaction with dealer service among mass-market brands, scoring 864 — up 28 points from last year. The BMW-owned brand recovered from a poor performance last year when it tumbled 17 points to seventh place after being ranked in the top three since 2015.

Dealers were challenged during the pandemic, Mini spokesman Andrew Cutler said.

“There was a general push by dealers to keep customers coming into the service department,” Cutler said. “A lot of them rose to the occasion knowing that in the service side of their business, there’s profit to be had.”

Cutler also attributed the improved customer satisfaction to Mini’s Invisible Service program. The technology platform allows dealership technicians to share videos with remote customers to show the need for recommended service work.

The average customer-pay value increased 38 percent with the use of technician videos, Mini said.

Among mass-market brands, Buick fell to second place with 859 points, followed by Mitsubishi (857) and GMC (856).

Tesla is the only automaker that doesn’t give J.D. Power access to its customer databases to be included in the study.

The CSI study assesses customer satisfaction with service at franchised dealers or independent service facilities for maintenance or repair work in 1- to 3-year-old vehicles that are owned or leased.

Five broad factors are measured: service quality, including total time and thoroughness; timeliness of the drop-off process and ease during the service initiation; knowledge and courtesy of the service adviser; cleanliness of the service facility; and helpfulness of staff at vehicle pickup.

The study found online payment options boosted satisfaction. While just 6 percent of premium-brand owners and 1 percent of mass-market owners said they used contactless payment options, pickup satisfaction is highest among those who used the options. Satisfaction scores improved 44 points among premium customers who paid remotely or online rather than handling payment via a cashier. Among mass-market customers, satisfaction improved 69 points.

“This is an example of a process some dealers may have put into place as a safety measure during the pandemic, but which they may want to keep in place, as customers find they like it more,” Sutton said.
 

The survey also found electric vehicle owners were less satisfied with service. EV owner service satisfaction was 69 points lower than for the average customer, and 76 points lower for service quality, the CSI study found.

“BEV owners present a unique challenge for dealers,” Sutton said. “Not only are their vehicles more difficult to service than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, but also the lower frequency of visits means dealers have fewer chances to make a positive impression on these customers.”