“As the electric vehicle segment grows, service is going to be a ‘make or break’ part of the ownership experience,” said Chris Sutton, vice president of automotive retail at J.D. Power. “The industry has been hyper-focused on launches and now these customers are bringing their electric vehicles in for maintenance and repairs. As training programs for service advisors and technicians evolve, EV service quality and customer experience must address both the vehicle and the unique customer needs. The EV segment has the potential to spur massive convenience improvements in how customers service their vehicles—but we’re not seeing the benefits yet.”

Key Observations – J.D. Power 2023 CSI study

• Vehicle recalls drive satisfaction declines: Satisfaction declines 23 points when an owner must bring their vehicle in for a recall repair rather than for traditional maintenance or repair. Recall repair visits also have a negative effect on Net Promoter Score® (NPS)1ratings, a vital metric for owners who share positive recommendations about a business. This is most evident with premium brands as the servicing dealership NPS declines 13 points when customers experience a recall.
• Service departments getting the (text) message: In the 2019 CSI Study, 34% of owners expressed the desire to receive updates through simple text messages rather than phone calls, but only 9% actually did receive texts from dealerships. Now, dealerships have gotten the figurative message, and, as measured in the 2023 study, are now sending simple text messages 21% of the time to update customers vs. making a phone call (17%). The go-to communication method for service departments is now text messaging, as more than half (54%) of Generation X,2Y and Z customers say they prefer it.
• Owners wait even longer for an appointment: Since the 2021 study, the number of days that owners wait for an appointment has increased 1.9 days for premium vehicles and 1.3 days for mass market vehicles. Appointment wait times are now 5.6 days for premium vehicles and 4.8 days for mass market vehicles. Labor, loaner vehicle availability and parts shortages continue to be the catalyst for the increasing amount of time it takes to get a vehicle serviced.
• Owners’ service preferences differ: Owners provide higher trust ratings for franchise dealerships than for aftermarket service facilities for complex repairs (6.14 on a 7-point scale) vs. 5.75 for aftermarket full-service maintenance and repair facilities. When ease of doing business is the primary driver, trust preference swings to aftermarket facilities for maintenance (6.18 vs. 6.11 for dealerships). These findings are based on a battery of similar questions asked both in the CSI Study and in the J.D. Power Aftermarket Service Index (ASI) Study. SM