Vehicle maintenance coverage expanding

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (April 14, 2014) — The percentage of vehicle owners with complimentary or prepaid vehicle maintenance packages has more than doubled during the past five years, which benefits auto dealers and manufacturers through higher loyalty and repurchase rates, according to the J.D. Power & Associates.

The firm's 2014 U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study measured customer satisfaction with service at a franchised dealer facility for maintenance or repair work among owners and lessees of 1- to 5-year-old vehicles.

According to the study, 68 percent of luxury-vehicle owners and 46 percent of mass-market brand owners indicate their vehicle was covered under either a complimentary or prepaid maintenance package during the first year of ownership, compared with 35 percent of luxury and 15 percent of mass-market brand owners in 2009.

Maintenance packages help drive higher repurchase rates among owners, with 72 percent of those who have a complimentary or prepaid maintenance package repurchasing the same vehicle make on their next purchase, compared with 62 percent who did not have a maintenance package, according to the study.

“Maintenance packages — whether they're complimentary or paid for by owners — create a long-term relationship between the customer and dealership, which, when coupled with satisfying service experiences during that period, can have a very positive impact on loyalty rates,” said Chris Sutton, senior director of the U.S. automotive retail practice at J.D. Power.

“Maintenance packages help capture a higher percentage of service visits, and since customers with these plans are predisposed to purchase such items as batteries, brakes and tires from the dealer even after their plan expires, dealers retain key revenue opportunities for service and repairs.”

The study's other findings concluded:

• Customer satisfaction with dealer service continues to increase. Among luxury brands, overall customer satisfaction with service at a dealer facility increased over 2013.
• Industrywide, vehicle owners use ratings and review websites to select a dealer for service 17 percent of the time and social networking sites 15 percent of the time.
• The use of digital tablets during service interactions can have a positive impact on customer satisfaction. The industry-wide CSI score when a tablet is used is higher than when a tablet is not used. Tablets are used more frequently by service advisers in the luxury vehicle segment (19 percent of the time) than in the mass market segment (15 percent).
• Cadillac ranks highest in satisfaction with dealer service among luxury brands, achieving an overall CSI score of 872 on a 1,000-point scale, an increase of 14 points from 2013. Rounding out the five highest-performing nameplates in the luxury segment are: Audi (868); Lexus (867); and Infiniti (865) and Lincoln (865) in a tie.
• Buick ranks highest among mass market brands, with an overall CSI score of 835 — a 26-point improvement from 2013. Following Buick in the mass market rankings are: Volkswagen (830); GMC (828) and MINI (828) in a tie; and Chevrolet (812)

The 2014 U.S. CSI Study is based on responses from more than 90,000 owners and lessees of 2009 to 2013 model-year vehicles. The study was fielded between October and December 2013.