NEW YORK — Newsweek magazine has named Meineke Car Care Centers the nation's best automotive repair chain and tirebuyer.com the best online tire and wheel "manufacturer," according to its 2020 America's Best Customer Service brands report.
Rounding out the top three in the auto repair category are O'Reilly Auto Parts and Goodyear Auto Service Centers, while tirerack.com and Discount Tire Direct are runners-up in the online category, according to Newsweek.
Newsweek partnered with analytics firm Statista Inc. to survey more than 20,000 U.S. customers who have either made purchases, used services or gathered information about products or services in the past three years.
The results provided information about brick-and-mortar stores, online retailers and service providers from 160 categories. The awarded brands each received on average close to 100 evaluations from customers, Newsweek said.
The surveys were conducted during July and August and took an average of nine to 11 minutes to complete, Newsweek said. The final assessment and rankings were based on the Net Promoter Score and five evaluation criteria.
Fred Thomas, vice president and general manager, Goodyear Retail, said the award is a "testament to the friendly atmosphere, attentive service and expert tire and automotive care our Goodyear Auto Service associates strive to provide every day."
Goodyear operates nearly 600 Goodyear Auto Service locations throughout the U.S., which it describes as full-service tire and automotive repair stores.
Neither Meineke nor O'Reilly has commented on the Newsweek rankings.
Newsweek disclosed its 2019 Best Customer Service brands just eight months ago, when its research showed TBC Corp.'s Midas International franchise business as the top automotive repair brand and Discount Tire Direct the top online tire/wheel "manufacturer."
Midas finished ahead of Icahn Automotive's AAMCO franchise business and Bridgestone Americas Inc.'s Firestone Complete Auto Care retail business.