When people find themselves in the lead in some aspect of life, they tend to slack off at least a little and sometimes a lot. That is one of the immutable truths of human behavior that tend to ignore international borders as well as every other obvious differentiator.
Which is why it's wise to consider a study on how American car buyers get treated when they go to their dealers for service. Strictly speaking, it does not translate precisely to the Canadian scene, since there are differences in corporate management, government legislation, dealer franchise agreements, and so on.
But it's hard to believe that Canadian car dealers behave that differently from their American colleagues, so there surely is a considerably good lesson to be learned in the J. D. Power Customer Service Index Study that was just released.
For the potential car buyer, the lesson would be that you're likely to get treated worse at dealerships whose brands are racking up bigger sales numbers on a regular basis. Conversely, a brand that's been struggling is likely to treat you better.
It's not a hard and fast rule, but it's the sharpest impression you get when you consider the accompanying chart. You look at these results and you see many of the brands that are struggling to change the consumer conception of their products doing better than the firms who have a strong product reputation to lean on. Look at where such high-flying Asian brands as Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, Mazda, Kia and Nissan are.
How better to change consumer impressions, after all, than to treat them better by trying harder?
It also helps if you've paid more for your vehicle, since the dealers of pricier cars seem to give greater satisfaction, but that is also not a hard rule.
There is Saturn, after all, though that brand made its reputation on delivering an excellent dealer experience even though its cars are inexpensive.
Consider that Lincoln -- which has probably fallen out of most people's list of brands to buy a luxury car from -- is at the top, and that Mini and VW -- which are still seen as being cool by many people -- are near the bottom.
I would further venture to say that this study by Power would apply pretty well in Canada, as it supports less structured evidence from web blogs, industry insider comments, and consumer criticisms in this country.
Like the 24 other service studies that went before it, the 2005 version "measures customer satisfaction of vehicle owners who visited the dealer service department for maintenance or repair work during the first three years of ownership, which typically represents the majority of the vehicle warranty period."
The 2005 CSI Study is based on responses from 99,550 owners and lessees of 2002 to 2004 model-year vehicles in the U.S., and it judges overall customer satisfaction on six measures -- service initiation, service advisor, in-dealership experience, service delivery, service quality and user-friendly service.
Lincoln scores particularly well with customers in the areas of service initiation and user-friendly service. Lincoln customers are particularly pleased with the dealership's ability to get them in for an appointment within a reasonable amount of time, and the fairness of charges. Lincoln is the first domestic make to rank highest in CSI for two consecutive years.
The overall answer to keeping customers happy was given by Steve Witten, the executive-director of automotive retail research at J. D. Power and Associates. "When a vehicle is fixed quickly and correctly in one visit," he noted, "customers tend to walk away with higher satisfaction."
Which is why it's wise to consider a study on how American car buyers get treated when they go to their dealers for service. Strictly speaking, it does not translate precisely to the Canadian scene, since there are differences in corporate management, government legislation, dealer franchise agreements, and so on.
But it's hard to believe that Canadian car dealers behave that differently from their American colleagues, so there surely is a considerably good lesson to be learned in the J. D. Power Customer Service Index Study that was just released.
For the potential car buyer, the lesson would be that you're likely to get treated worse at dealerships whose brands are racking up bigger sales numbers on a regular basis. Conversely, a brand that's been struggling is likely to treat you better.
It's not a hard and fast rule, but it's the sharpest impression you get when you consider the accompanying chart. You look at these results and you see many of the brands that are struggling to change the consumer conception of their products doing better than the firms who have a strong product reputation to lean on. Look at where such high-flying Asian brands as Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, Mazda, Kia and Nissan are.
How better to change consumer impressions, after all, than to treat them better by trying harder?
It also helps if you've paid more for your vehicle, since the dealers of pricier cars seem to give greater satisfaction, but that is also not a hard rule.
There is Saturn, after all, though that brand made its reputation on delivering an excellent dealer experience even though its cars are inexpensive.
Consider that Lincoln -- which has probably fallen out of most people's list of brands to buy a luxury car from -- is at the top, and that Mini and VW -- which are still seen as being cool by many people -- are near the bottom.
I would further venture to say that this study by Power would apply pretty well in Canada, as it supports less structured evidence from web blogs, industry insider comments, and consumer criticisms in this country.
Like the 24 other service studies that went before it, the 2005 version "measures customer satisfaction of vehicle owners who visited the dealer service department for maintenance or repair work during the first three years of ownership, which typically represents the majority of the vehicle warranty period."
The 2005 CSI Study is based on responses from 99,550 owners and lessees of 2002 to 2004 model-year vehicles in the U.S., and it judges overall customer satisfaction on six measures -- service initiation, service advisor, in-dealership experience, service delivery, service quality and user-friendly service.
Lincoln scores particularly well with customers in the areas of service initiation and user-friendly service. Lincoln customers are particularly pleased with the dealership's ability to get them in for an appointment within a reasonable amount of time, and the fairness of charges. Lincoln is the first domestic make to rank highest in CSI for two consecutive years.
The overall answer to keeping customers happy was given by Steve Witten, the executive-director of automotive retail research at J. D. Power and Associates. "When a vehicle is fixed quickly and correctly in one visit," he noted, "customers tend to walk away with higher satisfaction."