According to the J.D. Power 2023 Canada Customer Service Index—Long-Term (CSI-LT) Study, Subaru Canada's service department ranks dead last again. It's not just Subaru that is in decline. The new J.D. Power study says Canada's auto service market is declining to a pre-pandemic level.
The Canada Customer Service Index—Long-Term Study measures usage and satisfaction of service shops for vehicles that are 4 to 12 years old and finds that customers in Canada are paying more for maintenance and repair work than a year ago.
That's not a surprise with the cost of everything going up. "Inflation has certainly affected automotive service," said J.D. Ney, automotive practice lead at J.D. Power Canada.
Study Rankings
Lexus Dealerships and Volkswagen Dealerships rank highest in a tie in the dealership segment, each with a score of 842. This is the second consecutive year that Lexus Dealerships ranks highest. Toyota Dealerships (815) ranks third.
How is Subaru doing in customer service?
You can have the best car, but it can ruin your new car experience if the service is lousy. In Canada, Subaru scored last in the new car dealer's overall customer satisfaction index ranking.
Subaru dealerships rank dead last with a score of 773. Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram/ and Fiat are the next bottom-dwellers with a score of 776. Kia (790), Nissan (791), BMW (791), Honda (792, and Hyundai (793) round out the worst dealer scores.
Doing it right the first time:
J.D. Power says, "When it comes to completing service work correctly the first time, aftermarket facilities continue to outperform dealerships. Aftermarket facilities correctly complete service work the first time 95 percent of the time—unchanged from 2022—while dealers' success rate is at 93 percent, revealing a continuing decline from 2022 (94%) and 2021 (96%)."
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Where do U.S. Subaru dealers rank?
Subaru of America improved again in the 2022 J.D. Power Customer Service Index Study (CSI). The U.S. study measures customer satisfaction for maintenance or repair work among owners and lessees of one- to three-year-old Subaru vehicles. The CSI study measures five areas, combining weighted scores into a composite number for each brand. The five weighted areas are service quality, service adviser, vehicle pickup, service facility, and service initiation.
Based on a 1,000-point scale, the overall mainstream brand customer service average satisfaction score in the 2022 CSI study was 848. Subaru has shown continual improvement over the past five years. Subaru of America retailers scored 852 points in 2022, up from last year's 843 points. In 2020, Subaru scored 831 overall for mainstream brands, and in 2019, Subaru scored 829.
In the U.S., Mini ranks number one among mainstream automakers, followed by Buick, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and GMC, making up the top five brands. Chevrolet, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, and Dodge finished out the top 10 brands.
Where do Subaru's dealer service departments in Canada rank with other car brands? According to a new J.D. Power 2023 Canada Customer Service Index—Long-Term (CSI-LT) Study, they are dead last.
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Denis Flierl brings over thirty years of combined auto industry and automotive journalism experience to Torque News readers. He is an accredited Rocky Mountain Automotive Press (RMAP) member. The last twelve years have been spent with Torque News, covering Subaru vehicles and the latest news. Check back daily for his expert Subaru analysis. You'll find the latest stories on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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