There’s more to owning a car than how much you like the vehicle itself, or how much you paid for it. That’s why J.D. Power puts out its annual US Customer Service Index, the 2017 edition of which it has now released.
The Index looks at “overall customer satisfaction,” placing a particular emphasis on the quality of the work and experience put forth by dealership service departments and authorized independent maintenance facilities.
Topping the list this year was Lexus, which scored 874 points out of a possible 1,000. The Japanese brand out-scored other luxury brands like Audi (869), Lincoln (868), Porsche (867), and Cadillac (865).
Though we can imagine a lot of customers cross-shop between Lexus and Buick, the latter is categorized as a mass-market brand – whose rankings the GM brand topped with 860 points. A close second was another premium marque: Mini, which scored 850 points, ahead of GMC (837), Chevrolet (829), and Nissan (822).
That’s good news for General Motors, whose brands all ranked highly. Autonews notes that marks is the seventh year in a row that all four of GM’s remaining US brands (Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac) ranked in the top five of their respective categories.
It’s also a positive development for Lexus, which returned to the top spot after a three year absence that followed its previous five-year winning streak.
The mass-market industry standard this year came in at 807 points, with Kia, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Hyundai coming in above that level. Honda, Ford, Mitsubishi, and Mazda, all fell short – as did every FCA brand: Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Fiat. Jaguar, Mercedes, and Infiniti also exceeded the luxury-category average of 859 points, with BMW, Acura, Volvo, and Land Rover (oddly juxtaposed to its sister brand) falling below.
Regardless of individual brands, JD Power notes that the standard of service continues to rise, up from 782 in 2015 to an industry average of 809 this year.
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