Toyota and Mercedes-Benz Dealers Ranked Best for Customer Experience, VW is Dead Last
If you want the best chances of being treated right as a new car buyer, head over to a Toyota or Mercedes-Benz dealer, a new report says.
Temkin Group, a customer experience research and consulting firm, ranked 294 companies, including 20 auto dealers, based on satisfaction surveys from 10,000 Americans. While Toyota took the top spot with a 66 percent rating, the report holds bad news for many automakers, and the industry as a whole.
The survey asked consumers to rate companies based on “success” (the ability to get what you want), “effort” (whether it’s easy to deal with the company), and “emotion” (how you feel interacting with the company).
Toyota hasn’t fallen lower than second place during the past five years, so it’s no stranger to being on top. Mercedes-Benz, which garnered a 65 percent rating, gained ground to grab the second place spot.
Out of the 20 automakers, only Mercedes-Benz, Kia and Audi improved on last year’s customer satisfaction scores. It doesn’t look good on the industry.
From some automakers, reading the report will require a double scotch, straight up.
“At the other end of the spectrum, Volkswagen received the lowest score in the industry with a rating of 44 percent, which put it in 278th place overall,” Temkin Group stated in a release. “Volkswagen’s score tumbled a dramatic 17 percentage points over the last year — the biggest decline of any company in any industry.”
Ouch. Just when you thought the damage to that company’s reputation was complete.
There’s plenty of bad news for others, too. BMW’s rating fell 15 points this year to 51 percent, while General Motors dropped 13 points to 47 percent. GM’s Cadillac brand fell 12 points to 49 percent. To put those numbers into context, Volkswagen’s rating is 44 percent.
There’s clearly room for improvement at auto dealers, but the same goes for the car rental industry. With a rating of 57 percent, the rental industry dropped seven points since last year.
[Image: Toyota Motor Corporation]
More by Steph Willems
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If you go and look at the actual survey you may, like me, form the opinion that it's a total farce designed to attract clients to their consulting business. If the sample questions they show are actually indicative of their real questions, it appears that they probably didn't allow the respondents to say "no opinion", and hence they might have responded based more on general perception than actual experience.
I've had nothing but great experiences with my local Toyota dealer. My 4Runner gets serviced there. What I find impressive is there backing of product, even after warranty. My local Porsche dealer that I bought a 911 from is absolutely careless of you and the product they've sold you.