J.D. Power released its 2021 Customer Service Index Study today, and the results were a bit mixed for Ford Motor Company. As we reported earlier today, Lincoln dealers fared rather well, finishing in fifth place among all premium brands and above the industry average. However, things didn’t go quite as well for Ford dealers, which ranked 14th among mass-market brands and below the industry average. It’s a stark contrast to some solid recent performances by the automaker in J.D. Power studies, including a second-place finish in the 2020 Customer Satisfaction Study.
On J.D. Power’s 1,000 point scale, Ford finished with a score of 833, which placed it below the industry average of 843, as well as behind rival automakers including Chevrolet, GMC, Honda, and Toyota, to name a few. On the bright side, Ford did manage to beat out every domestic Stellantic brand, including Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and Chrysler.
Despite facing some COVID-19 related challenges over the last year, automotive dealership service visits were only down 6 percent from 2019. J.D. Power’s 2021 Customer Service Index Study found that overall customer satisfaction rose from a year ago, finishing with a score of 847 versus 837 in 2019.
The Customer Service Index Study measures customer satisfaction with service at a franchised dealer or independent service facility for maintenance or repair work among owners and lessees of one- to three-year-old vehicles. It also provides a numerical index ranking, which is based on the combined scores of five different measures that comprise the vehicle owner service experience – service quality, service facility, service initiation, service advisor, and vehicle pick-up.
The 2021 U.S. Customer Service Index Study is based on responses from 62,519 verified registered owners and lessees of 2018 to 2020 model-year vehicles. The study was conducted from July through December of 2020.
This year’s CSI study found that remote and online payment methods had a significant impact on customer satisfaction, though only one percent of mass-market brand customers took advantage of contactless payments. It also uncovered that electric vehicle owners were less satisfied with their service than ICE-powered vehicle owners, with maintenance service representing a larger thorn in their sides than repairs.
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Comments
BREAKING: Water still wet. Film at 11.
Difference is, Ford is built without y’all’s tax dollars.
Problem is, they’re so expensive that y’all need a 15yr mortgage to pay for it.
Solution is, go back to building basic vehicles (of the non-electric variety) that have window cranks, no cruise control or anything electronic or ‘connected’. Do it for under $10,000.00 and it will sell out every year.
Nah, that makes sense, the left-wing climate freaks and liberal, jack@$$ dumb-o-crats would never allow it. They’d try to ‘cancel’ FoMoCo.
Sheesh people, see what you wished for? Hope y’all’s dumb@$$es are satisfied.
Very Sad !!! But so very true the more Corporate Franchise Dealership’s take over the less customer service you we will get.
They have a program in place that the Ford Customer or any Customer is set to loose the moment you pull into the Dealership.
I’ve worked as a service advisor for over 35 years both in independent shops and dealers including Ford. A frustration at any dealership I worked at was new product feature training. The sales people got to go to events to see and drive the new models and learn new functions, service department personnel were not afforded that opportunity. Sometimes we didn’t know about a new feature until a customer inquired about it’s operation, either because it didn’t work, or the salesperson did not explain it to the customer fully, we really had “on the job training”. In the car business, (in my experience) car sales are everything, the service department and its staff are looked upon as a necessary evil. Hey dealership owners, try running your dealer on car sales alone, see how that works. The public may not come in every day and buy cars, but they sure as hell come in for service every day!
Just what this poorly managed company doesn’t need is another headache, as if they don’t have enough already, from selling vehicles with contaminated windshield washer fluid, to 2021 F150s with rusted parts installed at the factory, to their Lincoln brand being dead last in reliability according to Consumer Reports, to being surpassed by Toyota in US Auto sales, to knowingly installing defective transmissions in Fiestas and Focuses resulting in a class action lawsuit, to still after failing to convince the public that Lincolns are not rebadged Fords, to their inability to build sedans profitably, even if they are made in low wage countries and many more.
Have a 2010 F150xlt Reg.CabLB 4.6L 2V. 4R75E only have 43,365 miles and the Reverse gear has gone out. This is a disgrace, especially since I’m on fixed income and have to get rebuilt or remf. Transmission shop never seen this with this low mileage, wanted to know if Ford put in used one. Didn’t know,truck was brand new and special order. Never had any warning R just quit, no codes show up so they know its mechanical or broke band. You must be using cheap parts! And it cost me over $30,000 when I finished paying off. Are you gonna help pay for me a rem. Tranny! Only vehicle I have and only grocery or Dr. use. Now I gotta be in debt to get it fixed, had Ford’s 45 years but turning me against your brand. Can you help financially, since you built this crap?
M y favorite ploy is the excuse, “warranty work must be performed by the selling dealer only”. Great news for someone with barfed transmission in their Fiesta 1,200 miles from home.
I have an suv in for a rattle coming from the rear area. 6 trips ( 156 ) miles round trip. 8 hrs wait the first time 5 hrs each the next 5 time. They finally ordered parts for the panel glass roof. 3 months I called and was told a New Service Manager would be helping me.
His comments we don’t have any parts on order for you. You have to bring it in so we can identify the issue. S Y
TOTALLY TOTALLY UNREAL
They don’t care or give a 💩
Ford simply doesn’t care about their average customer. I’ve had a vehicle on order since last summer. I’m on my 5th promised delivery date that has come and past. I did have a suprisingly frank conversation with one of their customer care people. Utlimately Ford has some large corporate contracts. Amazon etc. So if you order a transit van for example and then later Amazon puts in a large order, Ford will put your order to the side to fulfill their corporate contract first. With Ford it’s all about making money. They could care less for the average customer who only buys a new vehicle every 5 or 10 years.
I keep saying and will just hope the right people address it! There is absolutely no substitute for quality and I promise I will be a Honda guy again if this stink does not improve,