Over the past few years, Lincoln dealers have ranked below average on J.D. Power’s annual U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, which is designed to measure customer satisfaction with service at franchised dealers or aftermarket service facilities after they have had maintenance or repair work performed on their one- to three-year-old vehicles. That was also the case in the 2024 version of the CSI Study, but now that J.D. Power has released its results for 2025, it reveals that Lincoln dealers are making some progress.
In 2022, Lincoln dealers scored 854 out of 1,000 possible points in the CSI Study, below the premium segment average of 866. In 2023, Lincoln dealers posted a lower score of 835 versus the segment average of 864, and last year, moved up to 853 points, which was near the bottom of the pack and below the mean of 866. Now that the 2024 CSI Study has been released, it reveals that Lincoln dealers improved by a notable amount, coming in at 873 points, though that still trails the premium segment average of 878 by a tad. Ford – Lincoln’s mainstream counterpart – also posted a big improvement this year, going from 835 points in 2024 to 861 this time around.
The 2025 J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study is based on responses from 55,210 verified registered owners and lessees of one- to three-year-old vehicles. The scores presented here are based on five different factors – service quality; service advisor; vehicle pick-up; service facility; and service initiation. This year’s study found that customer satisfaction with the dealer service experience remained quite strong for the second straight year, but long wait times for appointments, communication shortfalls, and gaps in fixing vehicles are still holding them back.
“While it’s no surprise that customers gravitate to operations that serve them well, the study clearly shows that good service leads to loyal customers,” said John Tenerovich, director of automotive retail at J.D. Power. “This phenomenon proves true across all service types – oil changes, repair, tires and brakes. While complimentary maintenance programs drive strong retention, the level of intent to return for actual customer-paid service depends on the service experience delivered by the dealer.”
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