Over the past few years, Ford 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 Ford dealers are making some progress.
In 2024, Ford dealers ranked 13th among 18 mass market brands with a score of 835 out of a possible 1,000 points in J.D. Power’s CSI Study which placed it behind the segment average of 848. For 2025, those same dealers managed to improve that score to 861, which is just one point below the mass market segment average of 862, and good enough for the 11th spot.
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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but long wait times for appointments, communication shortfalls, and gaps in fixing vehicles are still holding them back.
Seems like these about cover it – what else is there except price, which is also higher than my local independent shop. Improving from #13 to #11 doesn’t exactly merit much congratulations.