Franchised dealers versus independent garages (cars up to five years old)
Franchised dealer service departments
Lexus has the best franchised service network when it comes to customer satisfaction, with the highest scores for attitude and quality of work, but Kia isn’t far behind, with its score boosted by an 89.6% rating for value for money, perhaps partly due to work being carried out for free under its industry-leading seven-year warranty.
In fact, premium brands don’t necessarily perform any better than mainstream and more affordable marques; Citroën, Dacia and MG all secured spots in the top 10. Citroën and MG scored 93% or higher for the way customers were treated, and Dacia scored the second-highest rating of all franchises for value. Meanwhile, just outside the top 10, Skoda scored higher than its Volkswagen Group sister brands, Audi, Seat and Volkswagen, each of which finished in the bottom 10.
Also propping up the chart are prestige brands Land Rover and Mercedes-benz, their overall scores being dragged down by poor value-for-money ratings. However, Jeep is the worst-performing brand of all, posting the lowest scores for attitude and value.
Independent garages
Toyota owners are the most satisfied with independent garages, rating them higher across the board than their franchised counterparts, with an overall score almost six points higher.
The perception of better value for money draws many owners towards independent outfits, and Skoda, Peugeot and Vauxhall owners all score them higher for value than they do franchises.
When it comes to being looked after well, owners of Citroën, Honda and Kia cars find that independent and franchised workshops deliver very similar customer satisfaction. Dacia owners, meanwhile, rate independents lower on quality of work than they do franchised workshops, but score them higher for staff attitude and value, giving independents a higher overall score.
While Land Rover is the bottom of the table when it comes to independent servicing, it’s worth noting that its 88.6% overall score eclipses the 81.2% given to franchises. Indeed, irrespective of the brand of car they drive, owners rated independents higher in every instance where we had data for both types of workshop.
‘Although independent workshops are rated higher overall, particularly when it comes to value, certain brands
score poorly on both tables’