Lincoln dealers win top rating

[coolcaddy]

Lincoln dealers win top rating
J.D. Power ranks brand highest for satisfaction, service
By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

A Detroit automaker reclaimed top honors in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2004 survey of customer satisfaction with dealer service as Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln brand drew the highest score for the first time ever.

Lincoln achieved a record-setting 912 points out of a possible 1,000, reflecting improvements in vehicle quality that led to less repair work, according to the annual survey released Tuesday.

Originally posted by Sidebar: How they finished
A look at brands that ranked at the top of the latest Customer Service Index study by J.D. Power, in which 1,000 points is the highest score.

Top brands, score

Lincoln: 912
Buick: 909
Infiniti:908
Cadillac: 904
Lexus: 902
Saturn: 901
Acura: 900
Jaguar: 899
Mercury: 891
Audi: 883
Hummer: 883

Among owners of one- to three-year-old Lincoln models surveyed, “97 percent said they can get an appointment the day they want it,” said Joe Ivers, executive director of quality and customer satisfaction at J.D. Power.

Several other Ford brands, including Mercury, Land Rover and Ford, also scored big gains. Ford’s troubled Jaguar luxury brand tied with Volkswagen AG’s Audi marque to register the largest improvement in the study.

Last year, Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti took first place, followed by General Motors Corp.’s Saturn brand.

GM’s brands all scored above the industry average of 862 points in the 2004 survey. Overall, the industry posted an 11-point gain in customer satisfaction.

The automaker’s Buick nameplate was ranked in second place, just behind Lincoln and ahead of past winners such as Toyota Motor Co.p.’s Lexus.

J.D. Power executives said customer satisfaction with dealer service generally tracks vehicle dependability scores, because owners of reliable vehicles tend to bring cars in primarily for routine maintenance work. But that is not always the case.

The Toyota brand was rated below average, although its score rose to 845 points in 2004 from 807 a year ago. Customers complained about long waits for maintenance work and some confusion about service charges.

source

[jro4566]

That's good news definitely!

[SUPERBADD75]

well, now that the dealers are getting good scores, maybe the new products coming out will combine with that and send Lincoln back up again. that's really good news for them. love it.

[amark329]

My dad's a service manager at a HUMMER dealer so it's good to see them with a decent score.

[doh]

Its funny not to see Toyota or Honda on the list. Mid 1990's GM's big kick was providing your customers with the WOW feeling, and keeping them coming back for service and thier next cars. They would tell us that Honda and Toyota was doing everything right. Guess someothers have caught up. Good job Lincoln dealers, brand loyality starts with you.

[SUPERBADD75]

Its funny not to see Toyota or Honda on the list.

Lexus is Toyota and Acura is Honda..... numbers 5 and 7 on the list. use your brain, dude.

[LGRpup]

Originally posted by SUPERBADD75@Jul 21 2004, 08:12 PM

Lexus is Toyota and Acura is Honda..... numbers 5 and 7 on the list. use your brain, dude.

Lincoln is Ford, so I guess Lincoln didnt win.. Ford and Lincoln won. It seems like this rating is for brands which Lexus is a brand and Toyota is a brand.... Dude!

[tgagneguam]

Originally posted by LGRpup+Jul 22 2004, 07:05 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (LGRpup @ Jul 22 2004, 07:05 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-SUPERBADD75@Jul 21 2004, 08:12 PM

Lexus is Toyota and Acura is Honda..... numbers 5 and 7 on the list. use your brain, dude.

Lincoln is Ford, so I guess Lincoln didnt win.. Ford and Lincoln won. It seems like this rating is for brands which Lexus is a brand and Toyota is a brand.... Dude! [/b][/quote]
Agreed with the sentiment of your counterpoint, LGRpup.

Some people will do anything to excuse mediocre performance by the Japanese. Fact is (and I guess you have to be painfully concrete for the less abstract thinkers on this site), Toyota division and Honda division did much less than average and about average, respectively, in this study, particularly in light of their vaunted status in the industry.

Face it: they don't do everything extremely well. So they're human.