Mercedes-Benz tops Audi, BMW in Australian luxury car customer service satisfaction study

Mercedes-Benz scored 833 points out of 1000 in the 2014 Australian Customer Service Index Study – Luxury Market, putting daylight between it and fellow German brands Audi (791) and BMW (774).

The announcement comes little more than one week after JD Power crowned Mazda the best mainstream brand for aftersales and service experience in Australia for the second consecutive year, with owners rating it ahead of Subaru and Toyota.

Based on the responses of 383 luxury vehicle owners who purchased their car between August 2009 and September 2014 and visited an authorised dealership service centre between August 2013 and September 2014, the study ranks overall customer satisfaction with the vehicle service experience by rating service quality, vehicle pick-up, the service advisor, service initiation, and service facility.

JD Power says Mercedes-Benz performed “particularly well” in all five factors.

Land Rover, Lexus and Volvo were included in the study but were not ranked due to their small sample sizes.

JD Power Asia Pacific senior country manager of Australia Loi Truong said one of the major findings of the study was that younger drivers (those 35 years old or younger) reported on average a 27-point lower satisfaction rating than older drivers, particularly in the areas of service initiation and service advisor.

“With the proportion of luxury vehicle owners under age 36, it is critical that service centres provide the service attention needed to satisfy these younger customers,” Truong said.