JD Power

If you’re shelling out big bucks for a premium car, you’re quite right to expect premium customer care. The good news is, according to global research firm J.D. Power, that’s exactly what most people are getting. Its 2018 Australia Customer Survey for Luxury Vehicles spoke with 511 luxury vehicle owners who purchased their car between March 2013 and August 2018, and had it serviced at an authorised dealer between March 2017 and August 2018.

As a general rule, people are having a better time with car dealers than just a few years ago, but some brands' franchise partners are still lagging behind the performance of industry leaders Mazda and Hyundai. That's a summary of the findings from market research firm J.D. Power, which this week published results from its latest annual customer survey. Overall satisfaction has climbed 48 points on a 1000-point scale since 2013, the firm says.

Mazda has moved from second to first in the annual JD Power Customer Service Index for Australia, while last year's leader, Honda, has slipped beneath the industry average to sixth place. The study, which polls owners to measure vehicle servicing quality, vehicle pick-up, service advisor, service initiation, and service facility, is now into its seventh year.

The 2015 J.D. Power dependability study has named Lexus as the most reliable brand for the fourth year running. This year's study is based on the experiences of 34,000 US owners of 2012 model year vehicles, meaning that many of these cars were purchased in 2011. The top two issues reported in this year's survey were Bluetooth pairing and voice recognition systems misinterpreting users' commands. This closely aligns with the findings J.D. Power's 2014 initial quality survey.

Mazda dealers offer the best after-sales service of Australia's mainstream automotive brands, according to the results of the latest JD Power survey. The 2013 Australia Customer Service Index (CSI) Study ranked Mazda at the top of the 12-brand list with a score of 804 points out of 1000.