Survey: Toyota, Nissan rank low on dealer service

General Motors and Ford Motor Co. dealer service departments again were ranked highly in a survey of customer satisfaction published Wednesday, while Toyota and Nissan dealers again scored poorly, although improved.

The annual "Customer Service Index" by market researchers J.D. Power and Associates of Westlake Village, Calif., measures car owner satisfaction with the quality of service, including the ease of getting an appointment and the process of picking up the car, as well as with the service adviser and the physical facility.

It ranked dealers servicing Toyota's Lexus brand highest in the luxury market, while dealers handling the Toyota brand ranked well below average, as they did last year.

Jon Osborn, Power's research director, said the survey of more than 114,200 owners and lessees of 2005 to 2009 model-year vehicles was done between October and December, before the recent spate of Toyota and Lexus recalls. He said Toyota's servicing was below average in part because it has a relatively small number of dealers - 1,200 nationwide - handling a huge volume of vehicles. "There could be some issues as far as capacity," he said.

Power released separate rankings for luxury and mass market brands.

Among mass market brands, General Motors' Hummer division ranked highest. Other GM brands highly rated were Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn. Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn are being discontinued due to slow sales, which, Osborn said, reduced the workload on the service departments, making it easier for them to satisfy customers. "Sales are low so they probably have more time," he said.

Once again, dealers handling all three of Chrysler Group's brands - Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep - scored below average in the mass market category.Chrysler spokesman Bryan Zvibleman said it "recently implemented dealer standards across our entire network that call for a high level of customer care and service."

Dealers handling Ford Motor Co.'s Ford and Mercury brands ranked well above average. Ford dealers had scored below average last year.Although Mercuries are sold and serviced alongside Lincolns, owners of Lincolns ranked their dealers below average among luxury car retailers.Volvo dealers were ranked last in the luxury category. "We are aware of this issue and have identified this as one of our top priorities for 2010," Volvo spokesman Daniel Johnston said in an e-mail.