Saturn inspires customer loyalty, if not excitement

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© St. Petersburg Times
published July 12, 2002

Seven years and 65,000 miles later, my sister-in-law is still bullish on her Saturn sedan.

For good reason, it seems. The General Motors line just deposed the upscale Lexus by scoring highest in customer satisfaction with dealer service. So say the newly released results of J.D. Power and Associates' closely followed 2002 "customer service index."

Not that you're dropping the newspaper and bee-lining to the local Saturn dealer. A steady-as-she-goes Saturn does not inspire that kind of excitement. But it's been a long time since the dealerships of any American vehicle grabbed the top spot in an annual J.D. Power satisfaction survey.

Thank goodness that some U.S. auto dealerships are still fighting -- successfully -- to be No. 1 in making their customers happy. Last year, Saturn dealerships came close at No. 2. Their biggest strength: strong performance on routine maintenance.

Still, among the top 10 ranked dealerships, only four sell and service American vehicles.

Lexus, part of Toyota, had finished first for each of the past five years, and nine of the previous 11 years. Lexus fell to third in the latest survey behind Nissan Motor's improved Infiniti division. No. 4 was GM's Cadillac, followed by Volvo, Buick (GM), Acura, Saab, BMW and Lincoln (Ford).

The last time the dealership of a nonluxury line of vehicles had come out on top in this survey was 16 years ago. The 1986 winner? Japan's Honda.

Saturn scored well this year with customers for ease of making appointments, friendly interaction with service personnel and respect for their time.

There's a lesson here: you don't have to buy a luxury car to be very satisfied with service.

"Customers don't want to spend a lot of time waiting for their car," said Steve Witten, J.D. Power's senior director for project operations. "They want their needs met."

The survey was based on responses from nearly 50,000 new vehicle owners and lessees during the first three years of vehicle ownership.

Some dealerships of major brands did not fare so well. Those falling at or below the industry average for customer satisfaction include Ford and GM's Pontiac, both American products. Also bringing up the rear were Nissan and Volkswagen, as well as (German-owned) Daimler-Chrysler's Dodge, Jeep and the luxury Mercedes-Benz lines (which, remarkably, didn't even make the top 20.) J.D. Power does not disclose the actual ranking for these below-average brands.

Ford dealerships, scarred by Ford Explorer horror stories and Ford's own quality control problems, fell below the industry average. But they showed a 10-point improvement over last year, largely due to improvements in fixing problems right the first time and to a drop in the number of recalls.

Are luxury car dealerships really better at pleasing? Folks who drop $40,000 or more for a vehicle expect to be pampered, so satisfying them may not be as easy as it looks.

Here's one reason why upscale dealerships tend to do well in surveys: free maintenance programs and superior warranties. J.D. Power says free maintenance for luxury models is rising, to 38 percent in 2002 from 28 percent in 2001.

This year, at least, any dealership could take some customer tips from their neighbors selling Saturns. Just ask my sister-in-law.

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-- Robert Trigaux can be reached at trigaux@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8405.

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