A Surprising American Automaker Offers the Best Car Buying Experience
The 2016 J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index Study has been released and there’s a surprising automaker at the top of the list.
Buick leads all mass-market brands for the first time since 2008, scoring 809 points on a 1,000-point scale. The American automaker dethrones MINI, which held the top spot in the category since 2010. MINI scored 797 and is followed by Chevrolet (789) and GMC (786), while Subaru and Volkswagen tied in fifth place with a score of 775. Buick also recently topped all American automakers in the Consumer Reports 2016 Annual Auto Reliability Survey, finishing third overall. The mass-market average for this year’s survey jumped 83 points to 764.
Leading the way for luxury brands is Porsche with a score of 824, taking the top spot for the second straight year. Infiniti (815) came in second, followed by Mercedes-Benz (809), BMW (807), Cadillac (807) and Lincoln (806) rounding out the top five. The luxury average rose this year by 69 points to 801.
SEE ALSO: FCA, Honda Civic Struggle in Reliability Survey
The study, now in its 30th year, measures satisfaction with the sales experience among new-vehicle buyers and rejecters, those who shopped at a dealership and purchased elsewhere. Buyer satisfaction is based on four measures: working out the deal, salesperson, delivery process and facility. Rejecter satisfaction is based on five measures: salesperson, fairness of price, experience negotiating, facility and variety of inventory. This year’s study is based on responses from 28,979 buyers who purchased or leased a new vehicle in April or May 2016.
“More dealerships are employing product specialists and more brands, especially the luxury brands, are requiring that the dealers have them to help the customer have a more thorough ownership experience with their new car or truck,” said Chris Sutton, vice president of the automotive retail practice at J.D. Power, in a statement. “Having a product specialist show the technology to the owner can really ensure the customer gets the most benefit out of their vehicle.”
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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