Volkswagen ranks highest overall in Pied Piper’s 2026 Service Scheduling Effectiveness Study, leading the industry in telephone scheduling, while Volvo ranks highest for website scheduling. But analysts warn that roughly one in three AI-to-human transfer attempts is never completed, leaving customers in voicemail, on endless hold or disconnected.

The second annual study, based on 6,538 service requests submitted across 33 U.S.-sold marques, found the industry average SSE score improved seven points year over year, with every brand posting gains. VW, Volvo, Acura, BMW, Mazda and Nissan each averaged SSE scores of 70 or higher on a 100-point scale, according to the report. Volvo, Chevrolet, VW, Chrysler and Ram improved by more than 10 points.

“AI is raising the baseline. The challenge is what happens around the AI, when information needs to move between dealership systems or when a customer needs a person to take over,” writes Cameron O’Hagan, a Pied Piper VP, in a release. “Those breakdowns are often invisible unless the entire customer interaction is measured independently.”

Independent service centers outperform franchised dealerships on key telephone scheduling measures, delivering an “excellent” service call 39% of the time versus 27% for the average dealership. Independents also beat dealers in speed to reach an advisor (38 seconds vs. 66 seconds) and earliest appointment availability (1.3 days vs. 2.9 days).

“Dealerships risk losing service customers to independent service centers if their scheduling experience is poor,” O’Hagan says. “Dissatisfied customers who switch are unlikely to return once lost.”

Read the full report at Pied Piper