CDK’s fifth annual survey of U.S. service customers finds those who seek maintenance and repairs at dealerships remain loyal at a 70% rate despite a 12-point decrease in overall satisfaction.

In their report, Service Shopper 5.0, CDK analysts say dealerships’ combined Net Promoter Score — designed to gauge the likelihood a customer will return for future service needs — fell to 47 after peaking at 59 in last year’s report. Dealers now lag behind CDK’s three other provider types: independent repair facilities (65), mobile mechanic services (64) and chain service providers (49).

Mobile mechanics improved their average NPS by 18 points from a year ago, “And while we’ve only tracked this type of competitor for three years, there are clear indicators throughout this year’s study that mobile service is on the rise,” analysts note.

Customers of all provider types registered an NPS of 72 when service and delivery times were “shorter than expected,” plummeting to 29 for the “longer than expected” group.

“These results, which showed only small improvements versus 2024, don’t suggest the need for service departments to find ways to accelerate their work,” the report states. “Instead, it highlights the benefits delivered when you can deliver an accurate time estimate based on past work, which should all be discoverable through historic data.”

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