Consumer Study : Satisfaction of Car Buyers Stalls at State’s Dealers

California car dealers are starting to lose ground in relation to dealers elsewhere in the United States in their ability to satisfy their customers, according to a new consumer survey.

The survey, by J. D. Power & Associates, an Agoura Hills automotive research firm, found that California car buyers are more demanding than buyers in other states and are thus becoming harder for the state’s auto dealers to please.

“They (California buyers) are more discriminating and more demanding,” said David Whiteside, publisher of the Power California Market Report, which released the California customer satisfaction study. “And the bottom line is that California consumers are telling us they are not happy with how they are being treated.”

The study found that import dealers in other sections of the United States are closing the gap that California import dealers previously enjoyed in customer satisfaction, while California domestic car dealers are falling further behind the national average for customer satisfaction.

In 1987 for instance, California dealers of Japanese and South Korean imports held a slight 122 to 119 edge over the rest of the nation in J. D. Power’s customer satisfaction index. But this year, dealers of Japanese and Korean cars in the rest of the nation caught up, leaving them in a 122 to 122 tie with California dealers, who failed to improve in the rankings.

The index is based on surveys of consumers who were asked to measure a range of factors, including how they were treated by the dealer, the reliability of their cars, and how well repairs were handled.

Lag National Average

Among European makes, meanwhile, dealers elsewhere narrowed the 107-102 edge in the satisfaction index that the California dealers held last year. In 1988, both groups improved, but the California dealers held an edge of just 112 to 110.

The biggest problem for California dealers came among the domestics. In California, they trailed the national average for customer satisfaction last year by eight points--and this year the gap widened to 11. California domestic dealers had a satisfaction rating of just 91, compared to a national average for domestics of 102.

One problem faced by California dealers in satisfying their customers is that car buyers in the state are less loyal and more willing to shop around for bargains than are car buyers elsewhere. A separate J. D. Power study found that California car buyers, on average, visit 4.57 dealerships before they decide which car to buy; the national average is just 3.88.

Whiteside said many California dealers argue that they are providing better service than dealers in other states, but that their customers are far more demanding than Midwestern and Eastern buyers. “I think there is some truth in that,” Whiteside said. “But better may not be good enough from the point of view of the California buyer.”

CALIFORNIA DEALERS LOSING GROUND--Nationwide, auto dealers for domestic, Asian and European car makers score higher in customer satisfaction than their counterparts in California.

California-domestic U.S.-domestic California-Asian U.S.-Asian California-European U.S.-European RATING CARS IN CALIFORNIA--The top 16 nameplates in the 1988 survey. Acura Honda Mercedes Volvo Mazda Cadillac Audi Toyota Jaguar Hyundai Subaru Porsche Saab Mitsubishi BMW Nissan Source: J. D. Power & Associates Los Angeles