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Buyers of luxury cars say service is better than ever

Lexus gains 10 points in measure of sales process

By Tom Krisher Associated Press

DETROIT: Auto dealers nationwide are getting better at serving their customers, collectively scoring at a record level this year in a survey of new car buyers by the J.D. Power and Associates research firm.

The California-based company said its survey also found that Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus luxury unit led all brands in consumers' satisfaction with their car-buying experience.

Satisfaction with dealers overall was the highest in the 21 years the company has taken the survey. The industry average score was 852 out of a possible 1,000 points, up from last year's 847, showing that dealers are improving the sales process, J.D. Power said.

The survey measures consumer satisfaction with the dealership facility, sales representative, paperwork and finance process, delivery process and vehicle price.

Lexus gained 10 points from its 2006 total, rising from a fifth-
place tie last year to take the top spot with a score of 897, J.D. Power said.

General Motors Corp.'s Hummer brand finished second with 895 points, and Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar, last year's winner, took third with 893 points, according to J.D. Power. Hummer leaped 21 points over its 2006 score due to improvements in the vehicle pricing and paperwork/finance process, J.D. Power said. Jaguar's score dropped 19 points from the previous year.

The rankings are based on mailed responses from more than 38,600 buyers nationwide who registered new vehicles in May, J.D. Power said. The company said it sent surveys to about 200,000 buyers.

Industrywide, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus one point on the 1,000-point scale, but it runs from four to 15 points on individual brands depending on the number of responses per brand, the company said. For Lexus, the margin of error is five points, the company said.

The margin of error is high enough and the top brand scores are so close that it's difficult to discern the overall winner.

Ford's Lincoln luxury brand finished fourth in the survey with 892 points, while Mercedes-Benz rounded out the top five with 888 points, the company said.

True to previous years, luxury brands generally performed better than more mainstream brands.

GM's Saturn ranked highest of the mainstream nameplates in eighth place, just behind Buick and Cadillac.

DETROIT: Auto dealers nationwide are getting better at serving their customers, collectively scoring at a record level this year in a survey of new car buyers by the J.D. Power and Associates research firm.

Get the full article here.


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