Customer parking continues to be the facility most in demand from consumers at dealerships.
The latest NFDA Consumer Attitude Survey Autumn 2018 found that parking was the most expected facility by 73% of customers.
It continues to be a major problem for dealers in urban areas who have to juggle customer expectations with in many cases chronic space limitations and legally enforced roadside parking restrictions.
The courtesy car was the second highest rated facility mentioned by 65% of respondents followed by a coffee machine rated by 62%.
Other facilities to receive high ratings included a customer lounge area, mentioned by 59% of respondents, while you wait servicing (53%), a website where servicing could be booked (50%) and free wi-fi (48%).
Perhaps surprisingly, children’s play area, a facility included in many modern dealerships, was mentioned by just 11% of respondents, according to the survey.
The latest results of the survey showed that 64% of consumers believe franchised dealerships are the safest option to get a car serviced.
The main reasons franchised dealers are considered the safest are: their specialist expertise (61%) and having technical equipment for specific types of cars (47%).
Additionally, one in two consumers associate franchised dealers with professionalism (55%), knowledge (48%) and good customer service (47%).
Of those who regularly use franchised dealers for aftersales service, 93% were satisfied with their overall experience.
“It is encouraging to see that the vast majority of consumers continue to see franchised dealers as the safest option in the aftersales sector”, said NFDA director Sue Robinson.
The NFDA Consumer Attitude Survey Autumn 2018 is the sixth issue of the survey, carried out by Public Knowledge, an independent market research agency.