According to J.D. Power and Associates, in 2008, overall satisfaction for customers with dealer service improved drastically. Over two-thirds of the 37 brands that were ranked showed gains.

The study, which is now in its 28th year, looks at the satisfaction among car owners who get maintenance or repairs done at the service department of the dealership within the first three years, which is a large part of the auto warranty period.

After staying generally flat since 2005, satisfaction has increased to 882 on a scale of 1,000 in 2008. This is a significant improvement from 2007 of 6 points.

The reason for the improvement is primarily because of an increase in the amount of maintenance work done and improved satisfaction in repair work. Motorists who go to the dealer for routine maintenance are on average more satisfied (894) than customers who have repairs done (862).

Improvements in vehicle quality have caused a decline in the need for car repairs within the initial three years of car ownership. Dealers are more focused than ever on satisfying their repair customers because they are finding it hard to achieve profitability.