These Are The Best Brands For Customer Service!

Issue 98

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Market news

Nissan has a new CEO, and he’s a “certified car guy,” with big promises. 

Tesla has taken a reputation hit. If you’re one of those who’d prefer another brand, here are the top 10 EVs that aren’t Tesla.

Speaking of Tesla, the company now aims at Republicans as possible buyers, but it faces a significant challenge. We explain it here. 

Dodge already has enormous discounts on their new Charger EVs, already! Here’s why it’s doing this. 

Ford is also desperate to boost Mustang sales. So, it offers some enticing offers. 

Toyota is now Honda’s battery supplier. You read that right, and here’s why!

Car Culture

Gene Winfield might not ring a bell, but his cars were iconic pieces of TV history. He passed away at age 97. 

These are 16 cars you could (and should buy) under $10,000.

Jay Leno wants to exempt classic cars from smog requirements.

Ford’s next off-road SUV? The Explorer Tremor! And it looks sick.

Chrysler is turning 100 this June, but what’s happening with the brand? 

Safety and recalls

VW recalls 14,000 Audi e-Trons and ID.4 for this battery problem.

We covered this General Motors recall in our previous issue, but it turns out it’s more critical than expected. 

Video of the week

How modern cars are ruining one of the most successful car YouTubers out there

IN THE KNOW

These brands dominated customer service rankings! (And we tell which flopped!)

We’ve all been there: We love our car until we have to take it to the dealership. For many of us, the experience can be a dealbreaker.

This trend has grown after the pandemic. In 2022, 37% of buyers changed to a brand they had never owned before, mainly because they didn’t want to deal with the dealership or invest less time with them.

Read more on the evolving dealership market here. 

We’ve covered this issue before when we asked you whether dealerships would disappear in the near future or not.

Many of you told us that they wouldn’t. Do you still feel the same? You can read our article here. 

That’s not all. Dealerships are navigating a crucial moment as more automakers are avoiding them.

Scout Motors wants to revive an iconic offroader and plans to do so without dealerships, mainly because “dealers hate EVs.”

While reaching such a conclusion might feel extreme, it does highlight how powerful some dealerships have become. 

We only visit dealerships for three things: buying a new (or used) car, servicing it, or when it breaks down.

In all three, we’re already predisposed to view the visit as an errand or having to return (as 12% of all repairs weren’t done correctly on the first visit).

Even worse, mentalizing yourself for a harsh negotiating process can be overwhelming. 

That’s why ranking them is crucial. JD Power’s Customer Satisfaction Survey is one of the most popular surveys.

The 2025 survey has just come out!

Every year, it brings out fascinating results.

For example, did you know vehicles with internal combustion engines continue to lead satisfaction ratings? Hybrids and EVs are still lagging, even with increased EV sales and better technology.

This article dives further into the topic. 

That’s not the only surprise. Can you guess which brand is rated best in customer satisfaction?

We can safely admit that when we found out, it also surprised us. 

Porsche ranks first with a score of 912 out of 1000 possible points. That’s admirable, as it ranks first for luxury brands and all rankings.

The first-place mass-market brand is Subaru, and you can read more about why it ranked so high in this article. 

As surprising as Porsche is, that’s not what was more appealing for us.

American brands ranked in the top five in mass-market and luxury brands, with Buick ranking fourth and Cadillac third, respectively.

As this article explains, such performance is a welcome sight for GM, as it works to improve its customer perception and leverage its presence with the most loyal consumers in the US. 

That’s the positive side, but what about the lowest-ranking brands? In general, there are (almost) no surprises.

Stellantis dominates the basement. Maserati ranked last in luxury brands, Ram was also at the bottom in the mass-market section, and Dodge did so in the SUV and minivan segment.

Dodge was the only Stellantis product to rank in the top five; it did so in the car segment. 

However, there was another surprise: Hyundai. While its EV, the Ioniq 5, has stolen consumers from other brands, the automaker ranked last in customer satisfaction.

Again, it proves that having a good car but bad customer service is almost as bad as an unreliable car. 

What have been your experiences with customer service? Let us know with a comment. 

If you want to read the entire JD Power survey, click here!

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