Ranking the Dealers

For the third year in a row, four luxury car brands and General Motors’ Saturn topped the J.D. Power ranking of customers’ satisfaction with the way dealers treated them when they bought new cars. J.D. Power & Associates, a marketing concern in Agoura Hills, surveyed 45,000 people who bought 1994 cars and light trucks. Numerical scores were assigned to the brands based on buyers’ satisfaction with dealers. Among other things, the survey measured how well salespeople explained a vehicle’s features, how well it was “prepped” and how customers were treated when they picked up the cars. The average score for the industry was 122, and 17 nameplates ranked above that. Here are the rankings.

Car Rankings

Car: Score

Lexus: 157

Infiniti: 156

Saturn: 153

Cadillac: 148

Lincoln: 142

Audi: 139

Buick: 139

Oldsmobile: 136

Jaguar: 136

Mercury: 136

Volvo: 135

Mercedes-Benz: 134

Saab: 131

Chrysler: 127

Ford: 127

BMW: 126

Plymouth: 123

Below the industry average of 122: Acura, Chevrolet, Dodge, Eagle, Geo, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Pontiac, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota and Volkswagen. Alfa Romeo and Porsche are not ranked due to inadequate sampling.

Truck Rankings

Truck: Score

Land Rover: 141

Oldsmobile: 128

GMC: 123

Ford: 121

Truck: Score

Chevrolet: 120

Dodge: 120

Pontiac: 119

Plymouth: 118

Below industry average of 117: Chrysler, Geo, Isuzu, Jeep, Mazda, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki, Toyota and Volkswagen. Honda is not ranked due to inadequate sampling.

Source: J.D. Power & Associates