Customers refuse to travel long distances to source aftersales services, preferring instead to take their vehicles to a local garages for repairs.

The Castrol Business Services/AM Consumer Attitude Survey indicates that pressure from carmakers for franchised dealers to cover larger territories will result in lost aftersales business unless they open satellite operations.

Customers are happy to travel up to 50 miles to buy a car, but will only make a 10-mile trip for servicing and repair. The returns certainly warranty dealer investment – the total aftersales market is worth £7bn a year and margins are better than for new car sales. But dealers are presently only servicing 56 per cent of the new cars they sell.

Clearly they need to try harder to retain aftersales business for new and, in particular, used car buyers (just 15 per cent of dealers aftersales is on cars over five years old). A proposition offering quality and value for money is essential.

  • To view an in-depth analysis of the Castrol/AM report click here.