A Peterborough Kia dealer, a Shropshire Honda dealer and an independent in the East Midlands have come top in a poll of the UK’s 1,000 best dealerships.
Every year for the past 15 years, Auto Express Driver Power has revealed the best and worst models and the best and worst dealer networks in the UK, as voted for by car owners in the country.
Boongate Kia, JT Hughes Honda and Twells in Billinghay got an equal top score of 9.4 out of 10.
In the lower echelons of the countdown are centres operated by Bristol Street Motors (Birmingham), Lookers (Leeds), Evans Halshaw (Gateshead and Leeds) and Arnold Clark (Edinburgh and Glasgow) with scores of 7.3 and 7.4.
Brian Walters, research and insight director at Driver Power, said: “Consumers want to know more than just the best new and used cars to own, they want to know the best dealers in their area to buy and service them.
“With over 16,000 new and used car dealers in the UK and Republic of Ireland, identifying the top dealers was no small task.”
Driver Power worked with Statista, which operates one of the largest statistics portals in the world, to find the top 1,000 best car dealers in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
The Best Car Dealers 2017 programme used two online surveys: a survey of new-car buyers and a second ‘peer-to-peer’ survey of car dealers and industry experts such as garages, repair shops and auto parts suppliers.
Consumers were asked to rate the dealers with which they have experience on factors such as the demeanor of salespeople, the ability to negotiate a good price, the quality of the after-sales service, and the likelihood to recommend to a friend or family member.
The peer-to-peer survey identified which car dealers (other than themselves) these experts would most recommend to their family and friends.
A dealer’s scores from both surveys were then combined to create an overall score on which the top dealers were identified.
Thomas Clark, from Statista, said: “This ranking serves as a beacon for consumers who want to quickly find out where they can expect the best advice and service while looking for a car”
“The new ranking also pays tribute to the fact that getting the best deal for your personal or professional transportation has become a lot more complex in recent years: once upon a time it was about a single-act purchase.
“Now dealers also provide financing and insurance services. This drastic change in demand and the complexity of the market with the addition of hybrids, e-cars and car-sharing, dealers are expected to help consumers in every step of the car purchase process. Forward-looking car dealers understand these trends – and act service their clients accordingly.”
The top 10 Driver Power Best Car Dealers 2017
> The Driver Power Best Car Dealers 2017 results
Jeremy has been a journalist for 30 years, 20 of which have been in business-to-business automotive. He was a writer and news editor on AM-sister brand Fleet News for three years before setting up the AM website. For the last five years he has been Bauer B2B’s head of digital helping to manage the digital assets of AM, together with Fleet News, Commercial Fleet, Rail and Smart Transport.
Travis Parris - 01/06/2017 21:37
This is a big help to us consumers on where to buy our next car.Excellent customer service is what we're looking for and the one that values our money.