Saturn tops JD Power 2002 Customer Service Survey

[N8Magic]

Link

J.D. Power and Associates' 2002 Customer Service Index study puts GM's Saturn brand at the top, the first time a non-luxury nameplate has won the honor since the mid-1980s. Saturn's devotion to its customers ranked it just ahead of Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, with Toyota's Lexus division rounding out the top three.

Interestingly, American companies control six of the top 10 brands in the 2002 survey: GM leads with Saturn, Cadillac (4th place), Buick (6th) and Saab (8th), while Ford placed with Volvo (5th) and Lincoln (10th). The top 10finishers were as follows:

Saturn 900
Infiniti 897
Lexus 894
Cadillac 890
Volvo 883
Buick 882
Acura 881
Saab 875
BMW 873
Lincoln 868

I find this to be pretty interesting as it was a Saturn dealer that I went to yell at on my roommates behalf. They treated her so badly it was almost laughable.

 

[sohcrates]

That's great and all.

Now if Saturn actually made i car i *wanted* they would have the market cornered!

 

[SSP]

Thats great for them. Too bad saturns looks like ass.

 

[woodie1]

Never been in a Saturn Showroom....no plans to go now.

 

[UltraQuiet]

They ought to be the best. Their no haggle, 15% markup is the biggest rip off in the industry.

 

[MrBond]

Saturn makes a solid car. My sister was in an accident where another car went left of center and hit a van, which proceeded to roll over my sister's saturn. She walked away with a sprained wrist, the saturn was totaled.

She rarely has trouble with it as well, except for regular service. My only complaint is that parts are quite hard to get, often you've got to buy them from the Saturn dealer directly, usually at a very high cost. Autozone stocks some parts, but they're usually as expensive as the parts coming from the Saturn dealer.

 

[Freejack2]

Saturn actually makes a decent car. The problem with tge dealers is it's not something where GM can control everything because the dealerships are all franchises. How many times have you been to one McDonalds and the service is great, the place looks great, the food is good. Then you go to another McDonalds possibly even in the same city and the place SUCKS big time.
The Saturn dealer where I live is one of the reasons why Saturn tops the JD power 2002 survey. My parents leased a 98 Saturn SL2 and whenever they had a problem it was taken care of without a complaint and if the car had to be kept for any period of time they gave them a loaner car. Free beverages in the waiting area, etc.
On the other hand we've heard the horror stories from other Anandtechers about their local Saturn dealers.

However, probably the best deal in the world is a used late model domestic. Take a late model used 2000, or 2001 Saturn with an extended warranty and you got an incredible bargain on a car that will last you years and years.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I've been in a Saturn dealership once, couldn't decide if I was on my way to joining a cult or @ one of those irritating resturaunts that embaresses the crap out of you by singing happy birthday to you.

I might actually buy one someday if they'd invest some money in their engines.

 

[RossMAN]

I almost bought a brand new 2002 Saturn SL for $9,995 which would have been a smokin' deal. The guy at the dealership was very friendly but didn't seem to know what he was doing, couldn't answer all my questions about their product (as a sales man he should know everything about the products he's selling) and didn't seem that professional. I even put down a $500 refundable down payment because they only had 2 coming in and 1 was already spoken for. After doing some research and realizing I could get a better Honda Civic LX automatic for around $2,500 more I got my $500 down payment refunded to me.

Of course being the idiot I am, decided to spend another $7,249 and got a 2002 Honda Accord SE automatic instead