Top 10 Luxury Car Companies with the Best Dealerships

Kirk Sladen sent one of his car sales associates nearly 100 miles away just to help customers set up the garage-door opener in their new Lexus. It's a task that might have been just as easily accomplished over the phone, but personalized service such as this is "just the cost of doing business," says Sladen, general sales manager at Newport Lexus in Newport Beach, Calif.

The perks at some luxury car dealerships are beginning to resemble those of a social club or spa, as they struggle to boost business in an increasingly tough environment. “Some even have a putting green, cappuccino bar and nail salon,” says George Peterson, president of the automotive research and consulting firm AutoPacific. “A lot of it just has to do with ambiance.”

Peterson singles out Newport Lexus, which cost $73 million to build and opened last July, as an example of how dealerships can cater to an especially discriminating local clientele. Some are even offering perks miles away from the facility itself, like free VIP parking at sports stadiums and concert venues.

Sladen says that Newport Lexus has already poached customers from a nearby rival Mercedes-Benz dealership, Fletcher Jones Motorcars. They’re targeting people who had previously considered buying a Lexus but weren't willing to drive five traffic-clogged miles inland from their affluent strip of coastal Orange County to a fine, albeit less extravagant, dealership in nearby Tustin.

"This place is set up like a five-star hotel," says Matt Schaefer, Newport Lexus sales manager. "It has the look and feel of a Four Seasons, and not just in the showroom." Amenities at the dealership include a putting green, game room, multiple lounge areas with giant-screen TVs, wireless Internet throughout the facility, a workroom with desks and computers and refreshments courtesy of an on-premises Wolfgang Puck cafe. Plasma-screen monitors provide entertainment in restroom stalls, and there's also a Tommy Bahama boutique for some light shopping.

• Slideshow: Top 10 luxury car companies with the best dealerships

Marble floors, high ceilings, multiple fireplaces and music from a grand piano help set the ambiance, along with water walls at the entrance. More than 700 vehicles are displayed for sale at any given time. The sprawling, eight-acre complex bustles behind the scenes, as well, with more than 100 service bays and the capability to wash and detail up to 100 cars per hour.

Such five-star treatment at the dealership is becoming a more significant point of differentiation between non-luxury and luxury vehicles as lower-end models from mainstream companies like General Motors and Honda grow more sophisticated, luxurious and expensive, says Tom Gauer, senior director of automotive retail research for J.D. Power and Associates.

While hospitality perks and red-carpet treatment are helpful in keeping customers satisfied, the difference really comes down to the efforts made by the staff much more than the actual facilities, says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, a research firm that studies the luxury car market. “Simple qualities like honesty and trustworthiness go a long way,” he says.

The best luxury vehicle dealerships have a straightforward sales and service approach, with fewer of the possible antics reported in our Negotiating with Dealers feature. At luxury dealers, one person usually oversees the entire sales process, rather than passing off a buyer from one associate to another. In recent years, dealers of mainstream, non-luxury vehicles have started applying this technique, too.

The service experience is an extension of the sales relationship, so expectations should be high when bringing your car in for its scheduled maintenance. Think of it this way: The dealership should be trying to earn your repeat business. "We can do any routine service in 90 minutes or less," Newport Lexus’ Schaefer says. If that's not fast enough, or if repairs take longer than 90 minutes, the dealer has more than 50 complimentary loaner cars to be used daily.

Offering a free car to drive while yours is being serviced has become standard practice among luxury car dealerships. Ideally, the dealer should offer you a loaner that’s as close as possible to your vehicle in size and body style. If there is any inconvenience involved with the loaner, the dealer should offer to pick up or drop off the vehicle at your home or work.

Valet services should be provided from a central location at the dealership, and turning the car in for service should be as simple as passing off the keys and walking a few paces over to the service writer. Your vehicle should be ready when expected, and when you return to pick it up, it should be cleaner than when you left it.

When you have a breakdown or need an unforeseen repair, consider it a test: The dealership should be able to make room for fixing your vehicle on short notice and offer you assistance until then. The key to keeping the customer satisfied in situations like this is mostly in the attitude of the staff, says the Luxury Institute’s Pedraza. “It shouldn’t be about fixing the car; it should be about overcompensating for the inconvenience,” he says.

Luxury car buyers do tend to be especially conscious of wasted time, says Rob Gentile, director of car-buying products at Consumer Reports. He adds that small perks like comfortable seats and snacks go a long way.

Free routine maintenance is another useful perk that’s being offered by luxury automakers and now some non-luxury ones. For example, BMW has found success with its Ultimate Service plan, which includes free maintenance for four years or 50,000 miles and boosts satisfaction with the dealership.

What we’ve told you so far will help you identify the best dealers by looking beyond the fancy facades and flourishes. But some brands stand well above others in satisfaction with the dealership experience, according to two annual studies that J.D. Power conducts. The firm’s annual Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) looks at the ability of a brand’s dealerships to manage the sales process, from product presentation to negotiation, financing and delivery; the annual Customer Service Index (CSI) gauges the satisfaction of customers who have brought their car in to the service department during the first three years of vehicle ownership. The most recent surveys came out last November. The 2006 CSI is based on experiences with 2003-2005 model year vehicles, while the 2006 SSI is based on those who registered new vehicles in May 2006.

Other firms that look specifically at dealer-experience satisfaction include Strategic Vision, which polls buyers three to four months after their purchase as part of its annual New Vehicle Experience Study; and AutoPacific, which asks about it around the same period of ownership as part of its annual Owner Satisfaction Survey.

With approval from J.D. Power, we’ve ranked the top 10 luxury car companies with the best dealership experience by combining their SSI and CSI scores (which are both out of a possible 1,000 points, so the combined total is out of a possible 2,000 points). We start with number 10, Acura, and have included results from the other research firms to compare, contrast or draw insight.

• Slideshow: Top 10 luxury car companies with the best dealerships