EPISODE 39
12% Gone: Where Dealerships Are Losing Service Visits
Featuring Guest Skyler Chadwick
Episode Description
Ever feel like your dealership is doing all the right things and customers still drift away? Skyler Chadwick says the problem is a lack of clarity and confidence at the moments that matter most. His fix: stop checking boxes and start building trust with transparent pricing, tighter processes, and a service experience that makes customers feel certain they’re in the right place.
In this episode, Bill Springer sits down with Skyler, Director of Product Consulting at Cox Automotive, to unpack the latest findings from Cox Automotive’s Service Industry Study and what they signal for 2026 planning. They dig into why dealerships have lost ground to general repair, where the biggest retention drop-offs are happening (and why it’s earlier than many leaders think), and how fixed ops teams can turn the service lane into a retention engine.
Takeaways from this episode:
- Dealerships have lost 12% of service visits to competition since 2018 — and the biggest share shift is happening in general repair
- The most alarming retention slide shows up as early as year 2, meaning the “safe zone” is shrinking
- Longer service intervals mean fewer chances to impress, so the customer experience has to be sharper every time they visit
- “Installed” technology doesn’t equal results
- The service-to-sales handoff is a 2026 advantage: identify trade-in signals in the lane, do the work before the customer arrives
BILL SPRINGER
and president of Krex Inc.
SKYLER CHADWICK
Director of Product Consulting at Cox Automotive
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The Loyalty Paradox: Why Satisfied Customers Still Leave
A customer can leave your dealership completely satisfied and still never come back. That’s the loyalty paradox, and according to data from DriveSure’s 2026 Dealership Service Retention Report, it’s happening far more often than most service departments realize. The real danger isn’t the angry customer. It’s the quiet one who had a perfectly fine experience and simply had no compelling reason to return.
The Anatomy of Defection: What 1,277 Drivers Say Pushes Them Out the Door
Most dealerships know customers are leaving. The harder question is why. The data has a few answers that might surprise you.
In this episode of Retention Roadmap, Bill Springer dives deep into the 2026 Dealership Service Retention Report to break down the anatomy of defection, using data from 1,277 vehicle owners across the country. The top two defection drivers — a bad dealership experience (cited by 50% of respondents) and lower prices elsewhere (44%) — have held their positions across all three of DriveSure’s studies, going back to 2020. That consistency isn’t a trend. It’s the rule.
The Calendar Problem That’s Costing You 30% More Revenue
What if the biggest problem in your service department isn’t your technicians, but your calendar? Most dealerships think they’re managing capacity when in reality, they’re reacting to chaos they created themselves.