• First-ever omnichannel study measured how effectively each group’s dealerships helped customers schedule service by either phone or dealer website.
• Competitive threat: independent service centers outperformed dealer groups in service telephone behaviors on average
• MileOne ranked highest overall, led the industry in telephone scheduling performance, and tied Berkshire Hathaway Automotive for website scheduling performance

MileOne Autogroup ranked highest in Pied Piper's new 2026 Service Scheduling Effectiveness™ (SSE™) Auto Dealer Group Study, the first study to measure how effectively dealerships from the 31 largest U.S. dealer groups helped customers schedule service through both telephone and dealer websites. Following MileOne were Group 1 Automotive, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Napleton Automotive Group, Bergstrom Automotive and Hendrick Automotive Group.

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Customers increasingly expect scheduling vehicle service to be as easy as their best phone or online customer experiences in other industries. Dealer groups that make service scheduling fast and effortless gain a competitive advantage, while those that create friction risk losing customers to independent service centers. With 70% to 80% of dealer group operating profit coming from aftersales operations, that advantage can have a significant impact on overall profitability.

"The difference is that top-performing dealer groups remove friction," said Cameron O’Hagan, Pied Piper's Vice President of Metrics and Analytics. "Customers get where they need to go quickly, schedule service with less effort, and know exactly what happens next. Lower-performing groups not only make scheduling harder, they fail customers far more often."

Approximately two-thirds of service customers still prefer to schedule appointments by telephone, although online scheduling continues to grow each year. Each channel serves a different purpose: customers often choose the phone for more complex service needs, while online scheduling offers a faster, more convenient option for routine maintenance such as oil changes and factory-recommended service. Identifying and eliminating the obstacles customers encounter, whether by phone or online, can improve customer satisfaction, strengthen retention, and increase service revenue.

What Top Dealer Groups Do Differently from Low Performers

The top six dealer groups’ average SSE scores in the study were all above 75, while the four lowest performing dealer groups scored in the 50s or lower. When comparing the two categories, distinct behavior differences become evident.

Service Telephone Differences:

• More likely to quickly reach service associate by phone – Customers of the top performing dealer groups reached service associates by phone within one minute 65% of the time on average, compared to only 42% of the time on average for the lowest performing dealer groups.
• Less than one third the rate of “mission failure” by phone – On average only 7% of phone customers contacting the service departments of the top six dealer groups had their call end without being able to set up service (common causes include no availability, no response, VIN required, etc.). In contrast, 25% of service calls on average to the lowest performing dealer groups resulted in no appointment being set.
• One third as long a wait for earliest available appointment – The top performing dealer groups were on average below 2 days out for appointment availability, while the lowest performing groups had availability that was over 6 days out on average.

Service Website Differences:

• 20% More Successful Online Service Scheduling Outcomes – Customers of the top performing dealer groups were able to schedule a service appointment online no later than 1 week out 93% of the time on average compared to only 73% of the time on average when attempting to schedule online through the lowest performing dealer groups.
• More than 3x as likely to receive confirmation by both email and text – Customers scheduling service online through the top performing dealer groups received a confirmation by email and text 86% of the time on average, compared to only 26% of the time on average for the lowest performing dealer groups.
• More options to cancel or modify online service bookings – Customers that booked service online for one of the top performing dealer groups had a clear way to cancel or modify the appointment through either the website and/or in follow-up email/texts 95% of the time on average, leaving only 5% of customers without a clear path. Meanwhile, on average 26% of customers of the lowest performing dealer groups failed to have a clear path to cancel or modify their appointment in either the website or in follow-up.

AI Improves Service Scheduling, but Invisible Handoffs Still Fail Customers

AI has dramatically improved dealership responsiveness to routine service inquiries, but it has also created a new way for customer interactions to fail invisibly. AI typically handles routine scheduling quickly and effectively, yet performance often breaks down when limits are reached and the customer needs human assistance. Roughly one in three attempted transfers from AI to a human associate failed, whether the call went to voicemail, was disconnected, or left the customer on endless hold. These failures occurred, on average, one and a half minutes into the phone or chat interaction.

Breakdowns also occur between systems, as AI exchanges information with the DMS, CRM, website, email, text, or phone systems. In both cases, internal reporting may indicate that everything worked as intended while the customer receives no useful help, or worse, leaves frustrated after wasting time.

“AI is raising the baseline,” said O’Hagan. “The challenge is that most failures now happen in the handoffs between systems, or when a customer needs human help but nobody is available to take over. Those breakdowns are often invisible unless they’re measured independently.”

Independent Service Centers Pose Strong Competitive Threat to Dealer Groups

The study also evaluated four major independent service center brands, Midas, Pep Boys, Firestone, and Meineke. On average, these locations outperformed dealer groups in several key service scheduling measures.

• Higher-quality phone experience: Independent service centers delivered a "Mission Excellent" service call 39% of the time on average, compared with 29% on average for the dealer groups.
• Fewer scheduling failures: Customers experienced "Mission Failure" just 5% of the time on average, versus 12% on average for the dealer groups.
• Faster service: Customers reached a service advisor in 38 seconds on average, compared with 73 seconds on average for the dealer groups, and were offered earlier appointments (1.3 days versus 2.5 days).

"Independent service centers have become formidable competitors," said O’Hagan. "They've built their reputation on speed and convenience, and they currently outperform the typical dealer group when customers schedule service by phone. Every poor scheduling experience makes it easier for dealership customers to decide not to come back."

2026 Dealer Group Performance Compared:

The 2026 study found large variations by group in key service scheduling metrics

• Service Website: “Successfully Scheduled Appointment Less Than One Week Out” - How often were a dealer group’s customers able to successfully schedule a service appointment online that was less than one week out?
  • More than 95% (<5% failure rate) of the time on average: Napleton Automotive, Sonic Automotive, Morgan Automotive, Berkshire Hathaway, Gee Automotive, Hendrick Automotive, AutoNation, Greenway Automotive
  • Less than 80% (>20% failure rate) of the time on average: Ciocca Auto Group, Fox Motors, Serra Auto Group, Ganley Auto Group, West Herr Automotive Group

• Service Website: “Received a Confirmation Email and Text” - How often did a group’s dealerships send a service confirmation by both email and text?
  • More than 80% of the time on average: MileOne Autogroup, Bergstrom Automotive, Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, LaFontaine Automotive, Sonic Automotive, Holman Automotive
  • Less than 40% of the time on average: West Herr Automotive, Morgan Auto Group, #1 Cochran Automotive, AutoNation, Greenway Automotive

• Service Website: “Easy to Cancel or Modify Appointment” – How often did a group’s dealerships provide a clear way to cancel or modify an appointment by website, email, and/or text?
  • More than 95% of the time on average: MileOne Autogroup, Berkshire Hathaway, #1 Cochran Automotive, Bergstrom Automotive, Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, Group 1 Automotive, Sonic Automotive
  • Less than 80% of the time on average: Victory Automotive, Ourisman Automotive, LaFontaine Automotive, Morgan Auto Group, Greenway Automotive

• Service Telephone: “Quickly Reached Associate” - How often did customers reach a telephone service associate within one minute?
  • More than 75% of the time on average: Findlay Auto Group, Group 1 Automotive, MileOne Autogroup, Zeigler Auto Group
  • Less than 35% of the time on average: LaFontaine Automotive, West Herr Automotive, Ken Garff Automotive, Holman Automotive, Lithia Motors

• Service Telephone: “Set an Appointment” - How often when calling a group’s dealerships was the customer offered an appointment for a specific date and time?
  • More than 95% of the time on average: AutoNation, Ganley Auto Group, Holman Automotive
  • Less than 75% of the time on average: Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, LaFontaine Automotive, West Herr Automotive, Premier Automotive, Fox Motors

• Service Telephone: “Average Days Out” – What was the group’s dealerships’ average number of days out until the earliest available appointment?
  • Less than 1.5 days on average: Napleton Automotive, Greenway Automotive, Group 1 Automotive, AutoNation, Ken Garff Automotive, MileOne Autogroup
  • More than 5 days on average: West Herr Automotive, Fox Motors, Ganley Auto Group

How Was This Study Conducted?

Pied Piper submitted a total of 4,163 service requests, evaluating every dealership within 31 U.S. auto dealer groups during normal service hours. Dealerships received separate telephone and website scores tied to performance in over 40 weighted measurements that drive service revenue and customer loyalty. The resulting Service Scheduling Effectiveness™ (SSE™) score ranges from 0-100, with each dealer group’s overall SSE score reflecting the average performance of their dealerships.

About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC

Austin, Texas-based Pied Piper provides independent end-to-end measurement of how effectively client retailers interact with new customers, powered by fact-based data science and delivered through interactive AI. Manufacturers, franchisors, dealer groups, and franchise operators rely on Pied Piper for oversight and accountability across their retail networks to ensure opportunity turns into revenue and failures are quickly identified and fixed. The company also publishes annual industry benchmarking studies ranking brand performance and highlighting both top performers and gaps across industries.

“Traditional dashboards and reports can be misleading, and are often ignored, leaving dealerships blind to what’s actually happening with their service customers,” said O’Hagan. “Four of the top five performing dealer groups in the 2026 SSE study use ongoing SSE measurement and reporting to track and understand what service customers are actually experiencing.”

Other recent Pied Piper PSI^® industry studies include:

• 2026 Lead Handling Effectiveness™ (LHE™) Home Services Industry Study (Neighborly Brands’ Precision Garage Door Service ranked first)
• 2026 Internet Lead Effectiveness^® (ILE^®) Auto Dealer Group Industry Study (Napleton Automotive Group ranked first)
• 2025 Service Telephone Effectiveness^™ (STE^™) Powersports Industry Study (BMW Motorrad ranked first)
• 2025 Telephone Lead Effectiveness^® (TLE^®) Pontoon Boat Industry Study (Bass Pro Shops’ Sun Tracker brand ranked first)

Learn more, request a presentation of full industry study results, or request ongoing PSI^® measurement and reporting at www.piedpiperpsi.com.

This press release is provided for editorial use only, and information contained in this release may not be used for advertising or otherwise promoting brands mentioned in this release without specific, written permission from Pied Piper Management Co., LLC.

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Top-performing dealer groups remove friction from the service scheduling process, while lower-performing groups not only make scheduling harder, they also fail customers far more often.