When a customer brings their vehicle into a dealership for repair, they expect one thing: to leave with the problem resolved. Not patched together. Not half-fixed. Resolved. But across the industry, that simple expectation is being missed more often than it should.
J.D. Power data shows that more than one in 10 repairs isn’t completed correctly on the first visit to a dealership service department. That number should make everyone in the automotive service ecosystem pause. Because behind every failed first-time fix, there’s a cost. In fact, there are three separate costs—to customer satisfaction, to brand loyalty and to the bottom line.
The repair industry has always understood that “fixed right the first time” (FRFT) is important. But now, we can prove just how important it really is with hard numbers, real-world outcomes, and insights drawn from a combination of voice-of-customer data and millions of repair orders annually. The message is clear: getting repairs right the first time isn’t just a service department key performance indicator; it’s a multi-million-dollar problem that can be remedied.
The effect of getting it wrong
When filtering out maintenance visits and focusing only on repair events, the industry-wide FRFT rate hovers around 88%. That means 12% of customers leave the dealership only to come back again.
That second visit has consequences. From a financial standpoint, we estimate that if the industry improves FRFT by just three percentage points, it can avoid enough repeat visits to save approximately $200 million annually. That’s just on the warranty side. It doesn’t even touch the cost of lost customers turned off by the dealership’s inability to repair their vehicle to their satisfaction.
To those who say, “Well, we’ll always lose a few,” we reply, “Those lost customers matter.” Our research shows that on average, brand loyalty drops 13 percentage points among customers whose vehicles weren’t fixed right the first time. That’s not theoretical. We’re looking at actual loyalty behavior at vehicle disposal and reacquisition. A failed fix doesn’t just leave a sour taste. It quantifiably pushes people to defect from the brand.
Why fixes fail
The reasons behind failed first-time repairs are as much about process as they are about product. Too often, it starts with poor capture of problem information during the initial service write-up. If a service advisor doesn’t accurately translate the customer complaint into language a technician can act on, the chances of a correct fix drop dramatically.
Another issue might be called diagnostic ambiguity. Many customer complaints, particularly in infotainment or software-related systems, are tricky to define and hard to replicate. More often than ever, a vehicle is operating exactly as designed, but the customer doesn’t understand that (and/or doesn’t like that.) Without a thorough sales delivery and education process, systems that should theoretically benefit the customer instead translate into frustration and unnecessary service visits.
Then there is the simple lack of the best information, particularly on new-generation models. A fix that works at one dealership may not be known at the same-brand dealer across town—or across the country. Accelerating rapid sharing best practices across the brand’s service network, especially when assisted by artificial intelligence (AI), can drive dramatic improvements in FRFT rates.
In many instances, the problem isn’t that the fix doesn’t exist. The problem is getting the right fix to the right technician at the right time.
How we’re measuring it better
While the issue of FRFT has existed for decades, what’s changed recently is how we collect data and analyze it. J.D. Power has combined benchmarking customer satisfaction studies that capture voice of customer with actual repair order data. This dual-source methodology lets us see not just whether a fix happened, but what the customer experienced. This enables us to determine why things went wrong when they did—and how customers felt about it.
Using this combined data set, we can drill down by fuel type, vehicle series, component category and a variety of other variables. For example, it is possible to tie FRFT rates to infotainment, powertrain or electrical system issues. And more importantly, we can pinpoint which problems are costing the most, both in dollars and customer retention as we’re able to examine the effect on owner loyalty by utilizing our vehicle transaction data to analyze trade-in and repurchase behavior.
With the introduction of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, the service business has become significantly more complicated. But data is on everyone’s side. We can now identify patterns like lower FRFT rates in BEVs compared with gas-powered vehicles, or flag high failure rates in specific repair categories. That kind of nearly instant analysis allows manufacturers and retailers to target fixes where they matter most.
What dealers can do right now
The reality is, there’s no one-button solution to the issues surrounding fixing a problem correctly the first time the customer comes in for service. But there are clear steps that dealership service departments can take today to improve first-time fix performance:
- Improve write-up accuracy. Use structured diagnostic forms. Encourage advisors to ask deeper questions. Listen attentively. Translate the customer’s complaint into something actionable.
- Reinforce quality control. Every major repair should be test-driven post-service. If the issue was “no problem found,” that vehicle deserves a second look before going back to the customer.
- Train on “operating as designed.” Many complaints stem from misunderstanding how a feature works. Better delivery education at the point of sale can prevent unneeded visits to the service drive.
- Create a feedback loop. When a technician finds a successful fix for a tough issue, that insight should be captured and quickly shared within the shop and with the manufacturer.
How manufacturers can help
Dealers can only do so much without manufacturer support. Automakers have a massive role to play in solving the FRFT challenge. They will find that solving the problem will be a boon to their overall profitability.
OEMs can contribute by taking these steps:
- Use AI to analyze repairs. Identify the fastest, most successful fixes from the mountain of RO data and push those learnings back to the field.
- Make information easy to access and consume. That means service bulletins that are clear, concise and timely. Quick-hit videos might be the right solution for visual learners.
- Align incentives. When a repair is done right the first time, that should reflect in warranty metrics, customer satisfaction scores and technician performance tracking.
First-time fix is a loyalty driver
Fixing a car right the first time isn’t just a mark of competence. It should be a brand promise. It’s the key to keep customers coming back. It’s imperative to controlling escalating warranty costs. It protects customer satisfaction scores and increases repurchase intent. In a market where trust is fragile and choice is abundant, fixing the problem the first time is the most important thing a service operation can do.
