OREANDA-NEWS. Recent Xtime data has revealed that transparent cost estimates are the most critical concern for today's automotive customers when setting service appointments. In a 2016 study of 668 respondents, more than 70 percent considered cost estimates "extremely important" or "very important" when setting appointments.1 This outranked all other factors surveyed, including the ability to choose the time or day of the appointment, the availability of transportation options and the option of choosing among different service advisors.

Xtime, the leading retention solution for the retail automotive industry

By aligning their service strategy with this research, dealers can position themselves to win more business and retain more customers in the service department. Today, only 30 percent of service visits take place in dealerships,2 partly because customers believe dealership service departments are more expensive than independent repair shops. The reality is that the average cost of routine maintenance at a dealership is comparable to third-party providers.3 Therefore, by providing cost estimates during the scheduling process, dealers can alleviate the misconception of having higher costs, create a transparent and trustworthy ownership experience for customers, and increase their odds of winning more service appointments.

"This research shows price transparency is a big way for dealers to deliver a high-quality ownership experience that keeps customers coming back to the service drive," said Jim Roche, senior vice president of marketing and managed services at Xtime. "Spectrum, Xtime's cloud-based service experience platform, already allows dealers to act on these new findings. Since 94 percent of dealers state that the ownership experience is more important than the service itself,4 dealers must look to technology in order to deliver that superior experience. With Spectrum, customers can conveniently schedule their appointments online — and know how much they'll pay before they arrive. This improves convenience and trust, enhances the ownership experience, and increases service retention by an average of 7.5 percent."5

About Xtime

Xtime delivers retention solutions for the automotive retail industry. Xtime, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is the exclusive or preferred provider for 24 major global automotive manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Australia, as well as leading dealership groups, and services 7,000 dealerships. Xtime is a Cox Automotive™ brand. 

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, software, financial, wholesale and e-commerce solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, vAuto®, Xtime® and a host of other brands.