Franchised dealers who fail to sell cars with service plans are losing one-in-five customers to independent garages for servicing work, research by JudgeService has revealed.

For most owners (41%) the most popular place to get their car serviced is the dealer they purchased from, but only if they also took out a service plan.

Without service plans, the figure drops to 15%, while a further 18% of customers choose another main dealer.

However, most customers who do not buy service plans (20%) said they take their business to local independent garages.

Neil Addley, managing director at JudgeService, said: “For franchised dealers retaining servicing work is every bit as important as making the initial vehicle sale. Yet some dealers run the risk of losing invaluable aftersales business forever by not offering service plans with every car they sell.

“Dealers with processes in place to consistently offer service plans reap the bottom-line benefits and with shrinking markets for new and used car sales, every opportunity to sell them needs to be maximised.

“Servicing gives dealers the opportunity to build lasting relationships by delivering the best possible customer satisfaction, build retention for future car purchases and drive more profitability across the business.”

The research showed the preference for independent workshops is strongest among owners who bought from car supermarkets (47%), followed by those who bought from volume brand dealers (20%). Buyers of prestige marques were the next most likely to go to an independent (18%).

Overall, fast fit operators have a more limited appeal with just 4% of buyers saying they use them for servicing work.

The findings are from JudgeService’s forthcoming State of the Nation III annual report which analyses the views of more than 3,000 car buyers who purchased within the last three years.

Market and economic forces have created a scenario where franchised car dealerships' savvy aftersales departments are looking outside their traditional zero-to-three-year-old vehicle bread and butter.

As consumers are coming under increasing financial strain from soaring inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, some car dealerships are stepping up to help them through these challenging time