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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.

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.

"The difference is that top-performing dealer groups remove friction," said Cameron O'Hagan, Pied Piper 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.

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.