Dealership Appointments: Car Shoppers vs. Service Customers

Whether you’re shopping for a new vehicle or looking to service your current one, going to a dealership can be an event, one that takes time and planning. In 2024, we surveyed nearly 800 new car buyers and over 2,500 Service customers to understand their appointment-booking preferences and challenges. Here’s what we found:

More People Call Ahead for Service Than for Sales

It’s very common for customers visiting the Service department to book an appointment and nearly all of the respondents did. By comparison, only 64% of car shoppers gave the dealership a heads-up before their arrival. That’s not exactly surprising. A Service visit usually takes some time and may leave a car owner without their vehicle for hours or even days, while new car shopping often results in the customer having two options in which to drive home.

It also makes sense that more Service customers (64%) opted to make a phone call rather than book a slot online (19%), as most people probably want to speak with a team member to find out what kind of a wait they’re in for. Should they need to arrange alternative transportation, it’s best to know that in advance.

For Sales appointments, that gap between over-the-phone and web-based booking is much closer, with 44% of customers making a call and 39% using the dealer website. That’s likely because both methods (as well as simply stopping in sans appointment) produce a similar result: A Sales staffer is eager to help as soon as you walk in the door whether you told them you were coming or not.

Calling Ahead Isn’t Without Its Problems

Scheduling preferences also vary by generation. For instance, Generation Z, baby boomers and the Silent Generation are most likely to call, while millennials and Generation Xers show a slight preference for using the web.

However, a fair amount of survey participants faced difficulties when making an appointment over the phone. Of the 44% of new car shoppers who called ahead, 81% experienced some kind of issue: 25% said they were transferred at least once, 23% were put on hold, 21% had to navigate a phone menu, 17% had to call back, and 13% waited without anyone picking up.

Fewer Service customers (40%) encountered such trouble when calling the dealership. They also waited on hold for less time, averaging 8.2 minutes versus 13 for shoppers. That’s noteworthy, given that putting people on hold can have a big effect — 19 points big — on the dealership’s Net Promoter Score.

People Want AI for Sales Appointments but Not for Service

There are ways to cut down on hold times and phone transfers. Perhaps the best of them is using artificial intelligence. Virtual voice assistants can now understand natural speech and respond in kind, which makes talking to a robot more palatable than before. Most (66%) new car shoppers would even prefer it over talking to a human. About three in four Gen Zers and millennials said they’d like to schedule a Sales appointment with an AI assistant, while two out of three Gen Xers said the same. That said, fewer baby boomers and members of the Silent Generation were interested in this kind of technology, with only 30% indicating a preference for AI over speaking with a person.

As for scheduling Service appointments, most people (69%) still want to talk to someone. The generational divide is also more varied: 51% of Gen Zers said they’d like to book through a virtual assistant, whereas 41% of millennials shared that preference. Only 37% of Gen X respondents said they’d welcome an AI bot helping with Service appointments. Far fewer (19%) boomers and people in the Silent Gen felt similarly.