J.D. Power Study: Quick Oil Change Grows In Customer Satisfaction

JD Power recently released its 2026 U.S. Aftermarket Service Index Study, giving insight into the current areas of strength and weakness within the aftermarket.

As shared in a press release, year-over-year changes in customer satisfaction across the three segments in the index are mixed, with improvement in quick oil change (+4 points on a 1,000-point scale) but declines in tire replacement (-3) and full-service maintenance and repair (-7).

The index results showed aftermarket providers as being perceived more convenient than dealers, particularly in speed of service. Even among same-day dealer visits, fewer than one in five dealer service customers have work completed within an hour, compared with 52% of tire replacement customers and 49% of full-service maintenance and repair customers at aftermarket providers. At the same time, a growing share of customers also cite lower costs as a factor.

Across all three segments, more customers reported communicating with their service advisor via text message compared with last year, with texting now more common than phone calls in the tire and oil change segments. 

More than half of customers across all segments now prefer texts for service updates, and aligning with that preference meaningfully impacts satisfaction. Among customers who prefer texts and receive them, satisfaction is 854, but dips to 840 when they receive a phone call instead. 

Text messaging also enables advisors to share photo and video multi-point inspection results, more than doubling the likelihood that customers will approve recommended work, yet the industry has displayed no meaningful improvement in providing this documentation.

Express Oil Change and Tire Engineers ranked highest in the quick oil change segment for a fourth consecutive year, with a score of 854. Take 5 ranked second in spot number 833, and Jiffy Lube and Valvoline Instant Oil Change both ranked third, with the brands tied at spot number 823.