Why it matters

The service customer is walking out the door.

The whole reason OwnerVia exists is a leak every dealer knows: the buyer drives off and never comes back. Here's what the industry's own numbers say about the size of it.

Every figure below is from published industry research — Cox Automotive, NADA, and Bain & Company. These describe the U.S. dealership industry broadly (much of it franchised-dealer data), shared to show the size of the retention problem OwnerVia helps with — not as a promise of specific results for any one lot. Sources listed at the bottom.
54%

Only 54% of late-model buyers return to their selling dealer for service.

In 2025 that fell to 54% for vehicles two years old or newer — down from 72% just two years earlier. Nearly half of the newest customers are already gone.

Cox Automotive, 2025

Why the leak hurts

Service isn't a side business for a dealership — it's the profit engine. When the buyer drifts, that's where it's felt first.

~49%

of gross profit is service & parts

Fixed operations drive roughly half of dealership gross profit on about 12% of revenue. The service lane is where the margin lives.

NADA Financial Profile
$261 vs $275

dealer vs. independent repair

Repair costs are nearly identical. Customers aren't leaving over price — they're leaving over ease. That's a convenience problem, and convenience is fixable.

Industry retention analyses, 2025–26

What this means for a lot like yours

The customer isn't defecting because you're more expensive — you're nearly the same price. They defect because when the car needs something, someone else is easier to reach in the moment.

OwnerVia is the thing that's one tap away, in the buyer's pocket, at the moment the car needs attention — pointed back at you.

Retention is also the next sale

Keeping the service relationship isn't just about oil changes — it's about the next car.

74%

service customers repurchase from you

Customers who service at the dealership are far more likely to buy their next vehicle from that same dealership. The service thread is the sales thread.

Cox Automotive
25–95%

profit lift from +5% retention

A 5% increase in customer retention can raise profits 25–95%, through repeat purchases and referrals. Acquiring a new customer costs 6–7× more than keeping one.

Bain & Company

The independent-lot angle

Most of this data comes from franchised stores with big service drives — but the mechanism is universal: a buyer who stays connected to the lot they bought from comes back. For service if you offer it, and for the next car regardless.

For an independent lot, OwnerVia is the only thread most buyers keep back to you after they drive off. No factory app covers your mixed inventory. You're the one who put the assistant in their pocket.

See it on a real car from your lot.

Give us one vehicle off your inventory — we'll have its assistant live on your phone.

Book a walkthrough

Sources

  1. Cox Automotive — service retention & fixed-operations data, 2024–2025.
  2. NADA — Financial Profile of America's Franchised New-Car Dealerships.
  3. Bain & Company — customer retention research.
  4. Industry retention analyses (dealer vs. independent repair cost, service-visit share), 2025–2026.

Figures presented for context, drawn from third-party published research. OwnerVia does not guarantee specific outcomes.