Service retention is often tied to how well a dealership runs its service department, nothing more, nothing less.
But a panel of dealers at the Kem Krest Supplier Summit in Detroit made the case that it's bigger than that. Retention numbers, they argued, are just as tied to decades-old OEM habits, direct-to-consumer tire programs, and a supply chain buried under too many part options as they are to anything happening inside the service drive.
The details: On Sept. 10, four dealers spoke on a panel at the Kem Krest Supplier Summit in Detroit, each sharing their takes on what’s working to retain service customers, what isn’t, and how all parties (dealers, OEMs, suppliers) could work together to see more improvement.
For context, Kem Krest, the summit's host, sits between OEMs like GM and Stellantis and their suppliers, sourcing and packaging parts and chemicals for dealer networks.
The panel featured Dave Rogers, fixed operations director at Piazza Auto Group, Richard Lupo, fixed operations director at Apple Tree Automotive, Tully Williams, parts and service director at The Niello Company, and Ed Roberts, COO and GM of Bozard Ford Lincoln.
Sam D’Arc, COO of Zeigler Automotive Group and host of Daily Dealer Live, moderated the event.
A simple question opened the panel: Is fixed ops “easier or harder” in 2026? The replies were mixed. Williams (with Niello) argued that ops are easier now, so long as the shop views it as a “repeat and referral business.”
Roberts (with Bozard Ford) shared a more down-the-line take, explaining that he “would hope that nobody in here would say it's easier,” and “would hope that we wouldn't say that it's tougher, because it's our job to get up every day and face the challenges. I love the noise in the industry, because that makes us buckle down and drive into the elements that drive our business forward.”
Lupo (with Apple Tree) also walked the line, saying “it’s different,” not necessarily easier or harder, due to the average age of cars on the road being older.
“With a brand like Honda, it's even further out,” Lupo said. “Retaining those customers is a different challenge than when the average age of the car was 7 or 8 years.”
Rogers (with Piazza) said that operations are easier in some ways, but harder on people in stores due to the technology in newer vehicles. Not specific to 2026, he also argued there’s an industrywide issue of dealers “doing more repairs and less maintenance.”
In the way of retention: Each of the four panelists spent a little over an hour talking about retention improvement.
Roberts called out the fact that “the aftermarket is a right-now business,” but more often than not, dealers offer a “hurry-up-and-wait” experience. “Hurry up and wait is not convenient. That's the difference with us right now,” he said.
Roberts added that this is especially key since service customers, on average, have about 16 places a shopper could take their car for maintenance or repairs before choosing a franchised dealer.
“There are 16 options before they come to us, and they have to pass all 16 of those to come to us,” he said, adding that dealers “have to outrun them with convenience.”
In practice: There are several ways to outrun competitors on convenience, but Roberts made one point specifically about designing processes and systems that put the consumer first, above all else.
“To remove defection, and this is not just for a dealership, this is for every business in this room—we create processes inside our business built around how we want to do business, and we don't do it for our customer," Roberts said. "We have to look at it through their lens, the end user of the product... instead of what's convenient for us, because what's convenient for us most of the time creates friction for the end user, and when you create friction, there's a defection point."
On training: Williams said that technicians (broadly speaking) could use better training on how to help customers who bring in an older car for service, while reminding the room that “an older car is not a 5-to-8-year-old car” anymore.
“There [are] more things that break, and we have to train our people to understand that so we can provide that great service,” he said.
A decline in units in operation (UIO) has, in part, helped weaken fixed ops in some areas, according to a panel consensus.
But the four largely agreed UIO explains only part of the problem, with Rogers calling it "a short-term problem" and adding that it pushes dealerships to find new ways to reach customers whose vehicles still need servicing.
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Where the OEM comes in: For the longest time, dealers were told “not to touch a tire,” and to instead “send customers to Firestone and Bridgestone,” according to Williams.
Despite that, he says OEMs are quick to criticize service retention at the shop level.
“Let's not forget that the OEM is not innocent in any of this,” Williams said. “For a hundred years, they wouldn't let us touch a tire. We were told point-blank to send customers to Firestone and Bridgestone, and the same OEM is going to tell us we suck at retaining customers, when we know that once those customers got into that marketing, we lost them. But that was every manufacturer; it's not just one manufacturer.”
Complicating the matter: Customers are more brand loyal than dealer loyal, which is why they’ll often stick with the OEM through their warranty, but immediately defect to a Firestone or Michelin for tires, batteries, or brakes after it’s over.
Backing Williams’ point, Roberts put it this way:
“If we do not take care of those items before they get to the aftermarket, the aftermarket is ensuring the customer that they are better to service that vehicle than we [are],” Roberts said. “We have to sell those retention items. And remember, we are the trained professionals, we have the backbone of the manufacturer, and we have to tell people about that.”
Rogers’ take: “If [a] car's got 37,000 or 42,000 miles on it and it needs that first set of tires, there is a sense of urgency with our service consultants to make sure we close that. And if they can't close it, I personally get involved.”
“The second thing is, yes, we would love to be able to operate at a Four Seasons level, but we have retail sales efficiency; we have the OEM saying, ‘Your repair order counts are dropping, what's your action plan for that?’ So the OEM pushes us to be more of a Motel 6 than a Four Seasons.”
Where the supplier comes in: Williams noted that nearly every dealer is dealing with parts availability issues, prompting D'Arc to ask panelists and the audience why. Two main issues emerged.
The perhaps-obvious observation came up first: Global disruptions, such as rising oil costs and tariffs, have hurt suppliers, which in turn affects availability.
The second issue, raised first by an audience member and then echoed by panelists, is the "proliferation" of parts.
In other words, the over-complication of how many tire or brake options are offered per model type.
“When you look at a wiper motor, why [are] there 500 wiper motors for one model? I just think that's crazy,” Williams said.
DTC concerns also came up: At least one OEM reportedly bypasses the dealer by offering direct-to-consumer tire and mobile installation options in partnership with Tire Rack Wholesale, according to Lupo and Rogers.
“Our exclusive provider is competition to us, and this game we play back and forth is a little ridiculous,” Rogers said.
And, unsurprisingly: The relative cost of OEM parts compared with aftermarket parts came up.
Each panelist agreed it's tough justifying higher prices, especially when competing with aftermarket shops charging much less.
Instead, the consensus was that dealers aren't selling the value well, which frustrates consumers.
“I think it's a training opportunity for our teams… An Outback will serve you a piece of steak and sides or whatever… but then we have Capital Grille, we have Ruth's Chris, three times the money for the same piece of meat, they prepare it differently, they give you a different experience, and we're okay with paying that. So it isn't necessarily that we've got to prove we're three times better; we've got to show the value difference.”
Bottom line: The friction points dealers described (parts availability, pricing pressure, OEM tire restrictions) aren't problems they’re equipped to solve alone. They require OEMs and suppliers to fundamentally change how they share information and collaborate.
“Rather than blame each other, let's work together to come up with solutions that work for our customers, that remove friction,” Roberts said. “And when we remove the friction, we create convenience, and that will drive the trust and the loyalty that we're looking for.”
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