DISILLUSIONED motorists are turning their backs on dealer servicing and taking their business elsewhere, according to used car experts at CAP Motor Research. Editorial director Andrew Wilkinson said main dealers are losing out on profits today and tomorrow by not delivering the sort of aftersales service customers want.

Complacency over the standard of service they offer is causing main dealers to lose out to quick fit operations willing to work on tighter margins. 'Lost profit is the price dealers pay every time they lose a potential service customer to a quick fit chain,' said Wilkinson. 'Some dealers seem to be forcing potential customers out of their own doors and into the arms of the quick fit centres now springing up all over.' He added that for dealers to survive, let alone prosper, they must take on quick fit centres head-on by cutting costs and profits if necessary.