According to J.D. Power, Canadian motorists are holding on to their aging vehicles longer amid economic uncertainty fueled by trade tensions, inflationary pressure and rising new vehicle prices. This is resulting in a growing number of trips to auto service shops for maintenance and repairs.
According to the firm’s 2025 Canada Customer Service Index—Long-Term (CSI-LT) Study, the average number of annual visits to aftermarket facilities for vehicles aged four to 12 years was 1.5 trips — up from 1.3 in 2024.
Similarly, the average number of annual dealership service visits rose from 1.5 to 1.8 on a year-over-year basis, marking the highest level recorded in the past four years.
“The auto service market in Canada is experiencing unprecedented growth, with revenue estimated at $18.80 billion, thanks to a combination of macroeconomic factors that are leading to stagnation in new light vehicle sales and driving up maintenance and repair costs,” said J.D. Ney, automotive practice lead at J.D. Power Canada. “This presents a unique opportunity for dealerships to offset softer new vehicle sales and for aftermarket facilities to capture a larger share of the revenue stream in a market where used vehicle owners are more price-conscious.”
The average per-visit cost at dealerships rose year over year, reaching CDN$539 (up from CDN$465 in 2024) and was nearly 80% higher than in the aftermarket segment at CDN$302.
While this is partially driven by type of work, 65% of vehicle owners who chose an aftermarket facility cited the high cost of dealership service as the top reason for their decision.
According to J.D. Power, dealerships accounted for 62% of the auto service market’s total revenue, with the aftermarket capturing the remaining 38%, led by independent shops and aftermarket chains at 19% each.
The firm’s research also indicated that vehicle owners had a higher level of trust in dealerships to perform complex repairs on aging vehicles compared to aftermarket shops.
Among motorists who have taken their vehicle in for service, trust in dealerships for complex maintenance and repair scored 5.94 and 5.76 respectively on a seven-point scale. Aftermarket providers came in at 5.68 and 5.64, respectively.
J.D. Power reported that dealerships captured 48% of all auto service and repair visits, followed by independent shops at 26% and quick lubes at 11%. Of the three, only quick lubes saw a decline in market share — down 1 percentage point compared to 2024.
Great Canadian Oil Change ranked highest among aftermarket service facilities with a score of 830 on a 1,000-point scale. Jiffy Lube scored 803 for second place.
Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked the highest in the dealership segment with a score of 859 followed by Mitsubishi dealerships at 835 and Lexus dealerships at 832.
J.D. Power’s CSI-LT Study measures service usage and satisfaction among owners of vehicles that are four to 12 years old and analyzes the customer experience in both warranty and non-warranty service visits. Overall satisfaction is based on five factors, in order of importance …
• Service quality (32%).
• Vehicle pick-up (20%).
• Service facility (17%).
• Service initiation (16%).
• Service adviser (15%).
This 2025 study was based on responses from 9,999 owners and was fielded between the months of March and June 2025.
