How happy is the man in the middle?

There’s plenty of polls, reviews and opinions around telling us what people think of their cars, from driver satisfaction surveys like JD Power to reviews from the likes of Top Gear and our very own Blog. But one opinion we rarely hear is that of the dealers who sell them.

Well this week they got to have their say, on everything from the quality of the product to the service they receive, in the Retail Motor Industry Federation survey of dealer attitudes.

Unsurprisingly, among the most satisfied were premium brands Audi and Jaguar, although Kia made a surprise entry at number 3. Vauxhall, that bastion of averageness in design and manufacturing, sat solidly right on the average score, while Chrysler, perhaps suffering from being on a separate continent from their parent company, brought up the rear, giving their manufacturer just 3/10, compared to Audi’s league leading 8.7.

And if the dealers can’t get a good relationship with the makers, it makes you wonder what chance you have as a customer. No wonder so many people are by-passing the purchasing process altogether and leasing.