Dealerships should be afraid of the number 16. Spoiler, independents aren’t.
There are now 16 independent auto repair shops for every franchised dealership in America.
That 16:1 ratio isn’t just a stat, it’s a signal. The industry is being rewritten by mobility, technology and convenience. The winners will be the ones who meet customers where they are.
Across the U.S., the average driver passes 16 independent repair shops before reaching a franchised dealership. Sixteen chances for someone else to delight your customers, increase retention, or quickly fix a problem.
With more than 300,000 independent repair facilities nationwide, according to IBISWorld and Cox Automotive, compared with just over 18,300 franchised dealerships, according to Automotive News, the landscape has changed.
Additionally, customers are keeping their vehicles longer, with the average age of cars on U.S. roads at 12.8 years in 2025, according to S&P Global. This means consumer vehicles are increasingly out of warranty and need more servicing. Historically, this is good news for independent service shops and a challenge for franchised car dealers, who consistently are perceived as more expensive, less flexible and less accessible.
And that trend is gaining steam. Service appointments at car dealerships “were down 6% year-over-year,” as of Oct. 18, Cox Automotive’s Xtime reports.
Curbee calls this new reality “The 16.” It’s not just a number: it’s the competitive gap dealers must close.
The 16 is both a wake-up call and an opportunity.
Spoiler alert: there is an easy-access investment that doesn’t involve bricks and mortar, is proven to improve customer loyalty, and a growing number of dealers report delivers a rapid return on investment. It’s mobile service. With the right service-provider tech and tools, dealers are reporting high satisfaction among customers, technicians and in the executive suite.
Key Stats driving the need for mobile service, compiled by Curbee’s data team:
“The 16” isn’t a fluke, it’s the new infrastructure of American mobility. Independent shops are everywhere, always open, and always visible.
Independent repair shops don’t need billboards; they win on visibility and convenience. While dealerships additionally offer factory-trained technicians, recall work and more robust tools on-hand, it doesn’t matter if it's too hard and too expensive – or perceived by customers as too hard and too expensive – to get in to get their vehicles serviced. In fact, Cox Auto’s Skyler Chadwick told CDG Fixed Ops Pulse that the average dealer repair order is currently $261, while the average independent RO is $275.
Independent repair shops surpassed dealerships as the “most preferred service provider,” in 2023, according to Cox Automotive’s Dec. 2023 Service Study. The No. 1 reason, according to the study: inconvenient location. Reasons two through five were concerns about unreasonable costs.
Independents offer:
“Convenience doesn’t have a demographic.”
As the Curbee data team documented, consumers expect convenience at their doorsteps.
Dealers might still have better tools and factory-trained technicians, but that doesn’t matter if the customer never makes it through the door.
Dealers have upgraded lounges, installed espresso bars, and launched loyalty programs, but they’re still losing on the metric that matters most: time and retention.
Consumers get their burritos delivered, their groceries, their daily Amazon orders. Even the dog is now groomed in the driveway.
So, the idea that a consumer has to wait for hours in a dealership for their car to be serviced – after already waiting for an appointment – is a nonstarter. And dealers who require consumers to drop off their cars days or weeks before they will be repaired to hold a place in line can watch loyalty fly right out the service bay door.
Drivers want:
Dealers aren’t losing on quality. They’re losing on convenience and flexibility.
Mobile service gives dealerships the tech, tools and playbook to outcompete the independents by going mobile and delivering dealership-grade service – from factory-trained technicians – anywhere.
Mobile service helps dealers:
Curbee’s dealer data shows the power of this shift. Among customers who had not serviced their vehicle at the dealership for more than 18 months, 92% accepted a mobile appointment when offered. This demonstrates that mobile service is not only a convenience tool for active customers, it is one of the most effective strategies available to win back customers who have already left the dealership service lane.
The next decade will transform vehicle service more than the last fifty.
The winners will be:
The distance between a dealer and a driver has never been shorter – if you have the right technology and service offerings.
These findings are based on the Curbee data team’s analysis of publicly available data from:
“The 16” is more than a ratio – it’s a reality check.
It’s proof that convenience wins and accessibility is the new loyalty program.
Mobile Service gives dealerships the power to transform their reach, reclaim visibility and own the next generation of service.
The opportunity is clear. The road is open. It’s time to Own the 16.
Curbee is the fastest-growing mobile service technology provider. Curbee helps dealerships operationalize mobile service with its platform called M.A.R.S. (Mobile and Remote Service). With Curbee M.A.R.S., it's simple: dealerships send the right van to the right job, using the right route with the right parts, at the right time.
Our street credit comes from our in-market experience and best practices. With our software, solutions and success team, dealers can scale mobile service quickly, delivering a game-changing customer experience while driving revenue growth. Our innovative technology supports AI-powered scheduling & analytics, ensuring dealers efficiently “go mobile.”
Curbee's team has highly relevant experience from Tesla, Toyota, Ford and Roadster and is backed by DVx Ventures, a venture studio with a unique approach to company creation and scaling. For more information, visit www.curbee.com.
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