The influx of direct-to-consumer trade-ins is exposing a critical friction point in automotive retail. At the 2026 Auto Forum New York, Stewart Stropp of JD Power revealed that former Tesla owners returning to franchise brands are reporting significantly lower satisfaction scores, primarily due to the friction of the traditional dealership service model. The critical takeaway for dealers is that acquiring a D2C trade-in is only half the battle; retaining that customer requires evolving your fixed ops infrastructure. These buyers are conditioned to expect mobile service and zero-friction interactions. To keep these conquest buyers loyal and protect your retention rates, dealerships must aggressively expand their mobile service capabilities and modernize the customer experience to meet the elevated convenience demands that these buyers now consider standard. Watch full interviews from the 2026 Auto Forum at the link in our bio.