Repair shops are reportedly performing better than car dealership service departments, Wardsauto.com reports.

Marylou Hastert, director of product marketing for DealerSocket, a customer-relationship software firm, told Wardsauto.com that independent repair shops – including tire dealers – own about 75% of the service market.

According to DealerSocket’s Dealership Action Report on 6,500 auto dealerships, 53% of the average dealership’s gross profit comes from the service department, but only 30% of sales customers return for service within the first year of buying the car. After three years, returning car sales customers drop to 13% and to 2% after five years.

That means that car dealers lose some 70% of their sales customers to independent service providers, and that number grows as the vehicle ages.