Bluetooth is a great invention. I love being able to make hands-free phone calls when I’m in my car. But more often than not, I leave a digital trail behind when I forget to delete my phone from the car’s Bluetooth.

You might be getting more than just a car when you accept a trade-in. What about the digital trail the previous owner left behind? When you take in a trade or buy a vehicle at auction, you likely have an efficient, effective process to get it through reconditioning or make ready and get it out on your lot, but are you skipping a digital step?

Don’t forget to Clean Behind your Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a convenient addition to many vehicles that customers love. They can sync their phone settings, contacts, access, and even texts can be synced to their vehicle to make hands-free use simple and safe. But when someone trades in their vehicle, they often don’t think about wiping their data from the car, and if your dealership forgets too, that data is passed along to the new car owner.

Does Your Dealership “Leave No Trace?”

Do the employees in your shop like listening to music? Is there usually music playing in make ready? If your employees plug their phones into cars in your shop, to charge the battery or listen to music, they might be leaving a digital trail. If they’re not paying attention, they could be syncing their data to the car, or worse, passing a virus or malware infection from their device into the car. In the age of the connected car, these are things to think about. Put policies and processes in place in your dealership educate your team and protect your data and your customers’ data.

Solution: Add a Digital Cleaning

You wouldn’t want to live without Bluetooth – but there’s a simple solution to make sure your customers, and your dealership, are protected: add a digital cleaning to your make ready process. Simply add wiping the Bluetooth as another item to check-off after vacuuming the carpet and checking the tire pressure. Your technicians may have to educate themselves on how to clear the data on various makes and models (here’s an example), but knowing that your dealership and your customers are protected will provide you peace of mind.