The saying goes that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Unfortunately, if that lemon is a car, you’re usually left with nothing but a sour taste in your mouth.

Let’s face it – a dealer’s worst nightmare is an unhappy customer with a lousy used vehicle. It can happen to even the most reputable dealership locations. The best defense? A vehicle history report.

Of course, with all the in-depth information available through AutoCheck, it’s challenging for time-crunched dealers to compare one vehicle to another. That’s where the AutoCheck Score® comes into play—dealers can use the multipurpose tool that provides a quick and easy way to compare similar vehicles—that includes vehicles of similar age and class.

What is AutoCheck Score and how is it calculated?

Providing a score between 1-100, the AutoCheck Score makes it easy to digest a vehicle’s condition and compare it to other similar vehicles. That said, it’s important for dealers to read the score in relation to the score range—the score itself only tells half the story. For instance, a vehicle may score as an 89, but the range of similar vehicles score between 90 and 95—this score would rate below those of similar age and class.  

We look at factors such as vehicle age, mileage, title status, number of owners and other standard industry checks to provide deeper context around overall roadworthiness, reliability compared to similar vehicles and likelihood of being on the road in five years. Assigning an easily digestible numerical value to all these factors makes evaluating used vehicles quick and easy.

Dealers benefit from using the AutoCheck Score

How does a dealership use the AutoCheck Score? The answer can vary based on business needs. Dealers can use the score to avoid putting “lemons” on their lots, making it a valuable vehicle acquisition and inventory management tool.

For trade-ins, the AutoCheck Score minimizes dealer risk by allowing the dealership to understand how the vehicle compares to similar vehicles. The complete AutoCheck report provides detail around otherwise undiscovered vehicle problems, which also ensures that customers receive a fair amount for their trade-ins. When purchasing vehicles at an auction, AutoCheck Mobile for Business allows dealers to access a vehicle history report simply by scanning the VIN. With this on-the-go technology, dealers can determine a vehicle’s salability and set meaningful limits for new inventory.

Dealers can also use the AutoCheck Score as a selling point, helping merchandise high-quality used vehicles, or perhaps manage expectations for a vehicle with a lower score. This helps provide transparency in the sales process and can boost customer confidence in their dealerships.

Experian’s AutoCheck Score provides an accurate, easy to understand rating that can be trusted as a clear representation of the quality of vehicle it is associated with. For more information on what AutoCheck Score can do for your business consult read our whitepaper.