Many dealers feel they need both a sales and a service BDC based on advice from numerous industry trainers. The thought process is that the sales BDC’s job is to set appointments for sales customers and the service BDC sets appointments for service customers. But what if you combined the two to create a single service BDC? Service is the largest percentage of dealership revenue. It makes sense to have a service BDC. But not many dealers want to dissolve their sales BDC.

In a recent article in Automotive News, a dealership in Michigan moved its entire BDC to the service department and simply installed an Internet Manager for sales-related issues. It is certainly important to acquire inventory right now but, in addition, dealerships want to bolster service revenue as well.

This dealership’s decision to move the BDC to the service lane solved a myriad of issues. First, it saved money by no longer having two separate BDCs. Second, the dealership was able to train its BDC agents in how to schedule service and also identify vehicles that need additional service outside of any issue the customer originally called about. A system has also been set up so an Internet Manager can jump in should a customer be interested in potentially trading and/or selling their current vehicle for a new one.

According to the article, “The new approach has led to about 330 BDC-scheduled appointments per month, about 100 more than it got previously, and Internet sales close rates have doubled to nearly 20 percent.” Those are pretty impressive results from simply using their existing BDC differently. In addition, the dealership “has sold eight to 10 vehicles from the service lane and buys about 20 vehicles from service customers each month.”

These are similar to the numbers we see with clients at Recall Masters. By combining staff resources, utilizing systems more efficiently, designing new ones that further remove waste, sharing best practices and consolidating a stellar customer service experience, the strategy is paying off.

The dealership spends the same amount of money in employee expense, gets the inventory they desire in this hyper-competitive market, and the customer gets a new (or new-to-them) vehicle. And, just like dealerships have always done, they are offering incentives for customers that trade-in their used cars. Because of the lack of new vehicle inventory, the dealership gives the customer the option to get out of their existing vehicle and have a guaranteed “bonus” in the future.

This is a great idea because not only does the dealership gain inventory they can repair any warranty or recall repairs on, but they can also build brand loyalty from those customers who did not think they could trade in their vehicle at that time.

A service call center is relatively easy – and inexpensive – to implement. By combining the sales and service BDC into one entity, the dealer captured more service business, gained more inventory without fighting other dealers at auction, and, as a result, saw more service and sales. If this dealer can do it and see those results, there is no reason why any dealer – from the smallest to the largest – can’t deploy the same strategy and boost their bottom line.

An interesting idea published in Automotive News shares how some Texas dealers are gaining more technicians while helping people in need, namely military veterans. These Texas dealers created a 500-hour training program titled "Ford's Technicians of Tomorrow,” that launched in the Fall of 2020. It trains these military veterans in shop safety, warranty fundamentals, technical writing, and express service. The training results in certification as a chassis master by Ford and each graduate also receives tools valued at $4,000. 

Participating dealers sponsor these students who agree to work at one of the sponsoring dealerships to further their training and knowledge while employed in a full-time position, which inevitably leads to increased shop capacity. The sponsorships are also seeded by participating dealerships, Ford Motor Company, and the Texas Workforce Solutions of Central Texas.

This model could be an amazing opportunity for dealerships in other states to gain technicians and incorporate them into their company culture while increasing their capacity to service customers. Warranty work is typically less desirable than customer pay (CP) opportunities. Dealerships need revenue and the service department is held accountable for its department’s profit so many dealerships choose more lucrative ROs over warranty and recall work. This explains why some dealers are turning to recalls, which are considered warranty work, but consistently match in CP revenue. In addition, 49 states have passed legislation that mandates OEMs reimburse at the full retail rate for parts and service, as long as the dealership applies for the adjustment.

This program in Texas brings in technicians that have been trained thoroughly before joining the team, so dealerships also gain a technician certified by the OEM. And it provides an opportunity to help our former military service personnel in the process.

I also thought this was a great point made by Sam Pack, who owns four dealerships that participate in the program. In the article, he stated, "They're more mature candidates. They generally have families, are very punctual and very disciplined." Who doesn’t want a technician like that, much less an employee in general?

Technicians are getting increasingly hard to find and dealerships are up against their competitors trying to “outbid” each other and recruit at a higher cost. Why not gain trained technicians and do a good deed for those who have served our country at the same time? It creates a whole new pool of automotive technicians. And now you don’t have to rely so much on future generations to enter the automotive technician job pool. Consider forming a similar opportunity in your state. It’s working for Texas dealers. Why can’t it work for your state?

At the end of July 2021, a new law passed in Illinois requiring dealerships to pay retail rates to technicians for the actual time and labor it takes to repair vehicles that are under warranty. The justification being that technicians are highly trained workers and should be paid wages that mirror the high-tech compensation of other industries. This could be both good and bad for dealerships if this trend spreads to other states in the nation.

1.    Dealerships in states that have passed legislation requiring manufacturers to pay retail rates for warranty and service repairs won’t be affected IF they also passed that labor rate increase to their technicians. Dealerships that have NOT passed the increase to their technicians will need to. As such, dealerships will see a drop in their net service revenue or risk losing some technicians to competitors.

2.    Dealerships in states that have NOT passed legislation requiring manufacturers to pay retail labor rates for warranty and recall repairs will be forced to pay their technicians retail labor rates while the dealership continues to receive manufacturer-mandated rates. This will REALLY hurt dealerships since they may end up having to pay more to the technicians than what they are receiving from the manufacturer or, at the very least, get close to breaking even.

This Illinois legislation should ultimately force Automobile Dealers Associations in states that have NOT passed similar legislation to do so, as dealers will be seeing a decrease in service penetration. Most dealers are surprised when they learn that a factory submission isn't their only choice. In fact, 49 states have some type of legislation in place that allows dealers to perform a statutory labor rate submission. The purpose of a statutory submission is for a dealer to achieve warranty labor compensation at its retail rate, which is a market-driven rate based on its warranty-like customer-pay repair transactions. Any dealer who is submitting for a labor rate increase should be evaluating its factory protocol and its statutory protocol to determine which is most advantageous.

Technicians are in high demand. Increasing their wages based on the work they perform rather than what the manufacturer will pay should benefit dealers by attracting more technicians, thus alleviating some of the demand versus supply issue.

In addition, it could encourage young individuals to choose to train to be an automotive technician. This then increases the available workforce, increases supply, and makes it easier for the dealerships to find new technicians. This, of course, is a long-term result. It won’t be instantaneous for the younger workforce to join the labor pool and discover that being an automotive technician is a lucrative position.

 Keep in mind that software and electronics recalls were the largest category of recalls, affecting 7,541,325 vehicles from 77 NHTSA recall campaigns. These are exactly the types of recalls that more tech-savvy technicians – many of whom can be new to our industry – can tackle without years as a master technician. This is how we’re going to resolve a technician shortage while also generating more revenue.

Remember, the consumer probably has little knowledge of or interest in any of this. They simply want the dealership to fix their vehicle and ensure it is safe, regardless of whether it's routine maintenance, customer-pay, warranty or recall repairs.

It is likely to be quite a balancing act. What are your thoughts on what this will mean for the future of service departments and technicians?

In the last month or so, several automotive manufacturers have announced production cuts. One would think that is perhaps counterintuitive in the sense that, with a market severely lacking new vehicles, shouldn’t OEMs ramp up production rather than decrease it?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford recently announced plans for “permanent reductions” of new vehicles and is also planning to push consumers into custom building their vehicles. According to the article, the factory will then build those specific vehicles rather than sending “hard-to-sell models that end up collecting dust and lead to profit-sapping discounts.”

Whether Ford is referring to huge rebates on their end, or if they believe they are helping their franchises, is still undetermined. Due to franchise agreements, Ford can’t “sell” vehicles direct to the consumer. But, to many, the process feels like a little end-around for OEMs to control dealerships’ inventory and availability.

The service “disrupters” are also increasing in number. A recent article in TechCrunch illustrates a fairly new service disrupter that has come on the scene - RepairSmith. Their primary offering is to provide automotive service to consumers right in their driveway. Not only is this a disrupter to franchise dealers, but also independents such as Jiffy Lube! RepairSmitth CEO, Joel Milne, states in the article, “We’re trying to disrupt probably the biggest retail industry that’s untouched by a tech.”

Service pick-up and delivery has been discussed for years – even pre-COVID. Some dealerships implemented it, but most didn’t. In the blink of an eye, it seemed that an at-home auto service where a customer (or their vehicle) never has to leave the driveway was unveiled. But this level of service costs the dealership much more than a simple pick-up and delivery service, as it requires more than a couple of drivers along with the loss of a technician, who are in short supply, for an extended period. Even if you simply factor in the transport time, that's a technician that could have completed the job at the dealership then immediately started on another one.

Do you think the combination of decreased production of new vehicles by automotive manufacturers, the continued market share increase from retail sales by Carvana, etc, and the introduction of service repair disrupters will hurt car dealerships? It’s hard to imagine that these new service models won’t. Car dealerships will be left with nothing other than the buying and selling of used vehicles at increasingly higher prices, while manufacturers control inventory, and service revenue is decreased by this new disruptive industry service.

It's only a matter of time before more disrupters appear on the scene to steal more market share from traditional dealership models. What are you doing to prepare and be competitive in these new market conditions?

What consumer doesn’t love the internet? It has been especially transformative for the automotive industry. Not only can shoppers compare vehicles, options, pricing, and availability with a click of the mouse, but they can also purchase the vehicle and have it delivered to their driveway.

The market disruption is in full swing, evident in the revenue generated and the numbers of units sold by organizations that include Carvana, Vroom, Shift, to name a few.  A vast majority of franchise dealers have also adopted similar pick-up and drop-off processes. But these dealers haven’t faced scrutiny from state and local governments in the same way the major internet properties have. 

Franchise dealers have always felt the heavy hand of government regulations and navigate these familiar grounds by streamlining processes to balance compliance with sales objectives.  When it comes to national operations and moving cars across state lines, how do these modern-day, virtual dealerships remain in step with the multitude of legal requirements that span state and local governance?

As it turns out, there are a few cracks. 

During this pandemic, Carvana, Vroom, and Shift have seen a massive upswing in sales, simply because they make it so easy for a consumer to buy, finance, and then have the vehicle delivered right to their home. Consumers have found it so easy, and have embraced it so much, that according to an article published on Automotive News, on August 7, 2021, Carvana reported its first quarterly profit EVER!

Ironically, just five days later, the same industry news authority reported that Carvana has been suspended from selling cars in Wake County, NC (which includes the State Capital, Raleigh) for SIX MONTHS. This is due to many violations, including failure to deliver title work, issuing out-of-state temporary tags, and selling vehicles that had not passed the mandatory state safety inspection test!

Let’s look at what the North Carolina Safety Inspection test includes:

“A motor vehicle registered in North Carolina must pass an annual safety inspection before its registered owner can renew its vehicle registration. They can be conducted no more than 90 days before the license plate and registration expires. During a safety inspection, a licensed mechanic examines a vehicle's:

1. Headlights
   Accessory Lights
   Directional Signals
   Foot brake
   Parking Brake
   Steering
   Tires
   Horn
   Rearview Mirror
   Windshield wipers
   Exhaust System
   Tinted windows, if applicable

Failure to get a vehicle inspected by the due date will result in a vehicle's registration being blocked until the vehicle is inspected.”

Of course, they can’t deliver title work and issue out-of-state temporary tags because, while it is legal to sell used cars without safety recalls repaired, it is ILLEGAL to sell cars that haven’t passed the mandatory safety inspection and all that it entails.

It’s easy (and plain) to see that every one of the items included in that list of things inspected is important. Are headlights, brakes, steering, and blinkers important to a driver's safety? Absolutely.

Is this lack of detail (failing to have a mandatory safety inspection) simply an aberration? Or does it extend to other counties and states where these organizations are selling cars to consumers? Franchise dealers are selling cars faster than they can acquire them. So, it would stand to reason that Carvana, Vroom, and Shift are as well. Carvana even launched a partnership program so they can add (and sell) dealerships' inventories to have more vehicles available for consumers on their digital retailing platform. And you thought it was hard for dealerships to get cars to sell!

The fact of the matter is that if unsafe vehicles are being sold to consumers because they failed to do mandatory safety inspections, there is little likelihood that open safety recalls are being attended to. That’s not good for consumers and a potential public relations travesty for the industry.

And by no means should you even speculate that this is a “North Carolina” thing. According to the Times of San Diego, just this month Carvana settled a lawsuit for $850,000 with California for selling cars for 4 years without a dealers’ license, transporting cars without a transporter’s license, and… surprise… didn't provide the inspection reports as required by California law!

Most dealers are compliant with state licensing requirements and adhere to the laws of the state where they sell cars. While buying a car from Carvana, Vroom or Shift is easy, it seems they may want to take a closer look at potentially unsafe vehicle sales that could damage their brands and degrade consumer confidence in all internet vehicle sales.   

During the pandemic, we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in the number of cars on the road as working from home has become commonplace. In fact, according to several sources, working from home may be here to stay. It decreases company expenses and, some researchers say, employees are actually more productive.

However, while driving dramatically decreased in 2020, there is a rather interesting anomaly in this situation. The NHTSA recently published a report detailing statistics on how vehicle crash fatalities fared in 2020. One would think that if there were less cars on the road that crash fatalities – or any other vehicle related issues – would decrease. According to the NHTSA, that would be wrong.

According to the published findings, 38,680 people died in vehicle crashes during 2020, an increase over 2019 despite a 13.2 % decrease in mileage driven.  Even with a decrease in driving due to the pandemic, vehicle related incidents and fatalities have increased.

Safety is everything. Sometimes it’s not just one thing that contributes to a fatality or accident, but rather a multitude of things. Perhaps with COVID, consumers are driving distracted or are not taking the time to maintain their vehicles.

I sincerely hope that this trend alters course and trends downwards. As consumers work from home, their vehicles may not be as top of mind as they should be. This is the perfect time for dealers to connect with these consumers and gain that service revenue while, perhaps, gaining a customer. Eventually, things will get back to normal and more vehicles will be on the road once again. And that could increase the dangers even more.

We’re not alone when it comes to a labor shortage. Data released in July by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates job openings hit a record high in May. The increase largely reflects more vacant positions in the healthcare, education, accommodation, and food services sectors. But few industries have been as directly affected and had revenues hit as much as the automotive industry with the scarcity of technicians. Don't surrender. Much like the pandemic, this is another opportunity for your dealership to innovate!

Let’s start with some facts.

The availability of vaccines paired with a broader reopening of the economy has spurred a snapback in economic activity in recent months. But consumer demand has largely outpaced the ability of businesses to hire. In short, the business is there! 

Many dealers are missing out on a great profit center that is a win-win for consumers and dealers alike, and that is recalls. We’ve got more vehicle owners affected by recalls than dealers can take on due to a lack of technicians and/or service bays. It’s real – very real.  However, buried beneath the obvious discomfort is a workforce ready to get off the bench from binge-watching Netflix. 

The problem is that sadly, too many dealers feel that only their master techs or service bays with lifts can handle these recall repairs, so they are turning down service business unnecessarily. It can be quite profitable when you consider that several states have passed legislation making warranty and recall work billable at retail rates – Tennessee being the latest one, effective July 1, 2021. And it is something your customers need and want!

Let me show you the face of your future technicians. How do I know? Because my son is considering being an automotive technician as we speak. Sure, he’s my son and I’m going to brag a little. However, I also envision hundreds of thousands of kids in similar situations.  They're young, smart, ambitious, tech-savvy, and have grown up on a steady diet of watching others live extravagant lives through social media. The good news is that they want to make money. However, you also need to recognize that this generation is not immediately drawn to what they consider "blue-collar" careers -- or getting grease and oil under their fingers – stereotypes that don’t always hold true. 

At the risk of dating myself, I grew up with cars. I took four years of auto shop and spent it rebuilding a 1968 Chevelle from the ground up. With all that love for cars and experience under the hood, even I didn’t end up as a technician. So, when I look at my son and realize that this generation doesn’t have the same fascination with getting under the hood, it’s no wonder we’re short on techs. However, what drew my son to this career path is a combination of several attributes that we need to leverage as an industry. 

1. 1. Today’s cars are just really big computers that roll. Tomorrow's technician has a passion for technology, computers, smartphones, robotics, and everything that yesterday’s grease monkey didn’t have. We’re going to need both skillsets in the service center of the future.
    
2. 2. The money is good. Compare the starting pay for a marketing position to an automotive technician. Shops are climbing tall fences to secure talent coming out of tech schools, bringing significant signing bonuses with them.
    
3. 3. Tomorrow’s techs crave more flexibility. It’s happening in offices too – they don’t want to be stuck in a cubicle. For service departments, highlight opportunities with your mobile repair team, or outdoor service environments where a lift is not required, and you can offer a more interesting work environment.
    
4. 4. Remove barriers to entry such as having to invest in every tool under the sun. More repairs require laptops, so new techs may be turned off by spending money on tools such as ratchet extenders, ball-joint splitters, and other lesser-used tools.
    
5. 5. Create a culture where new recruits can immediately feel part of the team. Discourage cultures that encourage bullying. True, most of us paid our dues. However, in this new era, the teasing and jokes may intimidate younger staff and foster an unhealthy environment that pushes them out. There’s no room for pranking in a shop.
    
6. 6. Promote quickly. Let’s get beyond how us old guys used to do it. Truth is, we should be encouraging all races, sexual orientations, and genders to look at our industry. And, once they arrive, show them the blueprint for promotion. Reward them for ongoing training and development, as well as a willingness to play an active role in the team. This generation wants to belong and craves recognition.   

If you are short on experienced technicians and competing to hire more of them, consider hiring inexperienced technicians that can be quickly trained to complete software, electronics, and airbag repairs that don't require a master technician or a bay with a lift. And also consider changing your staffing strategy so it is not just a matter of hiring more inexperienced people for these tasks, but it can also help to allocate technicians appropriate to the repair at hand, in some cases freeing up a master tech. Even more promising for the dealership is the chance to recruit and nurture the next generation of technicians who want to earn significant income earlier in their careers.

Consumers come to your dealership to get a problem solved. Rather than being the one that says "No" what if you were the one that said "Yes?" Do you think that would make an impression on the customer? What happens when a customer has a good experience with a dealership? They tend to keep coming back! That can easily lead to future revenue for a service department albeit warranty, recall, or customer pay work. In addition, when it comes to recalls you have no competition from the independent facilities as they cannot do recall repairs

Showing a customer that you care, providing the service they want (and need), and ensuring that they leave the dealership feeling confident the vehicle they are driving is safe for them and their family, goes a long way towards building trust and customer loyalty. Your staff is an extension of your dealership. Provide a safe and healthy environment for recruits and it will show up in your service drive with consumers and in the quality of the work.

Let’s stop blaming staffing shortages for leaving consumers without solutions to their dangerous recalls. It’s going to take out-of-the-box strategies and a culture that attracts tomorrow’s talent.

An insightful article in Forbes details the rise – and expected fall – for used car values. Interestingly enough, the article chose the wording for the headline to include “crash” and “brace for impact.” There is no doubt that the used car market could follow the real estate bubble explosion of a not-so-decade-ago. Dealers are buying at high (sometimes over MSRP) prices, inventory is scarce (both new and used), buyers are leaning towards used (to avoid depreciation and lack of new vehicles) and lenders are buying deep to keep funding loans.

According to the article, this bubble is about to burst. That will leave both dealers (who are in too deep on vehicles financially) and consumers (who bought too high) experiencing hits in deprecation as manufacturers ramp up production and used car values settle down. Definitely not something the automotive retail market wants -- whether you are the seller or the buyer.

The concerns that I have are that these used cars are being flipped so fast that dealers cannot afford to invest the time to get safety recalls fixed before selling them. Dealers are scrambling to get the inventory just as fast as the consumers are gobbling it up. Eventually, however, dealers may end up with a bunch of unsold used inventory on which they are upside down, with consumers even more so. 

Regardless of when it happens, chances are that many consumers are going to end up with vehicles that have open safety recalls… and franchise dealer’s service departments will be even more inundated with service work than they are now. And this doesn’t even include parts availability. Sound like a familiar situation? We STILL haven’t replaced all of the Takata airbags.

This is the PERFECT time to scour DMV registration databases to get information about new buyers in your PMA that have open safety recalls. These consumers may not have any idea that their vehicle has one, and your dealership could be the first to reach out and inform them. That effort could easily translate into a long-term service customer. In addition, you will have a “heads-up” on what safety recalls in your area need servicing, which gives your dealership an advantage for acquiring parts before your competition.

Inevitably, these consumers will be contacted by your competitors attempting to gain this service business. If, however, your dealership is prepared with parts and shop capacity, you can win that business. Imagine being the dealership that can tell the customer “Yes, we have the parts, and we can fix it,” versus being the competitor that says, “We can fix it, but we have to order the parts.” Translating that into sales, that’s like a dealership saying yes, we have the car versus no we don’t.

Who knows? Some of those recalls could turn into service-to-sales opportunities. Either way, it’s a win-win for your dealership to get ahead of the game. In one way, you could easily gain a service customer, and, in another, you might even gain sales through either taking a customer out of service into sales or through referrals.

Being first to the game and having all of the equipment will give you an edge that may translate into a ton of revenue

When it comes to vehicle recalls, I have always believed that safety comes first. One major challenge is the millions of vehicles on the road with open safety recalls and, with many vehicles changing hands privately, it is a monumental effort to identify those owners and notify them about an open safety recall and the risk to them, their families, and fellow drivers.

And then consider owners who never transfer a title or registration and continue to drive the vehicle on the original owner’s plates. Legislation is already being passed in at least one state which gives vehicle owners more time to transfer registration due to COVID. If the registered owner of the vehicle no longer “owns” it, they will probably simply trash the recall notice -- if they get one at all.

So, what can be done to identify those drivers and their vehicles?

Well, there has been quite a bit of buzz recently about technology such as tracking smartphones, CCTV cameras, facial recognition technology, and license plate readers -- to name a few. The problem, according to law enforcement, has always been that, while they have all this data, it is not connected in any way. Not anymore. Technology now exists which combines multiple data sources into one. Something that would take observers or investigators hours or even days to combine and analyze can now be done in seconds via this software. The military has been using it for a while and even a few municipalities in our country. Sounds scary, right? The makers of this software agree, but it exists, and Pandora’s box has been opened.

There are no current laws that prohibit this exchange of data. Should this become the standard -- the ability to track any individuals while they travel on public roads? There are even more invasive aspects of this technology. However, it’s possible to also use this same technology and data to save lives at risk of a dangerous recall.

Combining the license plate readers with facial recognition could match up who is driving a vehicle versus who it is registered to. Through those datasets, the government, services like ours, and even dealerships could reach out and notify the right person – that 2nd and 3rd generation owner, along with those who haven’t registered or transferred title to a vehicle.

I’m not advocating this specific solution or that the lines of individual privacy aren’t blurred here, but it is an intriguing conversation to have. In the name of public safety, I wouldn’t rule out developing technology. This may sound dystopian or something out of George Orwell’s book “Big Brother,” but it exists right now and is already being used. Absent a legal challenge, more states, cities, counties, and the Federal government will continue to adopt and install these systems. If we know that the technology exists and that it is already in use, it’s possible that NHTSA would deploy this strategy to instantly connect the dots and increase safety recall repair completion rates.

Do you think the use of this technology to keep the roads and drivers safe is warranted? Or is too intrusive when it comes to an individual’s privacy? I value your opinions on this topic!

As used car sales continue to climb, legislators are now more cognizant of and are focusing on how dealerships are selling pre-owned inventory without first getting safety recalls repaired.

As I covered in my previous blog, a bill is currently being put forth to Congress that mandates the completion of any recall repair before selling a used vehicle. The interesting thing is that, even if things returned to pre-COVID conditions tomorrow, the demand for used vehicles would not necessarily die off. According to an article in Forbes, shoppers with excellent credit are choosing used vehicles over new ones because they offer a better value for the price.

So, it may pay to take a look at your best practices and consider placing safety first when it comes to selling used vehicles. Some things may need to change to protect your dealership from any future legislation.

To keep it simple, here are three best practices you can easily include in your process right now that can help prepare your staff for pending legislation. These points will also help you market to and reassure customers that your dealership cares about their safety.

1. Proactive Safety Measures – While this might seem like a hardship that slows turn times, how about making friends with your local brand competitors and then come to an agreement where they repair your safety recalls quickly for any off-brand pre-owned inventory and you do the same for them. This also applies if you are part of an auto group. The other franchises have the same issues and, while it may seem counterintuitive to work with a competitor, in the end, it helps all of you sell vehicles faster and market them to consumers as safe and recall-free.

2. Be More Selective at Auctions – This is a no-brainer. If you don’t want to deal with the first scenario, you can use technology to do a VIN scan on vehicles to identify any with open safety recalls BEFORE bidding. Then, at the very least, you know in advance. If it's your brand (or one that is in your auto group,) you can control how quickly that vehicle's open safety recall is repaired and gets to your front line. If it is not a brand you carry, you need another dealership to help as fast as possible to get the repair done.

3. Enhanced Disclosures –If you don’t want to do either of the first two options before the new legislation forces your hand, I would suggest that, at the very minimum, you ensure your used vehicle buyers know upon purchase exactly what open recalls exist -- with safety recalls being the most important. Then, on top of that, include instructions on how and where to get the repairs done. At the minimum, this shows a customer that you care about their safety. Remember, your dealership is still subject to a product liability lawsuit if death or injury occurs as a result of that recall, whether or not you have signed disclosures. Recall disclosures only protect you from Lemon Laws, not product liability laws. In fact, signed disclosures are often submitted into court as evidence that the dealer willingly sold a dangerous vehicle despite knowing the danger posed.

The bottom line is that it is invaluable to be able to move your used inventory while also ensuring customer safety. There is nothing worse than having a customer in the box for a NEW vehicle, coming to an agreement, then discovering a stop-sale because of a safety recall. Well, this could soon happen with your used inventory too.