The average used car dealer is carrying out three provenance checks per vehicle over the course of a sale, according to data compiled by the RAC.
Looking at typical usage of the recently launched RAC Passport for dealers, it appears that a check is made when they are considering acquiring a vehicle, once more when it is put on sale and again before it is delivered to its buyer.
Robert Diamond, managing director of Motoring Services at the RAC, said, “The status of a vehicle, especially when it comes to finance, can change quite quickly, so dealers ideally want to check every time it could potentially change.”
| He said that the findings confirmed RAC research that had taken place before the launch of Passport for dealers which showed that three checks were the optimum number.”This why part of the specification of the product is that following the initial check, two refreshes can be carried out free of charge within 90 days, something that we believe is unique in the market.”
Robert added that there was an indication that this feature was leading to more checking being undertaken by dealers. “Because there is no additional cost for refreshes, it seems that dealers are carrying out more checks, something that we believe can only be good news because it adds to the security of the vehicle for dealer, finance provider and customer.” RAC Car Passport for Dealers was introduced in March and has since been adopted by more than 300 dealers. It is designed to provide a lower-cost alternative to competing products while offering high quality data and the reassurance of the RAC name. |
Fleet failings |
| Dealers are failing to take seriously their responsibilities to record and back up essential FCA compliance motor finance data, says iVendi.
The company says that a significant minority of dealers are simply using a spreadsheet to record basic information – and then don’t even back it up. James Tew, CEO, said: “A large number of dealers that we visit have an Excel spreadsheet that is open to all users and simply jot type in a few details. “It is very haphazard. There is no central control over the document, often a sloppy attitude to recording the data and no formal back-up process. “It is an accident waiting to happen. The data could easily be corrupted or lost and attempting to rebuild the audit trail would be extremely difficult or impossible. If you were then investigated by the FCA, you’d have serious questions to answer.” |
