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Best Of The Web: Prepaid maintenance pays off for dealerships

Oct 13, 2015 Aftermarket, Automotive, maintenance


According to an article in Automotive News this week: "Scott Smith couldn’t be happier about the assist his dealerships get from credit union network CU Direct’s Fidelis prepaid maintenance program. “I’ve had huge gains,” says the owner of Automotive Associates of Atlanta. Smith says 65 to 75 percent of buyers at his six dealerships buy prepaid maintenance compared with an average of about 8 percent for all dealerships in the region. His dealership group has been using the prepaid maintenance program for more than five years. That’s a different song than dealers were singing a few years ago. Back then, they were leery of prepaid maintenance products offered by credit unions and other outside lenders. Dealers feared that such third-party maintenance deals might cut into their own finance and insurance profits.

Their other main option, prepaid maintenance programs sponsored by the automaker, had a big catch, though. Most covered maintenance at any of the brand’s dealerships.

That defeated key advantages for dealers: the opportunity for their store to snag a bit more of the estimated $215 billion per year U.S. consumers spend on auto service and the chance to build loyalty that might lead to the customer’s next vehicle purchase."

Read the full story here

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