A Simple Way to Get More ‘Frontline Ready’ Used Cars

A Simple Way to Get More ‘Frontline Ready’ Used Cars

Dealers have had a hard time sourcing enough good used car inventory this year due to the cascading effect of new car sales slowing (factory shutdowns) and sales plummeting overall due to COVID-19. Good used cars at decent prices just weren’t widely available until Q4 and even then, it’s not back at pre-COVID levels yet.

Other than continuing to search and hope for the wholesale market to refill itself, are there any other things a dealer can do to prepare itself for this kind of disruption in the future?

Maybe. And it’s not a strategy you would think of easily.

One of the ways franchise stores source inventory is by reaching out to past customers to see who may be ready to trade in their car they bought from them in the last few years. If the car is in good shape and has relatively low miles, it could be a front-line ready unit.

One simple way to help ensure that pipeline of used cars from prior customers are in good shape is to offer every customer a preloaded appearance package at purchase. No used car manager wants a steady stream of stained seats, dime-sized dents, and scratched alloys to try to fix for a late model trade.

If the buyer knows they have that protection on the interior, exterior, windshield, and alloys, they are more likely to actually use it and come in for repairs under the policy. 

Offering it as a Line 1 add on the buyers order allows it to be easily paid for within financing and if it’s an attractive price point, it will be rare to have a customer say no and ask it to be removed. But getting that car back in front-line shape will make the low price worth it. 

Have the salespeople mention that at the time of sale as they plant the seed of a return to the dealership for their next car. Talk up the benefit of having the car in tip-top shape to help get the max trade-in value to help buy the next car and so forth. It should be an easy close.

Click here to see how ExoBundle can easily be added to every car on the lot to help shore up your used car pipeline for the future.

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