Strategies for Dealerships to Make Repair Costs Affordable
New technology in automotive provides a variety of attractive options for consumers. From smart integrations to advanced safety features, customers are driving the newest models, but need to be aware of ways to make repair costs affordable.
These features are a selling point of vehicles, but customers aren’t considering the cost to repair or replace them and labor. Educating customers about these components and their lifespan, as well as service drive costs can become an opportunity to drive profit at your dealership.
Fun Features Aren’t Pocketbook Friendly
New technology is an attention grabber, but also expensive. The average price of a new car is over $48,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. Today, many shoppers search for a new vehicle online and prepare to foot a higher bill when they purchase the vehicle. Yet, customers often overlook the potential costs to repair their favorite new features.
Repair costs for high-tech features and components come at a substantial cost that’s typically unexpected by an average vehicle owner. This is a chance for dealerships to educate customers on how to make repair costs affordable. This will give your dealership a way to educate your customers about the benefits of vehicle service contracts (VSCs).
Common Features and Their Costs
While shoppers are educated on the costs of new vehicles, a trip to the service drive often results in sticker shock. Most vehicle owners aren’t prepared for seemingly simple repairs to cost thousands due to specialized labor or costly parts.
If you’re driving a car that’s newer than 2015, it includes smart features such as Blue Tooth, GPS navigation, onboard Wi-Fi, or a rear entertainment system. These features are useful and convenient—but the cost to repair these high-tech features is often more than what customers believe they are worth. Safety features like backup cameras and automatic power doors are also features that have surprisingly high repair costs.
Vehicle today also use onboard computers that are integrated into every aspect of a vehicle’s function. These computers can tell when maintenance is needed and control add-on features. Unfortunately, failures within these systems are hard to diagnose, requiring dealerships to spend time and resources to uncover the problem. Replacement of a computer can be even more expensive, costing thousands of dollars. All too often, these issues crop up post-warranty, leaving repair costs to the vehicle owner.
Vehicle Service Contracts and Technology
Customers love the latest features on their vehicle, but in the event of a mechanical failure, repair costs can lead to an unhappy overall experience.
As technology changes rapidly, service drive technicians are more familiar with new features than independent local automotive shops. Customers prefer to skip buying the protection of a VSC during a vehicle purchase, choosing to rely on the factory warranty to protect their investment. Marketing VSC’s to your customers post-sale increases the likelihood that they are going to take advantage of the opportunity to have extra protection and return these customers to your service drive.
The cost of vehicles is rising with the price of new technology, and car owners are keeping their vehicles longer. The average age of passenger vehicles on the road hit a record high of 12.5 years old in 2023. A VSC gives customers the confidence that your dealership will be there if issues arise with their vehicle. It’s a promise that the dealership is invested in the customer and cares about the need to make repairs costs affordable.
The Power of Post-Sale Marketing
Post-sale marketing helps dealerships build lasting relationships with their customers and enhance the business’ reputation and brand throughout the community. Learning to use post-sale marketing leads to better customer relationships, increased revenue, higher reinsurance reserves, and more vehicle sales.
At APC, we offer post-sale vehicle service contract marketing programs at no-cost to dealers. These programs market to dealership customers and educate them about the benefits of buying additional coverage from your dealership.
We encourage you to contact us and learn how APC can power a post-sale vehicle service contract marketing program that will drive revenue for your dealership. Reach out to us today for a free program demo.
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