CONFIDENCE: RAC Warranty give their view
Continuous ageing of the used car parc means dealers must find new ways of creating buyer confidence in their forecourt stock, RAC Warranty have insisted.
Ian Simpson, Sales and Marketing Director at RAC Warranty, claims the fact that ongoing stock shortages mean potential customers are being asked to pay more for a vehicle that is older and higher mileage than they anticipated must be addressed.
“The age of the average car on UK roads continues to rise and, while used car supply has improved a little and is probably set to improve a little more, this situation is unlikely to dramatically change in the near future,” he said.
“This means that used car buyers are probably being faced with a choice of older, more ‘leggy’ vehicles.
“This understandably creates a sense of uncertainty and customers are looking for reassurance when they make a purchase.”
Mr Simpson explained this was why dealers needed to create propositions that gave the consumer a concrete series of commitments that created a safety net around the entire vehicle purchase.
“As people working in the trade know, older, higher mileage vehicles are now generally so well made that they make perfectly sensible used car purchases but most customers will still want warranties and other guarantees around this kind of buy,” he added.
“This is very much part of the thinking behind our RAC BuySure initiative, which was launched earlier this year.
“It creates a ready-made used car proposition that is ideal for both the customer and dealer.”
