Vehicle Exchange Policies

[flosho]

Not 100% sure it would go in this forum, however, since I'm coming at this from a marketing perspective, I felt it was close enough.


Looking at adding some sort of "exchange" policy. We sell only used cars and are independent dealer.

a 3-day / 150 mile exchange policy that allows the customer to bring the car back assuming they didn't destroy it, etc.

What I'm really looking for is to see how often these exchanges happen at your dealership and if having that policy and actively advertising it, has garnered sales.

Obviously once they are committed to the vehicle, even if they were hesitant they either stick with the original choice or switch to something similar, but you've sold them a vehicle and made some money.

If you had the choice to keep or eliminate this policy at your store what would you do?

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

We have a 7-day money back guarantee on both new and used and a 30-day exchange policy on used. It does not get used very often. Averages about once a month. It's truly just peace of mind. I don't want a customer in a car they decided they don't like or don't want. I believe allowing this creates more repeat business than it loses business. It's also a good closing tool for "I need to think about it."

Fun Fact: We have a written policy, but we did not used to provide a copy of it in the deals. We decided that we maybe should, so we started including it and having the customer sign it to acknowledge it. They, of course, never actually read the policy. Yet there was an immediate and obvious increase in our returns/exchanges.. At the slightest hint of trouble, people would talk about bringing the car back. This was definitive proof that there is some psychology to a deal being finalized. Reminding the customer they had a way out right at the end of the deal basically took the commitment out of it. Ultimately, we decided that it wasn't in the customer's best interest, because they really didn't WANT to bring the car back, they just thought it might be the only recourse. I would recommend having a clear policy, but I would not make it part of your deal jacket.

 

[flosho]

We have a 7-day money back guarantee on both new and used and a 30-day exchange policy on used. It does not get used very often. Averages about once a month. It's truly just peace of mind. I don't want a customer in a car they decided they don't like or don't want. I believe allowing this creates more repeat business than it loses business. It's also a good closing tool for "I need to think about it."

Fun Fact: We have a written policy, but we did not used to provide a copy of it in the deals. We decided that we maybe should, so we started including it and having the customer sign it to acknowledge it. They, of course, never actually read the policy. Yet there was an immediate and obvious increase in our returns/exchanges.. At the slightest hint of trouble, people would talk about bringing the car back. This was definitive proof that there is some psychology to a deal being finalized. Reminding the customer they had a way out right at the end of the deal basically took the commitment out of it. Ultimately, we decided that it wasn't in the customer's best interest, because they really didn't WANT to bring the car back, they just thought it might be the only recourse. I would recommend having a clear policy, but I would not make it part of your deal jacket.

That's an impressive sell. 7 day money back and 30 day exchange on used. I couldn't imagine offering that because all it takes is one ignorant uncle or friend to shit on European cars for the perceived higher cost of ownership and 28 days later we got an upset customer that previously loved the car!

I appreciate the feedback.

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

That's an impressive sell. 7 day money back and 30 day exchange on used. I couldn't imagine offering that because all it takes is one ignorant uncle or friend to shit on European cars for the perceived higher cost of ownership and 28 days later we got an upset customer that previously loved the car!

I appreciate the feedback.

Don't know unless you try it! I'm a big believer in making a decision and reserving the right to change it if it doesn't work (as long as you TRULY properly vet it). I think sometimes our fear of change makes it hard for us to realize that you can just change it back. It's not that big of a deal. We just can't let our egos get so tied to our ideas and decisions that we can't accept being wrong and be willing to can the change.