Effective immediately, new/near-new wraps for these models is also transferable.

If you have any questions, please contact us at (602) 395-5555 or via email at office@dealershipincomedevelopment.com

1430 E. Missouri Avenue

Suite B-275

Phoenix, AZ 85014

Our phone and fax numbers are unaffected by the move.  As with any move there could be delays in phone service, so should you call our office, please leave a voice message and we will contact you as quickly as possible.  If you need immediate assistance, please contact Tom at 602-821-6888 or Donna at 602-821-6290.

You can also reach us from our contact page on this website or via the email at the addresses below.

tomluzader@dealershipincomedevelopment.com

donnaluzader@dealershipincomedevelopment.com

ldurham@dealershipincomedevelopment.com

That means that your program distributions will be delivered by December 15 -  in just 22 days;   so all contracts that qualify need to be to our office no later than December 9.

If you would like an update on your totals or have other questions, please call our office at 602.395.5555 and speak with Donna.  Or if you prefer, send an email request and a worksheet with your specific contract information will be emailed to you.  Simply type “Christmas update” in the subject line.

Utilizing these two online rating methods gives you access to 39/40, 39/45 and 39/50 as well.

All it takes to see these online terms is a quick adjustment, by us, to your QuikRate preferences.  If you would like to see these lease terms on your QuikRate and QuikQuote screen, please contact us.

According to this article, 64% of Americans polled don’t have enough money saved to cover a $1,000 car repair bill .

The respondents polled said that if they need $1,000 this is where they would turn to get it:

36% would dip into their savings accounts

17% would borrow from friends or family

17% would ignore other monthly expenses

12% would pawn or sell assets

9% would get a cash advance on their credit card

9% would take out a loan

Customers sometimes feel, a service contract is something they can’t or shouldn’t buy, but with these statistics how can they afford not to?

The latest reports show California with eight of the ten most popular theft locations.  With so many Arizonans often visiting California, we are still not out of the “hot” seat, so to speak.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) recommends vehicle marking as a way to prevent vehicle theft.  Vehicle marking is a visible sign to thieves that a vehicle is registered with law enforcement and the chances of the thief being caught and prosecuted are great.

Dealership Income Development can assist you in implementing a plan for your customers to protect their vehicle not only in Arizona, but in other states they may choose to visit.  How many of your customers go to California in a year?  Our research indicates that it is a large number and some of them go multiple times.

For the NICB list of “hot spots” click here. See Arizona’s “hot spots” from the Choose a State drop down menu.

For the complete list of top stolen vehicles click here to view the NICB list by state.

Another One Bites The Dust..(From the “If It’s Too Good To Be True” Dept..)

Here we go again.

I got a call this week from a Dealer Principal of a fairly large dealer group in California I’ve known for years. He started the conversation with “OK, go ahead, rub my nose in it”.

I asked “What are you talking about?”

He said “That service contract deal you advised me against went belly-up and I think I’m going to end up holding the bag”.

Then I remembered a conversation we had about a year ago regarding low priced service contract deals that promise the customer they will refund the price of the service contract at the end of the coverage term if they didn’t have any claims. I didn’t remember that is was Signet Financial Group of California. I probably never asked. We don’t sell F&I products. We focus on showing you how to sell them.

I said, “I didn’t advise you for or against it. I just couldn’t figure out how they could do it at those prices”.

“Same thing”, he said.

Recent publicity regarding the disturbing circumstances surrounding the way Signet Financial Group of California, a service contract provider, ceased doing business, (and stopped returning phone calls), has, once again, created a lot of negative media attention and concern in the marketplace about dealer service contracts. This is bad for all of us.

And, as you can guess, this was one of those deals that told the customer they would refund the price of the service contract at the end of the coverage term if they didn’t have any claims. As a result, there’s a legion of angry customers out there who have been trying to get their refunds over the last several months. Several District Attorneys and Attorney Generals are “looking into” the matter.

And, once again, the dealers will be left holding the bag.

Now, I’m always sympathetic to a dealer who gets screwed by one of these deals. I went through it years ago when I was in retail and it’s a nightmare. But I have to admit, I’m starting to lose sympathy for some of my dealer buddies who keep falling for these “too good to be true” deals. Frankly, we should all know better by now.

And part of the problem was that this company went around the local general agents and convinced the larger dealer chains that they were getting the “hot” deal by dealing direct with the company. I can see why. Your local agent has a pencil and a calculator. And they have a vested interest in your long term success. Part of their value is being able to sort out good programs from bad ones.

I mean, c’mon. I am no actuary but anybody with a pencil and a calculator can figure out that you can’t give away service contracts for free. I mean, even in the days when a company could generate substantial interest income on their reserves, these things all eventually went under.

And given today’s low return on investments, it would be hard to believe that a company could cover the costs of administration, pay the dealers a commission, pay all of the claims, and then refund the full price of the service contract to everyone who doesn’t have a claim.

We have seen this happen time and time again over the last 30 years. But, still, the lure of a deal that is “almost too good to be true” seems irresistible to some dealers.

A fairly reliable indicator of whether this idea can fly are how the “legitimate” service contract providers and the manufacturers service contract actuaries, experts at loss ratios, claims, etc., view the idea.  If it would work, they would offer it.

But they don’t.

And I have to say, anybody who was paying attention could have seen this coming with Signet. There have certainly been enough signals:

August 19, 2010-
WABC-New York- the consumer segment “7 On Your Side “
“Al Torre is stuck and steaming. Back in 2006 he says a Toyota dealership refused him financing on a used car, unless he paid $1,850 for an extended warranty”. (What does that tell you about that F&I department?) “They hold your money, they stonewall you, they give you excuses, they block you…”

As early as January, 2010 there were Internet sites devoted to Signet problems:

“This company is intentionally deceptive on their contracts to avoid refunding warranties. A live person never answers, you only get voice mail and they rarely, if ever, call you back”.

“I filed for my return in Nov. 09, (it ran out in Oct. 09) In December, they said I should see it in Jan. I called last week Jan 21 and spoke with another live person who said we received all your paperwork and it is on the “Review” desk right now. Then it will be sent to “insurance for approval”? They had no idea how long that might take, so beware something smells funny here”.

“It’s been 6 months of work to pry MY money from their pockets. This is a scam at best. Tell EVERYONE you know that this company is trying to make you slip so they can forfeit your money. No one answers the phone, and you can leave messages till your blue in the face, they don’t call you back. I bet 80% of people that purchase this forget about it until it’s too late. and the remaining 20% that work to get their money back get the run-around. I will give the Toyota dealership a call and dump on them as it’s totally a scam”.

“This company is a scam but as far as I’m concerned the dealer is the one that ripped me off”.

We can only speculate at the impact this has had on these dealer’s customer satisfaction scores. And there are hundreds more like it on the internet. Look it up.

The point is, the dealers in question were hearing about this for at least a year. They had to know something was wrong.

I hate to say it, but our business still has some edgy product providers hanging around. Dealers have to exercise due diligence in choosing their service contract programs. Just listening to the service contract company’s sales pitch is not enough.

Dealers need to look at their service contract supplier as closely as they would a new business partner. In many ways they are just that. No matter what the contract says, the dealer will ultimately be on the hook to their customers if they want to stay in business.

And, to begin with, does that money back guarantee sell more service contracts? Maybe a few, but top quality F&I managers I interact with actually don’t like the idea much. It just doesn’t pass the smell test. And they don’t seem to need a money back deal to sell service contracts. Many of them have commented that if you need that to sell service contracts, you need a new process.

However, having said all that, my heartfelt sympathy DOES go out to those of you who have to deal with this Signet thing. I’ve been there as a dealership manager and it is one of the most depressing and attitude killing processes you can go through.

If you have a bunch of those contracts out there, it’s going to be a long hot summer.

But once you’ve dealt with it, this time, try to use the experience to remind yourself in the future that if it’s “too good to be true”,… well, you know the rest.

The winner in the “Service Contract Provider” category is Protective receiving the coveted diamond award.  Protective was not ranked in 2010.

Receiving second place, the platinum award, is CNA National Warranty Corporation.  CNA National  was the diamond winner in this category last year.

In the “Service Contract Provider-Reinsurance” category, CNA National receives the diamond award, advancing from last year when given platinum.  The 2011 platinum award was given to Portfolio.

We should note that CNA National has maintained annual winner status since the Dealer’s Choice Awards began and that they have received more awards than any other provider.

Other noteworthy statistics from TrueCar.com as reported by Automotive News:

• Light vehicle sales were up 17% from the previous year to 819,938 units.
• GM and Toyota are first to release incentives.
• GM and Ford each added 500,000 units to 2011 forecasts, both increasing to 13.3 million.
• JD Power and Associates raised their forecast from 12.8 million to 12.9 million.
• All automakers increased sales in January with the exception of Mazda who declined 9%.
• Hyundai-Kia Auto, Chrysler Group and GM outsold the market.
• All full-sized pickups enjoyed gains with the exception of the Nissan Titan.
• Pickups, vans, SUVs and crossover sales rose 29%.

For the complete article published in Automotive News regarding TrueCar.com report, visit:

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110207/RETAIL01/30207994

Months ago, Ally rejected a $5 billion bid from GM. GM then purchased Americredit for $3.5 billion.

GM hopes re-aligning with Ally will improve dealers access to wholesale credit.