Sean Kent, director, corporate and independent dealers at The Warranty Group, has praised the progress made by dealers on meeting customer demand for longer and more comprehensive used car warranties.

The Warranty Group who are RAC’s partners in the dealer sector say that better structured sales processes and more effective training mean that warranty opportunities are closer to being maximised.

Sean Kent commented: “Really, ever since the credit crunch, we have seen an ongoing demand for longer and more comprehensive warranty upgrades from used car customers.

“However, some dealers were relatively poor at meeting this need, which was frustrating, despite the best efforts of warranty providers such as ourselves. The reasons for this were complicated and mainly based around the need to fit so many different elements into the used car sales process.

“What we have seen over the last couple of years is this problem really start to disappear. More and more dealers have started to view the used car as a proposition rather than just a product and, as a result, have looked again at how they are selling warranties. They have started to really satisfy the demand.”

As an example for the increase in dealer performance on these products; sales of RAC-branded warranties had increased by 36% so far this year compared to the same point in 2015.

Sean Kent continued: “The fact that more are being sold is good for customers and good for dealers. There is a definite customer requirement there and, of course, the sale provides a profit opportunity for the dealer alongside the possibility of building a longer term relationship with the consumer.” 

“We are having a very good year and there are a number of reasons for this but revised dealer attitudes to the whole process of selling warranties are certainly part of the picture.”