Rocky Mountain Tracking

By James Neely

Never has there been a more important time to offer customer satisfaction by the automobile dealers than right now. With sales the lowest that can be remembered for many years, car dealers are looking for ways to hone their edge on the competition. One way that this is possible is by utilizing a loaner program. Not only is this good business for the service department, but it makes sense for the sales department as well. This is especially true for the used car market.

When a dealer loans out a vehicle for a test drive for a few days, there is an inherent risk that the vehicle will return with damage or signs of abuse. While insurance will cover accidents, what about abuse and/or neglect? Unless there are insurance policies specifically for those instances, there is probably no coverage. That can leave the dealer holding the bag on expenses related to repairs on a car which can cost thousands of dollars.

This is where a GPS Tracking system can be invaluable. Not the manufacturers system, either. This one must provide tracking for location and other important data such as speed. Monitoring number of miles traveled and speed can help insure that the vehicle in question is cared for while under the control of a potential customer. Even though body damage is visible to the eyes, internal damage to the power train is not. Abuse thereof can severely decrease the value of the car and prevent the timely sales of it to a potential customer.

Another benefit of a GPS Tracking system is that it helps create a heightened sense of safety on the part of the drivers of these vehicles. Added to this is the bonus of having lower insurance costs because of having an installation on the vehicles. Higher profitability is realized by both the dealer and the insurance company – both positives that cannot be ignored.

The benefits of these systems are many: being able to account for all vehicles and usage, increase in safety and driver responsibility, lowering of insurance premiums, and overall customer satisfaction which can result in higher sales. In fact, the benefits so override the cost that the only discussion that is relevant revolves around the question as to why you have not yet obtained these units for your dealership.

Check out the benefits for yourself of a GPS Tracking system. You will be glad you did.

If you are looking to protect your vehicle with a GPS vehicle recovery device, the time is right. With auto theft on the rise, your vehicle is at risk. Be sure to do your research before you buy. Many buyers get tricked into buying something their car dealer recommends because it’s convenient. Others go with a device because it has a household-name.

Beware of many popular vehicle recovery devices on the market that don’t even utilize GPS tracking technology. There is a lot of misleading information, such as, “the police will recover your vehicle if it is stolen” or “since the vehicle manufacture equipped the vehicle with an emergency tracking system, the police can recover it.”

There are no guarentees with any device, but according to our last report, only about 5 percent of police vehicles are equipped with technology that can detect a stolen vehicle signal. Since the police are often dealing with a higher priority, it becomes a game of chance.

Many types of non-GPS devices are being sold as an anti-theft vehicle recovery device, and you, the end user, have no control or direct access to find your vehicle. With many of these providers, you will be asked to make a phone call to a control center that will ask you a series of questions to verify your identity. Eventually, the police may be called, and from there you can only depend on possibilities.

There are a few really good true GPS vehicle tracking devices that offer real time web-based software and give you direct access. Some of these GPS theft devices will not have any monthly services, but instead they offer a pay-as-you-go solution. This makes it very affordable to simply track down your stolen vehicle for only a few dollars.

If you have any questions about GPS vehicle tracking and recovery devices, call the manufacture of the device or call an expert at Rocky Mountain Tracking at 877-477-9668.

There’s no doubt that times are tough with the current economy. Now, the car dealers are feeling the heat. As some people lose their jobs, they cannot afford to pay their bills. For many, this means not paying the loan on their vehicle.

Auto repossessions hit a 10-year high in 2008. Repossession agents have pointed to an average rise of 15-20 percent in the number of vehicles repossessed daily, and repossessions jumped 10 percent in 2007. Luxury cars in particular are being repossessed in large numbers in upscale areas where the housing downturn has hit particularly hard.

The real financial problem lands on the desk of the lender when a customer defaults. The customer files for bankruptcy and the lender cannot collect the money. But, it doesn’t stop there. The auto dealers are having a difficult time recovering the vehicle. The problem is even worse now because it often times starts with a foreclosure on the home. After the home is foreclosed on, the occupants move and take the vehicle with them. The auto dealers / lenders are then left clueless with a non-criminal missing vehicle case they can’t collect on, can’t locate, and can’t repossess.

In a perfect world, every vehicle would have a GPS vehicle tracking system installed on the vehicle prior to being sold to the customer. Unfortunately, this is not the action taken by most auto dealers in the past, and the consequences are significant. However, more recently, many car dealers now see that a GPS anti theft device may be the only proactive approach to a successful and expedient recovery.

In times past, an auto dealer may have been able to choose which vehicle to track based on a customers credit score. In fact, dealers would often lease a car that was equipped with a GPS anti theft device to a person with poor credit when other dealers would not even consider it based on the customer’s credit score. That’s all changed now.

In today’s job market, a person’s credit score will not guarantee job security. A person with good credit that has had a steady job for the past 30 years may be unemployed tomorrow. In some cases, the person with good credit may be at higher risk. For example, people in higher income brackets usually take on more debt. Once the income is lost or reduced, many times people cannot get out from under their debt quick enough, primarily because it’s difficult to sell an upscale home in a poor economy. Therefore, regardless of credit score, auto dealers are faced with the decision to track all vehicles that leave the lot on credit.

It seems that vehicle tracking technology is becoming more popular now that prices are so affordable. Some companies are offering an anti theft device developed specifically for these car dealers. One company offering a device called, “Smart Track,” says the device has no monthly fees and the car dealer only pays a tracking fee if they actually have to track it in the event that a customer defaults.

It seems that no one can accurately predict where the economy is headed. With an uncertain future, the car manufactures got their bailout, and it’s apparent that a vehicle tracking system may be the only bailout for car dealers.