Yesterday I got a call from a CARFAX representative who
wanted me to upload my repair database to their servers so it could be included
in what CARFAX reports on cars we may have serviced.
I sought opinions about that on my blog and Facebook page,
and thought about the matter at some length.
I’ve decided it’s not a good idea for my company, and indeed for most
independents, for these reasons:
Customers have an expectation of privacy, especially in
small business dealings. They don’t
expect us to sell their names to marketers.
While CARFAX is not collecting names in this example, anyone buying a
car and following its trail to our shop necessarily makes a connection to our
clients, who may or may not want to share that information.
While some of our clients might well embrace the CARFAX
concept, I am sure others would be very troubled at this release of information
that might be traced back to them.
That alone is reason for independent shops to steer clear of
this program, but there’s more.
CARFAX claims they are extracting or summarizing what shops
write on their work orders using some kind of automated process. The result, as shown in the sample area of
their website, will look something like this:
12/10/10 ABC
Garage Electrical Repair
2/1/11 BBB
Garage Oil service
I have a number of serious concerns about this process. One concern is that CARFAX will incorrectly
“summarize” what is written in our repair orders, leading to a misleading or
totally wrong CARFAX report. For
example, consider the fellow who brings his off-road Jeep in five times in five
months to add driving lights, fit a bigger stereo, install a winch, upgrade the
alternator, and fit more driving lights.
Will that show up as five “electrical repairs?” If it does,
who does the owner blame for that wrong report? CARFAX?
Us? It’s a situation where we
will be blamed and we have no control or recourse; indeed we can’t even know
what’s happening because we have no access to the reports.
The problem is, if we hand someone our information, we have
a responsibility to our clients, to be sure they use it correctly. CARFAX is not offering us that ability, but
even if they did, why would we want to do it for them?
You have a situation where our sharing of innocent repair
data might create a false impression that a car is a lemon, or at least needs
constant repairs. That could turn off
some buyers, and it’s easy to see how the vehicle owner would blame us if he
lost a sale. One such negative would
outweigh a hundred customers who think “it’s ok,” in my experience. That negative could cause us a lot of bad
press. “It’s okay,” is indifferent at
best and counts for nothing in terms of our reputation in the community.
CAARFAX argues that the addition of service data enhances
the value of a car, by proving it’s well cared for. While that may be true, who does the data
benefit? They imply it benefits our
clients but I don’t think that’s really so.
If our clients are selling a car, they already tell potential buyers
that we care for it, and we are its reference.
CARFAX adds nothing to that situation.
If our client has not cared for his car faithfully, the existence
of a spotty record is a minus. Maybe
that means he didn’t take good care of his car, but it may also mean he has a
winter home in Florida and the shop that does the rest of the work down there
does not report to CARFAX. Once again,
our contribution of data creates a false negative impression that could come
back to bite us.
If anyone wants to know how our clients cars were cared for,
all they have to do is ask . . . In the
latter example, we’d say, “Bob has some of his work done in Florida, so ask
them too.” The difference is obvious.
The true beneficiaries of the CARFAX data are dealers, who
buy used cars at auction, and the CARFAX company itself. Our clients are out of the picture once the
car is traded in.
CARFAX says we benefit too, because a prospective buyer can
look at the record and see we serviced the car.
That sounds true, but a large percentage of cars that get traded in are
auctioned and resold out of the local market.
That negates any advertising advantage we might get by appearing in the
listing.
Auto service is a local proposition. Local people will refer us directly. Distant people don’t matter in most cases. It’s a tenuous proposition at best.
I’d be interested in other views on this topic.
5 comments:
John... I cant agree with you more. I have every receipt and log the repair info on my vehicles. I am loyal to one mechanic shop and expect them to tell the truth as do I.I have nothing to hide and have never had any vehicle I have ever sold returned to me nor have I ever been sued. What about the backyard mechanics who don't report the work they do? Lord knows some of them are true nightmares!And your point about electrical repairs are right on! My friend bought a Cadillac CTS from a dealer with a carfax report that stated several electrical repairs. After the salesman fluffed it off as "changing bulbs" he bought the car and had nothing but problems with the ECM/PCM or whatever the hell it is. Your integrity and loyalty to your customers is impressive!
In MY opinion, just the fact that service has been done at JE Robison Service speaks far better than CARFAX as to the care the car has gotten.
PERIOD.
Good job. That explanation makes total sense. Bully for you guys.
Great ideas. Anyways, I only use carfax report alternative and paid only $3 each report .
A vast number (majority?) of used car buyers are unable to interpret maintenance history reports (as you might see on Carfax) and differentiate between "well maintained" or "lemon". Only mechanics/dealers can really mull over this information and form that sort of opinion (but it's still just an educated guess unless we are able to physically inspect the vehicle). These reports affect auction value more than anything, but at retail a "well maintained" car with lots of maintenance records on Carfax, to an average buyer, looks the same as "lots of problems". But you will get a few that can gleam the information knowledgably and it helps the sale... so in the end I would say it doesn't really matter either way. If Carfax (and other reporting agencies) were serious about "helping consumers" they'd come up with a better ways to do things. What they are serious about though: taking people's money and providing data that is (for most car buyers) of limited, sometimes misleading usefulness.
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