Franchised dealers remain the “first choice” for part-exchange valuations, despite rise of specialist online services
That’s the conclusion of research from JudgeService. The online review platform polled the views of 5,789 customers for the forthcoming JudgeService 2024 State of the Nation report and found nearly two-thirds (63%) are likely to get a part-exchange valuation from the retailer they intend to buy from, up from 62% last year.
However, despite the rise in specialist buying services giving online valuations, only 14% said they were likely to use one, down from 15% last year.
The trend favouring dealers was strong across all age bands rising from 58% of under 25s to 66% for over 75s. The most popular age group for online services was 46-55, although this only accounted for 17%.
When asked which websites they would visit for part-exchange valuations, most owners (40%) said WeBuyAnyCar, down from 46% last year. While Motorway improved marginally from 14% to 15%.
“Our data once again highlights the under-appreciated role franchised dealers have as the preferred source of part-exchange valuations, despite the noise created by the challenger online car buying services,” said Neil Addley, managing director of JudgeService.
“With the September plate-change marking a key month for part-exchanges, dealers should be doing their utmost to make it as easy as possible for existing and new customers to get fair valuations for their trade-ins, especially in what continues to be a suppressed new car retail market.
“It’s clear from our findings that including valuations as part of the sales process is the preferred choice for most owners. But even that’s not enough. Customer databases, across new and used car sales and aftersales, also need to be mined and owners proactively offered a valuation service.
“The best performing dealers value the role they play in providing part-exchanges to secure sales and generate stock for their used car forecourts. They also know how easy it is to lose this business to online challengers,” said Addley.
The research is part of the annual JudgeService State of the Nation report, due to be published in September.