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As politicians have given independent repairers fair access to the servicing market, the franchised sector is responding by raising its game writes Rupert Saunders
A sure-fire way of cutting your business car running costs is to get your routine servicing and maintenance done outside the franchised, new car dealer network. Not only is the hourly labour rate going to be less, you are also going to benefit from lower parts prices from independent suppliers.
The European Commission is keen that all of us (not just business car users) should benefit from open access to independent repairers operating on a level playing field with the franchised workshops. The Commission sees this as a fundamental issue of consumer choice and recently forced four major carmakers (DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, General Motors and Fiat) to agree to open up their technical manuals to the independents.
At the same time, our own Office of Fair Trading has made it clear that having your cars serviced at a competent independent workshop should not affect the manufacturer warranty, provided equivalent quality parts have been used and the service schedule has been adhered to.
With so much political pressure being brought to bear, it comes as no surprise that almost two-fifths (39%) of fleets are now using non-franchised workshops for routine servicing, according to the latest Business Car Perceptions report. That number is set to grow, as nearly a fifth (18%) of those respondents still using franchised dealers expect to switch to non-franchised in the future.
I always find Business Car Perceptions one of the most interesting of the many annual reports on our industry. For a kick-off it has been going longer than any other (in various guises) and its author, Professor Peter Cooke, is consistent with the bulk of his questions, allowing long-term trends to develop and be analysed. Now sponsored by Bearing Point, in the past it has been backed by HSBC Vehicle Finance and Lex.
“Not surprisingly, the two principal reasons given in the report for using non-franchised workshops are convenience and lower price. But cost and convenience are not the only issues; rather more worrying for the franchised sector is the fact that â?oimproved customer serviceâ? comes third.” |
Rupert Saunders |
Not surprisingly, the two principal reasons given in the report for using non-franchised workshops are convenience and lower price. But cost and convenience are not the only issues; rather more worrying for the franchised sector is the fact that "improved customer service" comes third.
I suspect this is not so much about the experience at the service reception but more about the ability to offer while-you-wait repairs and flexible opening hours. These are important factors for business car users (especially essential users) because time spent off the road is generally business lost.
The franchised sector is fighting back. Earlier this month I visited an Audi service centre in south London where almost all repair work is on a while-you-wait basis and the opening hours are 7am to 7pm (Monday to Friday) and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. Customers are encouraged to make appointments throughout the day (we do it in every other aspect of our business lives) rather than drop the car off at 9am and pick it up at 6pm.
With plenty of desk space in the waiting area (plus free coffee and wi-fi connection) the advantages to the business car driver are obvious. You know you will be off the road between 2pm and 3.30pm (say) but you can catch up on phone calls, e-mails and customer reports.
At which point the franchised experience can start to make more sense, both from the convenience and the cost point of view. Okay, the service may cost more but the benefit of an hour's productive work could easily outweigh that difference. It's certainly something you should be thinking about when you decide where to place the maintenance contract.
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