ARLINGTON, Texas and SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA) and Experian Automotive today announced that each NIADA Certified Pre-Owned vehicle will now include an AutoCheck® vehicle history report.

Administered by National Auto Care Corp. (NAC), NIADA's Certified Pre-Owned Program allows independent dealers of all sizes to offer their customers certified high-quality vehicles, get higher resale value and compete with factory certification programs. With the inclusion of vehicle history reports through an exclusive agreement with Experian's AutoCheck, NIADA dealers now have a tool that enables them to fulfill the needs of discerning customers and provides them with an additional level of detailed information during the decision-making process.

"We are excited to be selected as part of NIADA's Certified Pre-Owned Program," said Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive. "AutoCheck reports are designed to provide significant information on a vehicle in order to instill confidence when making a purchase. As part of the new program, AutoCheck provides this assurance to NIADA's dealers as well as the customers they serve."

"The NIADA researched vehicle certification programs for several years," said Mike Linn, NIADA's chief executive officer. "This Certified Pre-Owned program combines the best of all elements — solid, reputable and reliable administration from NAC; a comprehensive warranty that incorporates a thorough inspection; and now a detailed vehicle history report."

AutoCheck vehicle history reports include the industry's first and only vehicle history score, empowering consumers with the confidence and information they need to more easily understand what a vehicle history report really says about a specific used vehicle's history.

About NIADA

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA), founded in 1946, has represented quality independent automobile dealers for over 60 years. NIADA is here to assist its members in becoming more successful within the used motor vehicle industry. Through membership in NIADA, you join with over 20,000 other professional auto dealers who share your dream of financial prosperity for your business. NIADA is your legislative advocate — protecting your business interests. The association consistently brings you industry education, valuable information, services and benefits designed to prepare members for an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit http://www.niada.com.

About Experian Automotive

Experian Automotive, a part of Experian, delivers information services to manufacturers, dealers, finance and insurance companies, and consumers. Experian® helps automotive clients increase customer loyalty, target and win new business, and make better lending and vehicle purchase decisions. Its National Vehicle Database, housing more than 625 million vehicles, along with Experian's credit, consumer and business information assets, meets the industry's growing demand for an integrated information source. Experian's advanced decision support services help clients turn this information into improved business results. Experian technology supports top automotive businesses, including eBay Motors, Affinia, CarMax and NADAguides.com. For more information on Experian Automotive and its suite of services, visit our Website athttp://www.experianautomotive.com.

About Experian

Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2010, was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Experian Automotive

RELATED LINKS
http://www.experianautomotive.com
http://www.niada.com/

– NIADA Used Car Magazine March 2010, by Jim Stickford

With today's used-car market more favorable to independents than it has been for years, the addition of a certified pre-owned program gives dealers a way to brand their product, increase profits and attract consumers.

That, combined with a request from members, is why the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association launched a program designed to compete with new vehicle manufacturers.

Michael Linn, NIADA’s CEO, said an NIADA Certified pre-owned (CPO) program idea was being kicked around by the Executive Board for several years. One was tried in the 1990s, but failed because it was “more sizzle than steak.”

“A few years ago I spoke with an executive from one of the Big Three companies who said that a certified program carrying the NIADA brand was something that could really benefit independent dealers,” Linn recalled. “That stuck with me. The difficulty was in coming up with a certified program that was worth our members' time. For it to carry the NIADA brand, it had to be equal to the ones offered by manufacturers.” NIADA was pondering its options, even going so far as to meet with representatives from other companies that had thoroughly researched certification to see what criteria should be used. The stars aligned when NAC contacted NIADA with a program concept, Linn said. The company, based in Ohio, has written more than a million service contracts over a 25-year period.

“They had done most of the work and I was impressed with what they had to offer,” Linn said. “They only had to do a few things to meet our criteria. We launched the program in June of 2009 and are currently holding seminars across  the country introducing the program to NIADA members and potential members. We recently held one in Orlando, Florida, and it was a great success. After the seminar was over several dealers who attended wanted to know how they could sign up. We told them they had to belong to their state association, and many joined on the spot. The NIADA Certified program is for members only.”

Part of what makes ‘NIADA Certified’ such a strong selling tool for dealers is the NIADA brand attached to it, Linn said. It's just as important to sell this program to the public as it is for NIADA to sell it to our dealers. NIADA will begin marketing the program to consumers through its Automotive Consumer TV network.

The NIADA name and brand give the consumer confidence in the program, and consumer confidence should equal more sales, Linn said. Keith Whann, NIADA General Counsel, knows that in order for dealers to take full advantage of a certified pre-owned program, they must have a program that meets the consumer's understanding of what certified means.

“The issues in this program are broader than just legal ones,”Whann said. “If you ask a consumer what 'certified' means, he will say that a certified car has been inspected, any needed repairs discovered during the inspection have been made and it comes with a warranty. Many of the manufacturers’ CPO programs are very popular with consumers, and any program offered under the NIADA brand has to meet the expectations held by those consumers.”

By having the NIADA brand on the program, the consumer can be assured of a certain set of consistent nationwide standards whether they purchase a vehicle in Detroit or Denver from an NIADA member.

“When NIADA began looking at this several years ago, I stated that whatever type program was selected, it had to be comprehensive and the standards had to be high. I also said that the program had to be national in scope which our research consistently pointed out. When a car breaks down it doesn't always break down in front of the dealership where it was sold.We felt there had to be towing, roadside service, replacement vehicles and no deductible, no matter where you were in the country, and this program offers such service, ”Whann said.

Using a three-month warranty as an example, Whann explained that the no deductible limited warranty is very important because many items that need fixing cost less than $70 or $80 to repair. If a car buyer has paid extra for a vehicle because it’s certified, having to pay a deductible leaves the dealer with a very unhappy customer. Customers have very long memories and in the era of the Internet and Twitter, they aren't shy about sharing with other people.

“A deductible defeats the purpose of why dealers offer CPO programs,” Whann said. “The NIADA Certified program offers dealers a good CPO program with a fully insured no deductible warranty. That's something that dealers should emphasize when telling customers about their vehicles and the benefits of buying a certified vehicle.”

Linn said certification also leads to service contract sales. He knows of a dealer member who sold more than 100 cars in one month. Of that number, 47 were NIADA Certified units with a three month limited warranty. The dealer was able to sell a service contract to each customer who purchased those 47 vehicles, or in other words, a 100 percent upsell. The service contract sales rate for the balance of the non-certified vehicles he sold was only 20 percent.

“This shows that service contracts can still be sold when you certify cars,” Linn said. “Dealers don't have to be afraid of losing that revenue stream. They should maintain their relationships with their current service contract providers because that will still be an important part of their business.”

Tim Swift, vice president of Corry Auto Dealers Exchange in Corry, Pennsylvania, is also chairman of the board of the NIADA.

“The beauty of this CPO program is that it is something that a lot of our dealers can use,” Swift said. “Now, if a dealer has his own CPO program in place, that's great, but many independents don't have the resources to certify vehicles themselves. For those dealers, this program allows them to offer CPO vehicles and it leaves them in control. The dealer gets to pick what vehicles are covered. The program also allows the dealer to choose a limited warranty that is three months, six months, or twelve months long.”

Swift said consumers’ expectations have changed within the retail car business. Consumers now expect to have the option of choosing a certified vehicle.

Peter Biscardi, president of NAC, administrator of the program, said the original idea was to offer two programs with varying degrees of coverage. But input from many dealers and other automotive entities convinced them the only way a CPO program could work for NIADA was to ensure it was comprehensive and had no deductible.That's why NAC's program covers a vehicle's power train, turbo charger, transmission, brakes, electrical system, steering, air conditioning, front and rear suspension, fuel system, cooling system and seals and gaskets.

“We have to offer all of this,” Biscardi said. “If you buy a certified car, and the window motor quits working, you'll want that covered. And it is a part of the electrical system.”

Dealers have the choice of purchasing a limited warranty for three months three thousand miles, six months-six thousand miles or twelve months-twelve thousand miles, Biscardi said.

When talking with dealers, Biscardi finds some misconceptions. One false impression is that a dealer can't charge extra for a certified car.

“That's not true,” Biscardi said. “A certification ups the resale value of a vehicle. What dealers have to be careful about is how they charge the consumer. You can haggle over the price of a car, but you can't haggle over the price of the warranty. A warranty is something that comes as part of the sales package. That's different from a service contract, which is sold directly to the consumer and is not a part of the purchase price of the vehicle.”

Whann emphasized how important it was that dealers understand the difference between a service contract and a warranty. And it's important for the dealer to make sure that the consumer understands the difference. “Do not call a service contract a warranty,” Whann said. “That can lead to all kinds of trouble. Make sure all your paperwork is correct. Dealers will save themselves all kinds of trouble in the long run if they understand the differences and their documents correctly reflect them." Biscardi said that NIADA’s program doesn't cover all vehicles. For instance, high line exotic vehicles are exempted.

“Also we only cover vehicles that go back 10 years or less and have fewer than 100,000 miles on them. So if you have a car that's older than model year 2000, it's ineligible for our program.”

Linn said that dealers can purchase certification with confidence because NIADA Certified is backed by full insurance. That was one of the things the NIADA Board insisted upon when reviewing a certified program. The insurance company covering the program is American Bankers Insurance (an Assurant Company and “A” rated insurance carrier with over $20 billion in assets), and the roadside service is provided through Nations Safe Drivers. The insurance policy is issued to the dealer.

"Even if NAC or NIADA were to cease to exist, dealers would still be covered because the program is fully insured," Whann said. "You can't have a warranty program without insurance. If something goes wrong, you want an A rated insurance company behind you, the dealer, and that's what we have with the NIADA program."

Charles Teel is the president of NIADA and chief financial officer of two Volvo dealerships in Georgia. NIADA's program helps used-car dealers compete, and he includes buy here-pay here dealers in that mix.

The economy has driven people down to lower credit brackets, Teel said. Dealers need to be educated on how to service these new customers. The dealers who do that will be successful.

"Dealers need to remember that today's pre-owned buyers are well informed," Teel said. "They have researched the vehicles they might want, and that includes value added products, price, as well as their financing options. Our dealers need to be aware of this new buyer, and review their underwriting criteria, as well as have the right inventory with a CPO attached. That also means having a well-trained sales staff to assist them."

"In order to complete a sale, we are going to pay more for the right vehicle, and if we attach the right value added products to this vehicle,we will be able to price this vehicle 'right' for the consumer," Teel added.

The entire goal of the CPO program, Linn said, is to help independent dealers compete with the manufacturer programs. Used-car sales make up a large part of franchise dealers profits, and to that end they have improved their services to used-car buyers. Certification programs have helped to accomplish that. This has forced independent dealers to step up their game.

"The NIADA Certified pre-owned program is something that dealers can sell to the consumer with confidence," Linn said. "It can be used as part of a dealer's advertising and marketing campaign and gives dealers another tool to compete in a tough market during the roughest of economic times or when the
economy turns around."

— Jim Stickford has been a reporter for 18 years and has covered the auto industry, especially the used-car side of the business for the past seven years. His work has appeared in Used Car News, as well as Dealer Marketing Magazine, among other publications.