andymc1973 199 Posted February 14, 2019 Hi all, I'm seeing quite a few traders now have AA/RAC branding on their websites with free breakdown cover etc, has anyone tried either company and if so how were the results? thanks Andy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickGCS 14 Posted February 14, 2019 We were with RAC for a while with the warranty’s and free breakdown cover - found it a waste of money to be honest! POS stuff is good but not many punters bothered about the free breakdown in our experience Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 703 Posted February 14, 2019 We had an AA guy in a few weeks ago and I think he was wanting us to advertise stock on their website.In return you could use their logo and your punters got some sort of free breakdown cover. I think if you are doing cheaper stuff,prominently advertising free breakdown cover may give out the wrong message.I passed anyway,can’t remember why. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted February 14, 2019 seems a few have took it, 3 months free warranty as well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grant8064 219 Posted February 14, 2019 We we're with RAC for about 18 months. As Nick says, great POS and branding on the website. We offered 12 months free breakdown cover via a voucher the customer validates and 6 months RAC warranty, cost us about £100 per unit. Left after the 18 months after a series of warranty refusals and now work in house. It was a lot of work to process a warranty claim and payout was always a month in arrears so you had to put your hand in your pocket to repair something and then hope they wouldn't wriggle out of it. In our reps defence, he was a really nice guy and worked hard on our behalf but it always felt like a battle to get anything approved. From a sales point of view it did increase our sales for a short while but when all the other local dealers signed up to AA/RAC it lost its value. There was also always a pressure to upsell extended plans to increase/improve our P/L balance sheet with RAC/TWG which I really didn't like. If you're currently doing warranties in house and it's working I wouldn't recommend changing. If you're using a different provider i'd recommend considering doing it in house. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted February 14, 2019 im all in house, thanks for the info Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CCC 31 Posted February 14, 2019 We signed up to AA as a means of giving some re-assurance to customers when we started up. Not many customers seemed to care and I don’t think we need it now. Gave notice to end contract as soon as we could. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucas 9 Posted February 14, 2019 Which one more expensive? AA or RAC? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted February 15, 2019 23 hours ago, andymc1973 said: seems a few have took it, 3 months free warranty as well No such thing as a free lunch - I struggle to believe they're doling out 3 mth warranties f.o.c. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tony F 38 Posted February 15, 2019 On 2/14/2019 at 4:30 PM, andymc1973 said: Hi all, I'm seeing quite a few traders now have AA/RAC branding on their websites with free breakdown cover etc, has anyone tried either company and if so how were the results? thanks Andy Hi Andy, We spent 3 years with AA cars, using their branding and signed up to their 'dealer promise' etc. Just cancelled in January. Nice people to deal with but a complete waste of money. We gave them a good chance and even had previously used them again about 6-7 years ago. Only reason we kept it going was they included free website within package which meant we were not paying autotrader for website hosting. Once you deducted the website saving from AAs ad package cost, it netted in at just under £200 per month. But it still barely paid for itself overall. Also we found AA cars does attracts a few strange customers with unrealistic expectations. We just stick with autotrader now, and with a couple of free ones eg car gurus and find and fund my car (which has yet to generate a deal 1 year later) Tony Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted February 15, 2019 thanks again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JimmyGlen 13 Posted February 15, 2019 We have been an RAC BuySure dealer for around 5years and its been a good move for us. We are around 30k / yr with them, but when we take into account the sell-ups, and warranty costs covered, let alone less time dealing with warranty complaints when they arrive and the head space it can take up, its been a great addition to our business. Our account manager, Neil, is superb too. Exceptionally professional. It helps get the odd deal over the line, especially distance customers. The POS stuff is okay, as is the branding on the website etc., but for us, its the fact it distances us from the majority of the after sales stuff, which is a major plus. We review our 'burn rate' each year, reviewing claims over the year and I'll be honest, some of the stuff they have paid out on, even on their middle of the road - Gold Policy - has been eye opening. Only downside? There are quite a few dealers on the platform now, so not just quite the edge it used to have. I'd say, if you embrace their product, it works. If you pick and choose only iffy cars which are liable to cause problems, they wont be long in sussing you out and start to reject claims. They aren't daft! Still, it hurts to put a warranty on a 3yr old BMW with 15k miles lol Hope no one near Airdrie picks up on this Stevie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
