CrossCheck Blog

Two of the most frequent questions asked by consumers at auto dealerships are: “Can you help me get a loan to buy this car?” and “How much of a down payment will I need to make?” As a dealer, you had better have the answers accurately and quickly, or you might lose the sale. It turns out that these are not always easy questions to answer because, well, they are complicated. In this short article, we are going to address both questions and take a further exploration of the customer credit journey at your store. More importantly, we are going to answer the question: “How can auto dealerships help consumers with down payments?” You will learn how to provide a good customer experience, get the taillights over the curb, and inspire good reviews on social media.

Recently, I saw a survey taken by CrediCards.com showing that large retailers offering new store credit cards have increased the interest rates on those cards substantially in the last few months. The article noted that this is particularly ironic as the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates during this same period. This article demonstrates how merchants using CrossCheck services help consumers avoid debt traps. This is what the survey found: The average APR on store-only credit cards has increased to 27.52%. The average APR for new co-branded store cards (that can be used at other stores) has risen to 23.39%. The average APR for all retail store cards is 26.01%. Like other things in life, these store cards have a good side and a bad side. First, the good.

Here at CrossCheck, we have been “all eyes and ears” in recent years over news about electric cars because our primary customer base is new car dealerships. Since we maintain an active dialogue with dealerships, we are well aware that CrossCheck and dealerships are fielding a lot questions about how we see the future of electric vehicles (EVs). Consequently, we thought it would be helpful to share a few opinions about how EVs will unfold over the next few years. First, we pay close attention to the developments in this space, which is obviously critical to our business. Second, we want to “think like a customer” – our dealer merchants – and the dealers want to think like their customers – the car-buying consumers.

CrossCheck, Inc. opened for business in 1983. In those days, almost every merchant accepted checks at the point of sale. Merchants that took credit cards were using a “knuckle-buster” with multi-part carbon forms to process a transaction. They put the card in the holder, ran the imprinter back and forth over it, extracted the forms, sorted them, and sent some to the bank and others to the processor. Two years earlier, the card associations announced that transactions over $50 which were processed with a point-of-sale system would get discounted pricing. Early POS systems were priced at $900, which the average merchant could not afford. But something happened in 1982: Verifone rocked the merchant world with a POS terminal that cost only $125, the ZON. This changed everything.

Join CrossCheck’s Senior Vice President Charles Dortch III and other auto lending and leasing experts Oct. 28 – 30 at the 19th Annual Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas. The summit offers networking events, an exhibit hall with over 100 top industry vendors, 40-plus elite industry speakers, and session tracks dedicated to mobility and innovation to help inspire future lending and leasing strategies. Attendees include prime and non-prime banks, credit unions, floor-plan lenders, thrifts, dealerships and other service providers. Over the years, the summit has hosted executives from nearly 200 lender companies including the top 25 lenders, making it the premier industry event of its kind.

It’s Saturday morning on Memorial Day weekend. The inflatable tube man is in perpetual motion, burgers are sizzling on the outdoor grill, and the television ads have been running for days. Your auto dealership is ready for its big, big marathon holiday sales event. You close out the preparations with a sales meeting. It’s “all hands on deck.” There are boxes of gooey donuts, pots of hot coffee, and a cadre of sharp-dressed sales people with their chins up. Your general manager delivers a pep-talk that would make the legendary Knute Rockne take notice.

Over the last few years, an interesting development has occurred in the business of selling new cars — a glut of off-lease vehicles has hit the market. Let’s take a look at what this means to dealers and consumers. During the new vehicle sales bonanza of 2014 – 2016, records were set for annual sales, and surprisingly, about a third of those sales ended up as leases. By the end of 2019, an estimated 12 million low-mileage cars were coming off lease to create the glut of off-lease vehicles. First, a recap of how leasing works. There is an up-front cash payment, and then you make a monthly payment for typically 24 or 36 months, with an option to do a buyout at the end of the lease. In theory, you are just paying for the depreciation during that time.

Owning a car is expensive. The American Automobile Association (AAA) says it costs about $8,469 if you drive an average of 15,000 miles a year. But Nerdwallet gets more granular and they calculate a typical monthly cost as follows:

Consumers think that selling new vehicles is the most important and profitable part of running a new car franchise and that dealers make a lot of money on each unit sold. Yes, it is important, but there is another part of the business that really pays the bills and keeps the lights on: the parts and service operation. This now comprises 49% of a dealership’s gross profit, up from 45% in 2012. You will hear this referred to as “fixed ops.” That’s a strange term; what does it mean? Car dealers have historically called one part of the business variable and one part fixed.

A current study by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) found that there is a serious shortage of car mechanics at dealerships, somewhere around 20,000 – 25,000 people. The trade group predicts that dealers will need another 46,000 more people by 2026. If you own or manage a dealership, this will keep you up at night, because today the parts and service area (aka “fixed ops”) comprises fully 49% of the dealership’s gross profit. It’s what keeps the lights on and pays the bills!