Dealers are taking service to the streets

From adding mobile service to rolling out online payment options to offering pickup and delivery of customers' vehicles, the coronavirus pandemic is speeding up major changes in fixed operations at the nation's new-car dealerships.

Because most service departments remained open during most states' stay-at-home orders, while most new- and used-vehicle sales were either halted or severely impacted, the parts and service departments kept the cash registers ringing at dealerships.

When the impact of the virus began to sink in, several automakers took action to help dealers keep their service customers' vehicles on the road.

Once an exclusive benefit of owning an exotic sports car or ultra-expensive luxury vehicle, pickup and delivery for service customers is making a big leap into the mainstream. Cox Automotive says about 1,100 more dealers are using the pickup and delivery feature on the Xtime dealer management software program this year than a year ago.

Before the pandemic Volvo was testing a pickup and delivery service, Volvo Valet, at a few dozen dealerships. On March 31, Volvo pulled ahead plans and rolled out the feature nationally, said Scott Doering, Volvo's vice president of customer service.

Although Lincoln dealers have been offering their service customers pickup and delivery since 2017, most Ford dealers were not. That changed in mid-March when Ford said it would help cover the cost for dealers to pick up vehicles and return them after repairs. About 2,800 of the nation's 3,100 Ford dealers are participating in the program, which is ongoing, said Liz Dwyer, Ford service division marketing manager.

The program has been so successful, Dwyer said she expects many if not most Ford dealers will continue to offer pickup and delivery after the pandemic subsides.

"We are looking at all the best practices and learnings from this to determine how we move forward to offer this service to our customers in the future beyond COVID," she said.

Early feedback has shown customers value the convenience of not having to drive to the dealership and wait in the lounge for the repair, or else leave the vehicle and return later to pick it up.

Some Ford dealerships, such as Ricart Ford in Groveport, Ohio, have been using pickup and delivery to promote the store's new cars. When a customer requests a loaner vehicle, a porter from the store will drive a new Ford — the model the sales manager thinks the customer's next new vehicle will be based on his or her sales history — and leave that as the loaner.

Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Volvo and several other brands also have been offering customers mobile service as a way to keep them from having to drive to the dealership. Ford and Mercedes have each created service vans designed to enable a technician to carry out repairs at customer's home or workplace.

Fixed operations consultant Jim Roche, formerly a Cox Automotive vice president, estimates there are about 300 repair and maintenance jobs that can be done away from a store. The Mercedes service vans are equipped to install new tires and handle some brake jobs.

Replacing airbag modules, reflashing computers and fixing maintenance items such as light bulbs, wiper blades and filters are other jobs being done remotely.

Dwyer said Ford expects to have as many as 200 mobile service vans on the road and serving customers in all of the brand's major U.S. markets by this summer.

Roche says fixed ops directors are communicating more and in different ways, using more videos, photos and chat features to help them win more business, especially on vehicles being serviced when the customer is not at the store. An example, he said, is when an inspection turns up worn brake parts and the technician shows the customer via video or photos that the parts need to be replaced.

"COVID is really driving mobile service, said Roche. "The idea that the dealership is a destination just doesn't hold most of the time. It is something that we have to do. As soon as a better or more convenient option presents itself, people will gravitate to it."