Franchised Dealers Still Lead in Part-Exchange Valuations Despite Online Competition

Franchised dealers remain first choice for part-exchange valuations, despite rise of specialist online services

With sales of the new 74-plate underway, research from JudgeService has found that most franchised dealer customers still prefer to use retailers for part-exchange valuations, rather than specialist online services.

The online review platform polled the views of 5,789 customers for the forthcoming JudgeService 2024 State of the Nation report and found nearly two-thirds (63%) are likely to get a part-exchange valuation from the retailer they intend to buy from, up from 62% last year.

However, despite the rise in specialist buying services giving online valuations, only 14% said they were likely to use one, down from 15% last year.

The trend favouring dealers was strong across all age bands rising from 58% of under 25s to 66% for over 75s. The most popular age group for online services was 46-55, although this only accounted for 17%.

When asked which websites they would visit for part-exchange valuations, most owners (40%) said WeBuyAnyCar, down from 46% last year. While Motorway improved marginally from 14% to 15%.

“Our data once again highlights the under-appreciated role franchised dealers have as the preferred source of part-exchange valuations, despite the noise created by the challenger online car buying services,” said Neil Addley, managing director of JudgeService.

“With the September plate-change marking a key month for part-exchanges, dealers should be doing their utmost to make it as easy as possible for existing and new customers to get fair valuations for their trade-ins, especially in what continues to be a suppressed new car retail market.

“It’s clear from our findings that including valuations as part of the sales process is the preferred choice for most owners. But even that’s not enough. Customer databases, across new and used car sales and aftersales, also need to be mined and owners proactively offered a valuation service.

“The best performing dealers value the role they play in providing part-exchanges to secure sales and generate stock for their used car forecourts. They also know how easy it is to lose this business to online challengers,” said Addley.

Further details and comments available from Neil Addley on 07795 665927 or neil@judgeservice.com.

About JudgeService

Launched in 2011 by Neil Addley, JudgeService is the UK’s only customer review platform developed exclusively for the car retailing sector. By ensuring all reviews are verified and genuine, JudgeService builds a solid foundation of trust and respect between customers and sellers enabling car retailers to actively manage their online reputations.

JudgeService shares granular insight reports with dealers to help them identify opportunities to improve customer satisfaction levels, with many achieving 100% recommendation scores.

Based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, JudgeService has published over 1 million customer reviews and is used by over 1,000 franchised, independent and car supermarket sites across the UK.

Issued by Curtis Hutchinson Communications