CalAmp enhanced its vehicle finance payment assurance solution, LenderOutlook, to incorporate a function previously available only to its fleet customers.

Now CalAmp’s new mileage management feature within LenderOutlook can enable lease-here, pay-here (LHPH) dealers and larger finance companies to directly measure and monitor the number of miles driven on a leased vehicle.  CalAmp has provided mileage features to its large and small commercial fleet customers for years and is now available for the first time within its leading LenderOutlook solution.

The company explained this feature was created in response to the rapidly emerging needs of both buy-here, pay-here dealers and finance companies and was developed in close cooperation with existing partners and customers. The mileage feature is now available with all of CalAmp’s CDMA devices for advanced mileage management within its all-new LenderOutlook.  

For LHPH dealers, the company emphasized that knowing how many miles are put on a vehicle is an important business need. Most leases provide for a specific number of miles the consumer is allowed to drive before fees are applicable for exceeding those limits. The mileage management feature can enable dealers to easily confirm that consumers are within their limits and calculate overage fees when those limits are exceeded. 

Furthermore, the mileage management feature can provide both a report capability to view mileage information and also the ability to view mileage within the Web-based LenderOutlook application.  In addition, dealers can use this valuable mileage information to estimate what the expected odometer reading will be when the lease term ends, helping dealers forecast the future value of the asset.

CalAmp stressed that monitoring vehicle mileage since initiation of a lease can be an important capability for dealer programs targeted at maximizing the value of returning assets.  

For finance companies, CalAmp insisted the mileage management feature also can provide substantial value. 

With the mileage data available from LenderOutlook, finance companies can now develop depreciation projections for individual assets and overall portfolios. 

“Clearly, one of the key components of asset value is the number of miles on the vehicle,” CalAmp vice president Scott Stone said. “Until now, this important aspect of managing an asset portfolio was a gap in the market.  CalAmp is addressing this important gap by delivering the new mileage management feature for our LenderOutlook application.”

Stone stressed that CalAmp will listen carefully to customers who have ideas for enhancements so the company can deliver more value over time.

“We know that being able to read how many miles are put on a leased vehicle is one of the key challenges dealers and financial companies face,” Stone said. “LenderOutlook’s ability to monitor total miles meets that challenge, providing clear insight into odometer readings to help estimate the value of the leased asset upon return. 

“This provides LHPH dealers and finance companies options to stay competitive and increase profits as the LHPH market dramatically grows,” he added.