Ignite Consulting Partners offers a compliance tip each week for dealerships.
This week’s installment delves into a business segment buy-here, pay-here operators often face — repossessions — recapping a $98 million settlement as being possible when regulations aren’t followed exactly.
The compliance firm compiled what it called a minimum 8-point checklist to reinforce the importance of adhering to requirements of your state law for repossession notices. Here is part of Ignite’s reasoning.
“In yet another example of how important it is for car dealers and finance companies to have strong compliance in their post-repossession process, a large national auto finance company had to agree to forgive over $98 million in deficiency balances for consumers due to improper repossession notices,” Ignite began in an industry message. “The settlement affected almost 8,500 accounts with deficiency balances — all of which will be wiped clean.
“The consumer class action claims allege that the company's repossession notices failed to comply with the requirements of their state law, which contains detailed requirements for exactly what needed to be itemized in the repo notices. States’ statutes’ requirements are often detailed and deviation means the debt left over after selling the repossessed car cannot be collected,” the firm continued.
To help dealerships and finance companies avoid a similar — and expensive — situation, Ignite spelled out a checklist that included:
• Notice of strict compliance (if applicable)
• Notice of repossession
• Notice to right to cure (if applicable)
• Notice of sale and disposition of collateral
• Public sale versus private sale
• How you determine “commercially reasonable”
• Ancillary product refund calculation and issuance
• Deficiency balance notices to consumers
“There’s a lot of regulatory attention being given to these issues right now,” said Ignite, which is also hosting a three-day training event called, “Compliance Unleashed,” set for May 16-18 in Grapevine, Texas.
To reach Ignite’s compliance professionals send a message to [email protected] or call (682) 888-3426.
Two of the sharpest tools buy-here, pay-here operators can use to mitigate their risk are GPS devices and license-plate recognition technology.
With the pandemic still significantly impacting just about every aspect of life nowadays, BHPH Report reconnected with two top executives from companies that specialize in these technologies.
Jeremiah Wheeler is executive vice president and general manager of fintech at DRN and MVTRAC, which offer LPR technology along with other data and analytics services. Chris Macheca is president and chief operating officer of PassTime, which serves dealerships and finance companies with GPS tracking and starter-interrupt devices.
Macheca and Wheeler touched on not only how their respective technologies are playing a greater operational role during the pandemic, but each executive looked ahead at how change might be in the works in conjunction with collections, credit availability and the potential fortunes of BHPH dealerships.
BHPH Report: In a pandemic-impacted world, how much more valuable are GPS devices to help mitigate risk and track collateral?
Chris Macheca: Obviously lowering risk is really important today, especially as we’ve seen moratoriums on repossessions. At least having something on the vehicle lets you know that the vehicle is still in operation. One of the leading causes for non-payment is a vehicle that’s not operating. GPS devices can tell you these things, whether it’s still operational, whether it’s still being used and potentially that it’s being used in the manner that you expect it. We’ve seen a lot of our customers really dig into the data to try to help them identify where potential problems might be coming down the road. We’ve seen a huge uptick in the interest in GPS, even more than before.
BHPH Report: How much is the possible misunderstanding out there that LPR is just for banks and large finance companies but also can be for independent dealerships that have a related finance company?
Jeremiah Wheeler: I think the first misconception people think of when they hear that we’re a semi-large data and analytics company is that only big banks and lenders could use something that we sell/ When in reality everyone that has a loan out there regardless of the size of the entity, if they have defaults, they can use our service. LPR, because it’s gathering so much data and it’s not really picking and choosing who it gathers data on as far as the license plates are concerned, we do have a large number I would call medium to small customers. Some of those customers are buy-here, pay-here, independent dealerships that carry their own loans on their own books. It’s really up to the entity that’s looking and what types of data sets they’re using to help do their skip-tracing and location efforts. Ours fits right in. It’s an additive. It’s not necessarily always the one-stop-shop solution, but it is a really good additive for incremental lift on recovery volumes.
BHPH Report: How much has the battle intensified against consumers using online resources to find and disable devices?
CM: We haven’t seen a real increase in that in a long time. The importance of the proper disclosure of the device is a big part of that. We do a lot of work with our customers on ensuring that the consumer understands the purpose of the device that it’s to help them. But inevitably it comes down to that the devices help the honest people honest. The vast majority of consumers intend to make their payment. They don’t intend to create a problem or cause a default. We really haven’t seen an increase in tampering or disabling or consumers doing something that is not in compliance with their agreement.
BHPH Report: Cellular carriers are touting the rollout of 5G technology. What impact now or down the road might this technology have on GPS tracking?
CM: I think it’s all good. As technology evolves and the networks advance, it allows for more efficient communication with GPS devices, more resources from the network. Our current devices, although 4G, are compatible with the 5G networks, so there is some streamlining within the networks to ensure greater longevity for those products. The new 5G rollouts are bringing a lot of opportunities for us as we advance the technology to get into ultra-low power technology and things that will allow us to offer more features, more functions, more opportunity to better utilize and be more efficient in the use of GPS tracking. The biggest thing is longevity and advancement of the technology.
BHPH Report: As complex as new and late-model vehicles can be, how does that influence how devices can be installed and function?
CM: You’re absolutely right. The vehicles continue to evolve. The computers and technology in them are far more advanced than they were 10 to 20 years ago. That makes us continue to evolve. What we have really seen is a lot greater adoption of easier to install devices like our battery-powered Encore device. We’re seeing a large influx in demand for that type of technology. On the starter-interrupt side, we’ve had to modify our technology to accommodate some of the different features, the start-stop feature, the push-button features of certain vehicles. We continue to advance the technology. But I think what we’re seeing is a dealer’s level of the technology is going to where they want an easier solution and we’re seeing that being filled with our Encore, battery-powered that are much easier to use.
BHPH Report: If a dealership does its own repossessions, rather than using an agent, how can LPR still be a part of the process?
JW: I think the focus there would be particularly on our DRNsights product, which is an intuitive user interface, a web-based platform that allows any user like a collector or office manager is sitting at their dealership and they’re looking for a car. Some buy-here, pay-here dealerships use GPS system, which I’m sure everyone is familiar within this industry. Sometimes those systems can be disabled, especially if someone has ill intent to not pay their car note. They’re probably going to go straight to YouTube and say, “How do I locate and disable GPS that I know is on the car because I sign a release?” Then the dealership can be at a loss because they don’t know where to look for the car. In some cases, I’ve seen where people will buy from a buy-here, pay-here dealership and have no plans of staying within that city or state. Then they take it two or three states over. Or they buy within the area where they live, but then they sell to a relative, which lives far away. They’re up in Chicago but the dealer thought the car was in Dallas. With LPR, you key in the VIN and through the license plate, it can give a view of all of the locations and sightings and at what time of day. It’s really a platform where you punch it in and there are the results. Now, if you need an agent, you can assign one in the right location based on historical data.
BHPH Report: What might be a couple of memorable anecdotes you remember when LPR played a critical role in helping a store find a vehicle the operator might have thought was gone forever?
JW: I think particularly related to buy-here, pay-here dealers and smaller entities that are doing the tote-the-note, so to speak, there’s a lack credit and a lack of history on that individual from digital footprint standpoint. Those people, when they skip out, they’re very hard to find because it’s almost like they don’t exist from skip-tracing or digital footprint standpoint. We’ve had a couple of decent size dealers that sell 50 to 60 cars a month and they’re financing them themselves and then all of sudden the customer skips and they can’t find them. We have helped a couple of buy-here, pay-here dealers find their cars where they had assigned it everywhere they knew or thought the car may be or had a lead. It was 120 days past due. We then found the car 1,500 miles away in a completely different part of the country because that person was transient and moved a lot. They got a gig in Seattle so they went there. We have hundreds of stories like that, not just in the buy-here, pay-here space but also Maserati and other very expensive luxury cars that have $80,000 values where we helped to find them in a totally different place.
BHPH Report: What have been the top concerns you’ve heard from dealerships and finance companies in recent months and how has your company responded?
CM: As probably others have said, the biggest issue that was most dealers were dealing with over the last several months has been inventory and inventory prices, which has really put the clamps on cash flow for dealers. Cost has been a big thing so we’ve been trying to be as cognizant as we can on cost and value proposition for our customers, helping them be more efficient. We’ve been bringing in partners who can help them be more efficient in how they operate their business. I think there’s just a lot of uncertainty. So much has changed in the past 11, 12 months. Really, no one can predict what’s going to happen in the next six to 12. There’s a lot of hesitation, I would say, to really go out on a limb by a lot of people. Many are taking a more wait-and-see approach to things. But from what’ we’re expecting from our customers, we’re expecting growth. We’re continuing to see our core customers, the true buy-here, pay-here customers, consumers still need reliable transportation. They might not be commuting as much to and from work, but they still have to get to certain places to do certain things, whether it’s the doctor’s office, the grocery store. Reliable transportation is still very important. That’s what our customer base provides. We, by enabling the GPS, then help mitigate the risk for those dealers and lenders to provide that reliable transportation to consumers. There’s some cautious optimism, I would call it, if that’s a good term. Overall, I think the core subprime, buy-here, pay-here and independent car dealer segment is looking very strong.
BHPH Report: Depending on what happens with the economy, how do you see the LPR world potentially making more inroads into the BHPH space in the coming months?
JW: I think it’s not just the inroads we can make. It’s also the growth of that particular segment of the market. As we saw in 2008 when we had the banking crash, so to speak, and the lenders retracted and stopped lending, the buy-here, pay-here industry boomed for a number of years. There were new dealerships popping up all over the place. With the economic crisis we’re in now due to the pandemic, once lenders figure out where their risks lie and how their books are changing because of the deferrals and longevity of this pandemic, and unemployment and the overall individuals’ economy crisis within their borrower base, I think we’re going to see a lot more changes in credit reports and scores. There’s only but so long that they can manage this data trail of not paying, deferrals and coming off of deferrals and then still not being able to pay because they’re unemployed. I think as you see creditworthiness start to go down, you’re going to see a lot more entities pop up. And the buy-here, pay-here space will get a lot bigger and a lot stronger. You’re going to see a shift in that near-prime and prime going to the subprime and deep subprime areas. As that happens, the books get risky. Cars can get harder to find. You’re going to see LPR really grow in those areas because we’re doing a lot more now with regard to risk scoring and behavioral analytics and things like that, not just helping you locate your car. We have a number of subprime lenders now looking at our data and analytics across the board of their servicing portfolio, not just delinquency. They want to see if they can measure propensity to skip and propensity to charge off. It’s working pretty well. But I think the economy is really all up in the air right now. We just have to see how it continues to go as the pandemic progresses and see how much we can help out there.
Knowing precisely the status of your collateral likely is even more important in a world impacted by COVID-19.
On Tuesday, PassTime announced the launch of the Encore 2, the next generation of Encore, its battery-powered GPS device that hit the market a year ago.
The company highlighted Encore 2 features several enhancements, including:
• Time saving simplified activation process
• All new power management offering greater performance and longevity
• New look to maximize discreet placement
• New production site to provide resilient and sustainable manufacturing
PassTime indicated Encore 2 features an all-new, simplified activation method that is designed to streamline the process, help customers save time and provide a capability for battery saving storage and reusability.
The company said power-management improvements will enhance battery life under colder temperature conditions and allow Encore 2 to perform better in harshly colder climates.
Additionally, PassTime mentioned its customers will notice the new sleek appearance of Encore 2 with prominent logos removed, making placement easier and more discreet.
Furthermore, PassTime pointed out that it has made a commitment to support resilient and sustainable manufacturing by producing Encore 2 exclusively in Taiwan, a country the company said is committed to advocating freedoms for its people.
“Encore’s self-contained, no wire design has been a revolutionary platform for PassTime’s customers and Encore 2 builds on the breakthrough technology by enhancing performance and customer usability,” PassTime executive vice president and chief technology officer Todd Goodnight said in a news release.
Since the original Encore device was launched last year, PassTime said the platform has been widely adopted for its technologies, performance and battery life demanded by the asset protection industry in a small size.
Because Encore is completely self-powered, the company noted that it eliminates the need to cut wires in a vehicle for installation, making Encore easy to implement in a variety of auto-finance, dealership and fleet business applications.
Encore 2 is available now to customers.
For more information, visit passtimegps.com/encore or contact PassTime at (877) 727-7846 or [email protected].
Advantage GPS says it’s found a solution upgrade to help with one of the most tedious tasks for buy-here, pay-here dealers and finance companies that often participate in the subprime space.
On Tuesday, the Procon Analytics company that looks to capture and translate raw data into actionable business intelligence to assist in the mitigation of financial losses, enhanced its analytics platform with a vehicle identification number (VIN) verification feature. The new feature is aptly named VIN Verify.
Advantage GPS explained that it created VIN Verify to seamlessly identify a vehicle’s VIN along with its make, model and year. Advantage’s Evo GPS device can read the VIN data from the vehicles onboard diagnostic port and populates the information on its user-friendly dashboard.
The company pointed out this proprietary enhanced technology eliminates the need to manually enter the VIN into the system — ending inaccuracies and wasted time.
“The existing antiquated technology in the marketplace requires a manual entry or scan of the VIN number,” Advantage GPS president David Meyer said in a news release. “There’s no authentication that the GPS unit is connected to that specific vehicle.
“When our Evo GPS unit is installed VIN Verify collects the VIN information digitally. It’s very satisfying that once again we are the first to bring exciting new technology to the market,” Meyer continued.
Advantage GPS reiterated that it recognizes one of the most tedious tasks BHPH dealers have when adding a financed vehicle into their database is entering a complicated 17-digit VIN number comprised of letters and numbers. VIN Verify can eliminate the chances for incorrect information being entered or entering a correct VIN into the wrong finance agreement.
The company stressed that having accurate data is “absolutely necessary” for dealers to be fully compliant with related finance or third-party finance companies. VIN Verify gives retailers full confidence the vehicle they financed is the correct vehicle and protected by Advantage GPS.
When VIN Verify is activated, a simple keystroke on Advantage GPS’ user-friendly application can collect the VIN then populates the dashboard along with the vehicle’s make, model and year.
“Now obsolete, old VIN scanner technology does not notify the dealer if a device is removed and moved to another vehicle,” Advantage GPS said.
The company believes VIN Verify will be an important tool for recovery specialists, as well.
Advantage GPS explained recovery professionals will have immediate access to the vehicle’s VIN, giving them the “ultimate fingerprint” to identify the right asset. Meyer said the new technology was immediately embraced by one of Advantage GPS’ partners — the American Recovery Association.
“Every day we work hard at improving our hardware, software and innovate new solutions that give our clients increased operating efficiency, and compliance,” Meyer said. “VIN Verify is our latest innovation added to our predictive analytics platform.”
“We are very pleased to be the first GPS provider to offer VIN Verify,” Meyer went on to say. “Since we launched in early 2017, we now have more than 4,000 automotive clients and have deployed over 850,000 devices.
“We will continually innovate to enhance our products, software and customer services, and look forward to more announcements in the near future,” he added.
Textmaxx Pro chief executive officer Chris Leedom told Tech Tank competition audience members during the 2019 Digital Dealer 26 Conference and Expo that 88 percent of all business calls go unanswered on the first try.
Evidently that circumstance was well understood by the show attendees who voted the Sarasota, Fla.-based technology firm as the winner of the fun and informative contest.
Digital Dealer 26’s Tech Tank held on April 10 challenged five leading automotive retail technology firms to detail their technology and its value proposition to business owners in a fast-paced competition. Each contestant had just three minutes to introduce their new product and then answer questions from three industry experts for an additional three minutes. When the presentations concluded, several hundred audience members and the experts voted using a text message application to decide the winner.
Leedom recapped that he used just two visual slides and one visual aid — a cell phone — to detail the power of texting to effectively communicate with customers and prospects.
“My guess is that nearly everyone in this room has texted several people since the lunch break,” Leedom said to the audience members that nodded in agreement.
Leedom told the audience he called upon his decades of experience as an entrepreneur and CEO of a nationally recognized consultancy practice to develop Textmaxx Pro. The cutting-edge, technology platform allows businesses, including auto dealers, to communicate directly with customers and prospects in one-on-one conversations as well as the ability to market their business using SMS (texting) technology using broadcast texts.
Textmaxx Pro’s Tech Tank competitors included a digital F&I platform, a new website development solution, and two digital marketing platforms.
Leedom told the audience Textmaxx Pro’s main value proposition was the ability to communicate effectively in near real time with customers. While 88 percent of business calls go unanswered, Leedom said the opposite is true of text messaging. About 93 percent of SMS messages are read within 10 minutes and a return text is usually sent within 20 minutes, according to Textmaxx Pro.
“It’s the preferred method of communication for most people across virtually every demographic,” Leedom said. “Setting appointments, gathering information, marketing, and much more can be accomplished with lightening efficiency. Quick and effective communication with your customers dramatically improves customer service and profitability.”
Leedom thinks two of the main points he addressed were likely what won the audience over. The first was legal and regulatory compliance.
Using a texting platform to text clients is regulated by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and carries with hefty fines for violations. Textmaxx Pro’s platform text can enable any business landline or other designated phone line, Leedom said, and that is the number that appears on the customer’s phone. The platform archives the entire body of texts for five years to protect all parties and comply with necessary statutes. If a customer opts out of the service, no one but the customer can get back on the platform.
“We designed this product to help businesses harness the power of texting while ensuring compliance,” he said.
The second value that intrigued the audience was the pricing structure. Leedom said the pricing varies by the number of texts sent out and is scalable to any size business, so monthly fees for any size operation are refreshingly low, typically between $100 and $300 per month.
One of the industry experts asked about integrating the system with the dealers DMS and CRM platforms.
Leedom said Textmaxx Pro is integrated with several very large DMS platforms and the API can be integrated easily with any existing software program.
“We are working with software platforms all the time on full integrations,” Leedom said. “Our API can integrate with virtually any software product.”
Leedom added about the Tech Tank competition, “It was a great format and a lot of fun. The three industry experts asked great questions that were certainly of interest to the dealers and managers in the audience. “There were strong competitors with great presentations, and we were pleased to come out on top.”
For the second time this month, PassTime finalized another relationship to help buy-here, pay-here dealerships and finance companies that participate in the subprime space.
After solidifying a relationship with AFS Dealers, the automotive GPS solutions provider recently announced it has completed an integration with Solutions by Text (SBT), a division of Marketing Response Solutions, focused on streamlining client communication and leveraging the power of SMS to create advanced business solutions in the mobile space.
Through the software integration, the companies highlighted mutual customers of PassTime and SBT will have the ability to automatically send consumers text message communications and reminders relating to their vehicle payment and PassTime device. The addition of text message communication to the payment reminders of the PassTime device is designed to make it easier for dealers and finance companies to stay in touch with their consumer customers.
“The integration with SBT is something a lot of customers in the industry are already talking about,” PassTime president and chief operating officer Chris Macheca said.
“We are most excited about providing our customers even more tools to help their business — and that is exactly what the integration with Solutions by Text gives them,” Macheca continued.
Dealers and finance company customers use PassTime’s GPS solutions to connect vehicles and protect their assets. For the auto finance industry, PassTime GPS solutions can help to facilitate communication between consumers and creditors, helping keep consumers on track with their payments with payment reminders.
PassTime has been in business for more than 25 years, trying to providing high-quality and reliable products to the vehicle financing industry along with 24/7 live customer care for its customers and consumers.
Solutions by Text is a division of Marketing Response Solutions, a full-service consulting firm which has been serving the business community since 1995. Solutions by Text leverages the power of SMS for business solutions and has a full suite of services to compliment nearly any business model, from payment reminders to completing a transaction.
From answering billing questions, offering loyalty discounts, or promoting products and services, with SBT, customer communication happens in real time, according to the company.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about creating meaningful relationships. Our partnership with PassTime GPS allows us to provide useful tools to better the user experience,” Solutions by Text chief executive officer Danny Cantrell said.
“PassTime GPS is a top tier organization and we are proud to be a part of the team,” Cantrell went on to say.
The companies mentioned that the integration is now commercially available.
For more information, contact PassTime at (877) 727-7846 or [email protected].
Buy-here, pay-here dealers and finance companies that use GPS solutions from PassTime now have access to a new gateway to leverage the company’s platform and tools.
PassTime recently launched what’s being dubbed the InTouch Summit, an all-new device management portal for its InTouch product line. InTouch is a GPS solution connecting vehicles for dealers and consumers.
Dealers can use InTouch to monitor inventory on their lot, keep track of test drives, and as a theft recovery tool. Consumers who purchase InTouch from an authorized dealer take advantage of InTouch’s connected car features for vehicle monitoring and theft recovery.
InTouch Summit — the customer portal where dealers can manage their InTouch devices — features a completely redesigned interface, faster actionable items, enhanced data analytics and a better overall user experience.
“InTouch Summit is a ground-up design that has been built completely with our InTouch customers in mind. The new portal provides a single pane of glass experience where information pertaining to all of their assets is one click away,” said Jerry Morgan, PassTime’s executive vice president of development.
Along with the companion suite of InTouch mobile apps, InTouch Summit can give customers a great experience when managing their InTouch connected vehicles.
InTouch Summit is currently available to select customers.
Clients can contact PassTime for a demonstration by calling (877) 727-7846 or sending a message to [email protected].
With the National Alliance of Buy-Here, Pay-Here Dealers (NABD) hosting its Buy-Here, Pay-Here Subprime Conference with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association this week in Las Vegas, two GPS providers rolled out enhancements to their suite of tools.
Spireon introduced GoldStar Connect, a full-featured connected car mobile application designed to give BHPH dealers and subprime auto finance companies the opportunity to increase customer loyalty and profitability.
Meanwhile, PassTime announced the launch of its ELITE 6 device, the next generation of its award-winning Elite line of GPS solutions.
PassTime and Spireon each had a presence this week as operators from throughout the country are congregating at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for three days of networking and training.
As the newest addition to the GoldStar GPS solution suite, Spireon highlighted GoldStar Connect can help dealers and finance companies recoup the cost of GPS, while also increasing value, convenience and safety for consumers.
Dealers and finance companies use GoldStar to stay connected to their customers in order to facilitate payment collection, monitor default predictors and streamline recoveries when necessary. With the new GoldStar Connect mobile app, consumers now can have access to all the benefits of connectivity — real-time location access, trip history, vehicle health alerts and recovery solutions for stolen vehicles — as an add-on at the time of purchase.
“In marrying the GoldStar solution with a consumer-facing mobile app, our dealer and lender customers not only improve asset management and protection, but also can offer their consumers a significant value add—modern connected car benefits regardless of the vehicle make, model and year,” said Reggie Ponsford, senior vice president of sales at Spireon.
“We have had a number of larger BHPH dealers piloting the GoldStar Connect solution in the past few months and seeing up to 90 percent consumer sell-through,” Ponsford continued.
With GoldStar Connect, consumers can gain a host of added benefits with their vehicle purchase, including:
— Safety and security: GPS tracking and geofencing capabilities can enable consumers to know the location of the vehicle at all times, helping to ensure the safety of the vehicle and the driver.
— Trip history: Provides visibility to the activity of the vehicle by date, time and duration.
— Smart alerts: Consumers can receive notifications of speeding, geofenced locations and battery condition directly to their mobile devices.
— Stolen vehicle recovery: An in-app recovery guide can provide vehicle location data and instructions to assist in reporting and recovery of a stolen vehicle.
— Insurance discounts: Many carriers provide discounts of up to 15 percent.
“Consumers want connected vehicle features and benefits, and the app helps dealers and lenders build customer loyalty while also driving additional revenue and margin,” Ponsford said. “By bundling the purchase into the vehicle loan, it’s seamless and easy for dealers and buyers.”
GoldStar Connect is available now, according to the company. To learn more, visit www.spireon.com/connect.
“We’re excited to help our customers in the vehicle finance industry evolve their thinking about GPS from solely managing risk to now providing an opportunity to increase consumer loyalty and profitability,” said Brian Deeley, director of product management at Spireon.
“The GoldStar solution is trusted by more BHPH dealers than all of our competitors combined. The addition of GoldStar Connect creates even more distance between Spireon and the rest, maintaining GoldStar as the GPS gold standard for BHPH,” continued Deeley, who will be leading a panel discussion about connecting customers with GPS during Used Car Week 2018, which begins Nov. 12 at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Early bird discounts are available through Oct. 16 by going to www.usedcarweek.biz/register.
Developments at PassTime
As mentioned, PassTime announced the launch of its ELITE 6 device, the next generation of its award-winning Elite line of GPS solutions.
PassTime highlighted Elite 6 offers the most versatile and advanced installation capabilities of any product in its history. With a unique, installer-configurable starter-interrupt setup option, installers can now easily integrate Elite 6 into a much broader selection of vehicles.
The company noted the highly flexible setup configurations also can allow Elite 6 to more easily address the challenges posed by newer ignition technologies found in push-button start vehicles as well as many advanced stop/start engine systems.
“As automotive technology continues to advance, GPS solutions need to be flexible in the way they can be installed in a vehicle. Over the last several years, the automotive industry has seen vehicle ignition systems evolve far more rapidly than ever before. Quite frankly, any GPS provider that isn’t innovating in this area is falling behind,” said Todd Goodnight, PassTime’s executive vice president of product management.
Elite 6 also features LTE communications for superior network longevity as well as a discrete, precision GPS system for enhanced location pinpointing.
In addition to the advancements in installation flexibility, PassTime went on to point out Elite 6 also boasts a 20-percent size reduction making installation easier than ever before.
Further, Elite 6 contains advanced self-override features that can give consumers multiple options, including a mobile app, to utilize disable override commands.
The company said Elite 6 will begin shipping to PassTime customers in early November.
For more information, contact PassTime at (877) 727-7846 or [email protected].
