It’s an undesirable situation perhaps some dealers have experienced. The dealership has an irate buyer return to the showroom — perhaps with a lawyer — because the purchaser took delivery of a vehicle without knowing the unit had an open recall.

In an effort to help stores avoid unhappy customers — and perhaps even a legal clash — AutoAp this week launched Safety Recall Insights. Using proprietary business intelligence technology, Safety Recall Insights leverages AutoAp’s Dynamic Recall Management (DRM) service, which is designed to provide accurate, timely and comprehensive recall management capabilities.

AutoAp acknowledged most dealers are unable to obtain the full liability and financial impacts of safety recalls, or the specific actions they should take to minimize these risks and maximize profitability. Worse, AutoAp said mainstream recall sources often fail to identify affected vehicles or provide delayed recall reporting for weeks to months later.

“Dealers can ill-afford to find out after selling vehicles that they were affected prior to sale,” the company said.

Safety Recall Insights can enable dealers to:

• Gain insights into their safety recall liability and financial impacts

• Reduce liability based on specific recommendations rendered by Safety Recall Insight’s on-demand business intelligence

• Generate additional warranty reimbursement by identifying more in-brand safety recalls

• Compare performance against dealers in their state, nationally, those who carry their brands, and Best Practices dealerships.

“I can see our safety recall performance at a glance, right on my phone. Before we started using AutoAp’s services, we thought we had recalls handled. I don’t think there’s anything else out there that can compare,” said Mike Baker, who is the digital media manager for the Antioch Auto Group in Antioch, Calif.

Safety Recall Insights incorporates AutoAp’s Safety Recall Liability Score and is also accessible from mobile devices for on-hand and on-demand recall insights, showing the results of their recall management efforts.

“AutoAp’s services are the key to our success in the market. Their new business intelligence service — coupled with AutoAp’s Dynamic Recall Management service — makes it simple for any dealer to solve the recall problem,” said Brad Sowers, who is the dealer principal with the Jim Butler Auto Group in St. Louis.

This proprietary SaaS (software as a service) product can enhance AutoAp’s DRM service, which is used by more than 1,000 dealership rooftops and by numerous rental car companies and fleet managers.

AutoAp’s research indicated that on average, dealerships nationwide have more than 15 vehicles out of every 100 in inventory with at least one open safety recall. DRM users have decreased their average “open rate” to 4.7% and power users have an open rate of 2.6%, an 83% reduction of ‘open-recalled vehicles’ in inventory, with a commensurate reduction in recall liability.

“This is a game-changer. We’ve evaluated the information that comes from other providers who claim they have a good recall solution. They simply don’t come close to the reliability we get from AutoAp. You’re taking your chances if you don’t use AutoAp’s services. It’s like an insurance policy that pays for itself, plus so much more,” said Brad Preble who is president of the Carr Auto Group of Beaverton, Ore.

Safety Recall Insights can enable dealers to easily visualize the full economic gain to their dealership when they resolve recalls quickly. Dealers can:

• Reduce holding costs

• Increase revenue

• Improve service bay efficiencies

• Boost service warranty reimbursement revenue

• Save significant time managing safety recalls

• Obtain the most accurate and timely safety recall alerting system available

“Without an automated service providing on-demand insights to the liability and costs associated with safety recalls, it is difficult to know the full safety recall impacts,” AutoAp chief executive officer Mark Paul said.

“AutoAp’s solutions are the only insightful, accurate, timely and comprehensive professional-grade services — which are what dealers demand in this frequent-recall and highly litigious market,” Paul went on to say.

For more details, go to www.autoap.com.