CARMEL, Ind. -

ADESA is looking to make returning a vehicle back to the auction as easy as what dealers might experience when those shoes or pants just don’t fit correctly.

On Wednesday, the business unit of KAR Auction Services, launched a new return guarantee product called ADESA Assurance. The company highlighted the new service can allow participating dealers to return eligible vehicles within 21 days for a full refund of the purchase price and associated buy fee.

The program is available to dealers at all 60 ADESA physical auction locations in the U.S. as well as DealerBlock and LiveBlock, ADESA’s online and simulcast auction platforms.

“Everything we do at ADESA is aimed at simplifying the auction experience for our customers,” ADESA president John Hammer said in a news release.

“ADESA Assurance gives dealers greater confidence and flexibility in their purchases to help them keep pace with the always changing market conditions,” Hammer continued. “By reducing the risk of wholesale transactions, ADESA Assurance will help our dealers stay fast, focused and successful.”

Across ADESA, there are thousands of vehicles up for auction at any given time, the duration of which can vary from a few days to just seconds. To capture the inventory they want, dealers often make purchasing decisions with incomplete or deficient information regarding market conditions, a vehicle’s condition or potential reconditioning needs.

The company explained the ability to return a vehicle through ADESA Assurance is aimed at alleviating the uncertainty of these transactions and helping dealers deploy their capital and shift their inventory more quickly.

For customers who enroll in the subscription service, ADESA Assurance will be automatically applied at the time of purchase to all eligible vehicles purchased at ADESA physical auctions, LiveBlock, ADESA UVA and ADESA mobile auctions.

The company added that buyers who only purchase DealerBlock vehicles on ADESA.com can add protection on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis at the time of check-out.

ADESA Assurance applies to vehicles 21 years or newer with a maximum sale price below $100,000 and fewer than 250,000 miles on the odometer.

In a separate message to Auto Remarketing, Hammer responded to an inquiry regarding what kind of feedback from dealers regarding vehicle returns ADESA has receive that helped to cultivate this program.

"ADESA currently offers several different products that help our customers buy with confidence — helping reduce the risk of purchasing a vehicle with undisclosed damage or problems," Hammer said. "We have had a version of ADESA Assurance within our upstream marketplace providing return guarantees to a select sub-set of our inventory. However, we didn’t have a similar product offering for customers buying at our physical auctions.

"Our customers have been asking for this kind of product for some time — our buyers want to buy with confidence.  We were able to use our upstream version of ADESA Assurance as a template and customize the product for our in-lane customers," he continued.

Hammer indicated that the company began to develop what now is ADESA Assurance back in January. He described the hurdles ADESA had to clear during the process to get to Wednesday's official launch.

"ADESA Assurance is a combination of two products — upstream and physical auction offering. It took participation from many areas of the company to create a product that is fully integrated into our various platforms and is part of a seamless auction experience," Hammer said.

"We were trying to increase conversion rates and remain profitable. ADESA Assurance gives our customers the confidence they need to make fast purchases in the lanes while alleviating the uncertainty of these transactions and helping dealers deploy their capital and shift their inventory more quickly," he continued.

Now that ADESA Assurance is in motion, Hammer also mentioned some of the metrics and trends the company might be watching to make sure the program is executing well.

"We will be looking at customer adoption and cancellation rates, claims rate percentages and expenses overall and by dealership and the overall financial performance of ADESA Assurance," he said.

"Just like any product at ADESA we are fully committed to its success and the success of our customers who use our products. We will continue to listen to our customers and create programs and solutions that improve their auction experience," Hammer went on to say.

For additional details or to enroll in the subscription service, visit ADESA.com/Assurance.