{"id":9960,"date":"2022-08-16T09:23:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T13:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocrsolutions.com\/?p=9960"},"modified":"2023-08-07T19:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T22:21:30","slug":"protecting-yourself-against-test-drive-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocrsolutions.com\/protecting-yourself-against-test-drive-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Yourself Against Test-Drive Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"
All car dealers have stories like this<\/a>. Obviously, letting a potential buyer take out a car on a test drive is fraught. How can new and used auto dealers protect themselves from potential car thieves?<\/p>\n The Importance of the Test Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n Auto test drives are vital for purchasers<\/a>, according to National Public Radio. \u201cMost car buyers don’t do more than the most perfunctory test drive of new or used cars,\u201d the organization writes. \u201cBut with so much new technology and features in today’s cars and trucks, a thorough test drive is more important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>Only 32% of consumers know the exact vehicle they want when they start car shopping online, but 55% test drive only one vehicle- the one they purchase,\u201d notes the Cox Automotive 2017 Car Buyer Journey Study<\/a>, \u201cThis is strong evidence that decision-making is happening online prior to contacting the dealership and that the test drive is an all-important clincher to the purchase.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, 88% of consumers said they would not purchase a car without test-driving it first, according to the Car Buyer of the Future<\/a> study. (Even GTA Online<\/a> has added test drives.)<\/p>\n \u201cBasically the only way to find the\u00a0right<\/em>\u00a0car, the one that will make you happy, as opposed to the \u2018best\u2019 car\u00a0that reviewers rate highest, is to try it out for yourself<\/a>,\u201d according to AutoBlog.<\/p>\n At the same time, consumers indicated that they preferred to do the test drive on their own terms without an auto salesman in the vehicle with them. The Car Buyer of the Future study noted that 81% of consumers preferred a different test-drive experience than the traditional accompanied test-drive model. Some dealerships even offer 24-hour test drives<\/a>. So without an employee in the car, how do you protect your valuable asset?<\/p>\n Stopping Auto Test Drive Theft<\/strong><\/p>\n One way to protect your business from would-be auto thieves is to make sure the person wanting to do the test drive is a legitimate potential purchaser. So how do you check on that?<\/p>\n Checking identification<\/strong><\/p>\n But the most important way to deter a would-be test drive thief is to ensure that you know the person\u2019s identity. After all, they\u2019ll be much less likely to steal a car if you literally know their name and an address where you can find them.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to look at the person\u2019s physical driver\u2019s license not just let them rattle off a number or try to give you a photocopy.<\/p>\n (It\u2019s true that there are other forms of government-issued photo IDs besides driver\u2019s licenses. But if someone is coming for a test drive, it makes sense that they should have a driver\u2019s license on them. Obviously, you\u2019re not going to let someone without a driver\u2019s license take a vehicle for a test drive on public roads in the first place.)<\/p>\n In the case of the stolen Audi, for example, the thieves drove to the dealership in a vehicle without license plates and provided a fake phone number and what was probably a fake name.<\/p>\n Some dealers want more<\/a>. For example, the Car Store wants to see not only a driver\u2019s license but also a recent utility bill to validate the address — before offering a test drive. Global insurance company Marsh recommends cross-referencing the driver\u2019s license with two<\/em> other pieces of identification<\/a>, such as a health card, credit card, passport, current utility bill and, if the customer drove in, a copy of the ownership on their existing vehicle. Some may run a credit check<\/a> first. Some even expect a deposit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Recording Identification Information<\/strong><\/p>\n At the same time, you can\u2019t hang onto the person\u2019s driver\u2019s license for security. After all, they\u2019re going to be driving a car, so they\u2019ll need their driver\u2019s license to legally drive.<\/p>\n Consequently, you need to be able to record the identification data in a safe, legible, and secure way. You don\u2019t want to scribble down illegible information on a piece of paper that gets lost or destroyed. You\u2019ll want to scan the driver\u2019s license perhaps even with your cellphone — so that you have a permanent record of all the data on it. And it would be good for it to automatically be stored in a computer, perhaps even in the cloud where you could gain access to it from anywhere.<\/p>\n Taking down that information also means you\u2019ll have it for other purposes. This car might not work for that customer, but perhaps at some point you\u2019ll get in another one that will. You\u2019ll want to be able to follow up with the customer later about making the sale.<\/p>\n In addition, with COVID-19 and other pandemics, you may be required to keep a list of contacts in the event of a positive case of illness. Marsh, for example, recommends that dealers keep a detailed log to track all those who were in the vehicle (e.g. the customer, salesperson, detail\/cleaning staff, etc.) as well as the sanitization of the vehicle.<\/p>\n And who knows? If you contact them in two years, maybe they\u2019ll be ready to test-drive another car from you. Safely and securely, of course.<\/p>\n Interested in learning how optical character recognition can help your business protect itself by using physical identification documents?\u00a0For a free trial of our API or\u00a0<\/em>software<\/em><\/a>, please email us at\u00a0<\/em>info@ocrsolutions.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two men are wanted in the Houston area after they stole an\u00a0Audi RS5from a local\u00a0dealership. The brazen theft happened in the middle of the business day, when a salesperson stepped away after letting one of the men take the car for a test drive, while the other sat in the (getaway) car. He then swiped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n