Warranty service travel coverage – Be careful what you wish for
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Last fall at a national dealers’ meeting, a manufacturer announced that its dealer network would be reimbursed for warranty service travel expenses. The reimbursement will be for service truck fees or mileage when a technician is traveling to a warranty service job.

Every dealership with service trucks is wishing its manufacturer would follow suit. Who wouldn’t want to collect the service travel time truck expenses that customers refuse to pay for? When asked to pay for service truck expenses, customers struggle when the unit is out of its warranty period, let alone when the unit is in warranty coverage.

Customers never expect they will be asked to pay for service truck expenses when a repair job is covered under warranty. Why does it only seem that our industry has customers who don’t want to pay service travel expenses?

It is understandable that a customer becomes irritated when asked to pay service travel time on a manufacturer’s product update. But if our car needs an update, the notice states to contact your local dealer for an appointment. We have no expectation that the auto dealership will come to our place.

If a manufacturer is going to reimburse for travel time, there are a few concerns or issues that need to be addressed. We are sure the manufacturer and its dealer council have discussed and have solutions to all the following issues:

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Western Equipment Dealer Magazine Winter 2018 Issue
By Trent Hummel

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