DEALERS who are not FSA approved are still finding profits from so-called ‘safety net’ products.
These packages are designed to protect against parts and labour failure on used cars – but are not traditional warranties as defined by the FSA.
Even so, says RAC Warranty, they’re providing important reassurance to customers in the credit crunch-hit market. While bolstering dealer profits at the same time.
Ian Simpson, RAC Warranty’s sales and marketing director, explained: ‘Non-FSA dealers cannot offer standard warranty products but they can provide specialist ‘safety net’ service and maintenance arrangements that serve a similar purpose.
‘In the kind of price sector where non-FSA dealers operate, having products that bring a high degree of reassurance is proving essential in supporting used car sales while the credit crunch continues to bite.
‘People who are buying lower priced cars do not want to be hit with unexpected bills at a point in time when they are feeling financially vulnerable, so these products are very important at the moment.”
RAC Warranty, for example, offers a non-FSA product called RAC Maintenance and Repair. It was introduced earlier this year, and has since proven very popular with non-FSA dealers.
And RAC Warranty? It’s a new warranty brand, offered by the RAC in partnership with The Warranty Group, and was launched at the start of 2008.
