Automotive News Canada - August 2022 - 27

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CARFAX CANADA ADDS TRANSPARENCY TO CAR-BUYING PROCESS
CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Reports
have changed the way consumers shop
for vehicles. To gain some insights about
why CARFAX reports are valuable for
both consumers and dealerships and
how these reports are unique in the incident-reporting
industry, Tim Dimopoulos,
publisher of Automotive News Canada,
spoke with Shawn Vording, vice president
of sales and product at CARFAX Canada,
for a segment of In the Driver's Seat.
Q: CARFAX Canada is known for its
vehicle-history reports and helping
customers make better decisions about
buying and selling their vehicles. The
CARFAX team has built the country's
most comprehensive reports, backed
by the largest vehicle-history data network
in Canada. Tell us about the company
and its data network and what
distinguishes it from other reporting services.
Shawn Vording: CARFAX Canada is unique because we have access to billions
of records across thousands of sources that span North America. These
sources include motor-vehicle agencies in the United States and Canada, insurance
companies, collision-repair facilities, auctions, police departments, service
departments, dealerships, and independent service facilities. So, we off er the
most comprehensive vehicle-history reports available in Canada. We like to use
the concept of an ingredient label. You wouldn't buy a product or eat a product
if you didn't know the ingredients. We believe that it's important for any
consumer or any dealer to know the ingredients of a vehicle and a huge part
of that is the history of the car. And because of that, being able to access this
much information gives consumers a complete picture to make sure that they
know what they're getting when they make a signifi cant investment in a vehicle.
Q: The used-car market is top-of-mind for the auto industry now and likely
will be for quite some time. How do the changes in the used-car market
change the way clients use reports for buying and selling used
vehicles? And why is having a detailed history of a vehicle
even more important now?
Vording: The used-car market defi nitely is critical right
now, especially with some of the supply-chain issues
that are impacting new-car sales. If you're looking
for a vehicle right now, sometimes the only option
is a used vehicle. As such, consumers have
become signifi cantly more educated about how
to access information that helps inform their
buying decisions. We know that 88 percent of
drivers say that knowing the history of a car is
important. And we also know that the history
of a vehicle infl uences the value of that car.
So, a vehicle with previous accident damage
or a vehicle that hasn't been maintained to the
greatest standards - this impacts the value of
those cars. And so, for consumers to educate
themselves on the cars that they're going to buy
has just become a table stake.
Q: How can dealers leverage these reports to create
transparency in the purchase journey? And that kind
To watch Tim and Shawn's conversation, visit canada.autonews.com/carfaxvideo
of leads to better outcomes for retailers
and ultimately it also leads to happy customers,
right?
Vording: Yes, exactly. We believe that if a
consumer can answer a lot of questions
before they start to interact with a dealer, it
helps expedite that buying process. We also
know that a transparent dealer becomes a
trusted dealer by sharing the vehicle-history
information with a consumer in advance,
whether that's online or through a salesperson.
Consumers have gravitated toward the
tagline, " Show me the CARFAX, " because
it's very polite of saying, " Tell me the history
of this vehicle. " When those ingredients
have been factored in, consumers can
validate that this is the purchase they want
to make. They know that they're getting a
fair value, or the price is reasonable. So, we
know that third-party validation through
CARFAX becomes a really important part of the buying process.
Q: The value of data integrity is so important. How does CARFAX make
sure the data you gather is current and complete, given how big the North
American used-vehicle market is?
"
"
contentstudio
...if a consumer can
answer a lot of questions
before they start to interact
with a dealer, it helps expedite
that buying process. We also
know that a transparent dealer
becomes a trusted dealer
by sharing the vehiclehistory
information with a
consumer in advance...
Vording: We have an aggressive data-acquisition strategy that we've been executing
against since inception. We not only try to pursue data from one incident
from one source, but we also try to pursue that incident from as many other
sources as possible. And that multi-source approach really does help validate
single data incidents. In addition to that, we have an entire team that's dedicated
to acquiring that new data. And while we do have access to billions of
records, we are adding millions of new records every year through our data-acquisition
eff orts. With that, we know we have the most comprehensive dataset
available. Of course, it's important to do your homework on the vehicle as well.
Test drive the vehicle, have it inspected by an independent source or buy from
a dealer that already has performed a safety inspection on the vehicle.
Q: With the massive shift to digital retailing, how does CARFAX
deal with this approach and how have your solutions
changed as we see this migration to an omni-channel
environment?
Vording: If you were to rewind the clock to when we
fi rst started off ering our history-import services,
we were a paper report, which was fabulous for
in-store visits. But the reality is that the majority
of vehicle shopping now happens - or at least
starts - online. Dealers now have the opportunity
to post CARFAX reports on their listing
sites. They can post report summaries or key
elements from the history report; like a oneowner
badge, a no-accidents-reported badge,
or a low-mileage badge. They have access to
all of these digital assets to help them merchandise
cars. Our research shows that 43 percent of
consumers will actually skip an ad on a listing site
if it doesn't include access to the vehicle-history
information. So, we know that getting that information
into a consumer's hands in the comfort of their
living room is a critical starting point.
http://canada.autonews.com/carfaxvideo
Automotive News Canada - August 2022

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