National survey shows changes in body shop replacement car practices

Canadian auto body shop operators are moving away from providing company-owned courtesy cars, reports a national Gallup survey. The study indicates that two out of three body shop operators favor rental cars over courtesy cars, and 26% reported that they switched to rental cars within the last five years.
More than 90% of survey respondents indicated that quality replacement cars are "very" or "quite" important to the success of their businesses. This number was up from 67% in the previous survey, illustrating the increasing importance of replacement car practices to body shop operators.
– Nearly 72% of those surveyed said that a majority of their customers require replacement cars, up from 58% in the previous survey.
– Just under 70% of respondents said they currently rely on rental cars to fulfill their replacement car needs.
– About 30% rely on company-owned courtesy cars as the source of replacement cars for their customers.
– Close to 30% of survey respondents said that they had changed their replacement car practices over the past five years.
Of those who switched to rental cars, the highest rate of change was in Ontario and Quebec. The most common reasons cited for switching to rental cars included:
– increased customer satisfaction
– reduced costs
– no maintenance or repair work
– no risk and responsibility
– insurance considerations
– don’t have to get into car rental business
– having newer and cleaner cars available for customers.
Seventy-one percent of those who have changed to rental cars said they would not consider returning to courtesy vehicles.
The Gallup survey was commissioned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car.