Auto Insights Newsletter | October 2022
Risky Business
LIVE helps manage and mitigate Dealership risk
With rising vehicle theft and fraud, it’s more important than ever for dealerships to make sure they are not buying a stolen or otherwise encumbered vehicle.
According to the latest crime statistics published by the South African Police Service, 5 866 hijackings were reported across the country between April and June 2022, a 14% increase compared to the same period in 20211.
The rising levels of crime and fraud heighten the risk of buying a stolen vehicle, or one still subject to previous financing.
Crime is not the only risk auto professionals need to manage and mitigate. With so many vehicle derivatives ensuring correct vehicle descriptions and accurately estimating the value and correct retail price of a vehicle takes time and effort. If you get it right, you will maximise your profit, but get it wrong and you lose money.
Lightstone’s mobile app and online platform, LIVE, enables everyone in the vehicle sale, financing, and insurance space to access accurate data on a vehicle and its driver.
With LIVE you can get accurate vehicle valuations, validation of the VIN, engine number, make, model and type as well as police and financial interest information. The application links directly to our in-house and various third-party databases to produce up-to-date and accurate verification data on a vehicle.
Lightstone’s vehicle valuations are based on actual market transactions and updated on an ongoing monthly basis. This means they don’t lag behind the value fluctuations in the vehicle market (influenced by stock supply and demand) but track vehicle values on a continuous basis.
Business is complex but making informed decisions shouldn’t be. By accurately verifying and valuating a vehicle, you will reduce business risk and avoid harm to your business’s reputation.
Features include:
Vehicle verification:
The feature allows the user to scan a vehicle’s license using a mobile phone’s camera. The app scans and decrypts the bar code, validating the information and delivering real time accurate verification data for any vehicle offering the full details and verifying the VIN, make and model. The app also provides information such as the warranty start date, financing interest, microdot verification and police status.
Vehicle verification:
Lightstone’s valuations are estimates based on more than 2.8 million records of bank finalised vehicle retail transactions financed through the Signio system (and other third parties). The vehicle values are a guide for dealerships to establish a fair price when a vehicle is retailed, traded, bought into stock, or auctioned. It includes retail, trade, cost, and auction values.
Driver’s license scan:
The app scans and decrypts the 3D barcode of a South African driver’s license. This enables the user to verify that the data stored in the barcode matches the data printed on the license and is valid, thus reducing the risk of fraud and providing a mechanism for easily and accurately capturing driver details for contact information.At Lightstone, innovating to simplify business processes is at the heart of our business and we envisage making further enhancements to the app to further assist all parties in the vehicle sale, financing, and insurance fields.
*1 SAPS Crime Statistics, https://www.saps.gov.za/services/crimestats.php
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