Siebel Automotive Guide > Managing End of Lease and Remarketing Activities >

Scenario for Managing End of Lease and Vehicle Remarketing

This topic gives one example of managing end of lease and vehicle remarketing. You may do this differently, depending on your business model.

Contacting Customers Whose Leases Are Ending

When a customer's lease on a car is about to end, Siebel Automotive automatically generates communications to the customer about the end-of-term process. If the customer does not respond favorably to these communications, a call center agent from the automobile company's end-of-term department contacts the customer to try to convince the customer to buy a new car, buy the leased car, or extend the lease, possibly by offering promotions or other incentives.

Remarketing is necessary if the customer wants to end the lease, rather than buying the leased car or extending the lease. When the lease expires, the remarketing department will take possession of the leased car and resell it.

Scheduling Vehicle Inspection and Turn-In

If the customer decides to turn in the vehicle, rather than extending the lease or purchasing the vehicle, the agent uses this telephone call to schedule appointments for inspection in turn-in.

The remarketing agent schedules an inspection either with a dealer or with a third-party inspection vendor. At the end of the lease, the vehicle must be inspected to see if there is excessive wear and tear to the vehicle, which the customer is liable for.

The remarketing agent generally schedules a turn-in appointment with the dealer who leased the car to this customer.

Completing the Inspection

During the inspection, the inspection agency or dealer enters details about the condition of the vehicle.

If there are any outstanding charges as a result of the inspection, for example, charges to repair damage to the vehicle, the agent prepares a liability statement with the charges and the reason for each charge.

When the customer receives this liability statement, the customer may choose to have repairs done before returning the vehicle, rather than paying the amount on the liability statement to the automobile company. If so, the customer informs the remarketing agent, and the remarketing agent schedules a new inspection and new turn-in date after the repairs are complete.

In the most common case, the customer chooses to pay the bill on the liability statement, or there is no liability, so the customer can go to the scheduled turn-in appointment.

Returning the Vehicle

The customer usually returns the vehicle to the dealer where it was leased.

The dealer enters the vehicle return date, the odometer reading, and other information in the Siebel Dealer Portal. The dealer also makes sure the Odometer Disclosure Statement is completed, signed and returned to the automobile company.

If there are any remaining charges, for example because the odometer reading was greater than expected, the agent at the automobile company prepares a liability statement and mails it to the customer.

Selling Vehicles to Dealers

The remarketing department at the automobile company tries to sell the returned vehicle to dealers. The sales price to dealers is based on the automobile company's internal pricing structure, guided by data from organizations such as NADA, Kelley Blue Book, and Black Book.

The vehicle is automatically offered to the turn-in dealer when it is returned. This dealer can use the Dealer Portal to purchase or to decline to purchase the vehicle.

If the turn-in dealer declines to purchase the vehicle or does not act within three days, then the vehicle is automatically offered to other dealers.

Auctioning the Vehicle

If the vehicle is not purchased by any dealer, it is sold by auction. The remarketing department at the automobile company plans for the auction sale and assigns the vehicle to the auction house that is expected to make the most profitable sale.