There was a time when dealerships didn’t think much about attracting out-of-state customers unless they happened to be located near a college town, military base or state line. The internet has changed all that.
According to Cox Automotive 2018 Car Buyer Journey research, 60% of the time car buyers spend buying a vehicle consists of researching and shopping online.
Car buyers can now peruse vehicle inventories all over the country from the comfort of their own homes. That means there’s always a chance that the next customer to walk through the door drove cross-country or booked a one-way flight from another state to get to you.
When you take into account that half of all car buyers do not contact the dealership before they stop by for the first time, it’s important to be prepared for customers from anywhere.
The flip side is that your dealership is no longer just competing with the auto dealers across the street and down the road. Now, every dealer in the country is a potential competitor.
If you don’t feel quite ready to take on the myriad titling and registration laws, regulations, guidelines and processes that differ for every state, you’re not alone. It can feel overwhelming to keep up with your own state’s registration and title forms, fees and taxes, much less those from 49 other states.
Fortunately, there are software solutions available to help. Dealertrack’s RegUSA is designed to handle dealerships’ out-of-state registration and titling needs for all 50 U.S. states, including calculating fees and taxes and generating the proper forms. All this while ensuring compliance with each state’s regulations.
With an out-of-state registration and titling solution in place, your dealership can confidently market to potential buyers across the state line and across the nation. Knowing that you have the tools to handle registration and titling for all your customers, no matter where they live, opens up sales opportunities that you may have been overlooking in the past.
