My name is Matt Sweatfield and I’m the VP of Purchasing at AutoSavvy, the nation’s largest retailer of branded title vehicles. In my position, I work with a lot of rebuilders. I’ve been thinking back on last year and wanted to share some avoidable, yet common pain points.

The biggest pain…

a lot of people experienced from a failed motor after selling a car really revolves around servicing the customer. Whether you’re wholesaling the car or you’re retailing the vehicle, obviously, your goal is to build a vehicle that is safe and reliable for that customer.

When you have a catastrophic motor failure, that’s one of the worst-case scenarios you can be put in. Whether it’s a worn warranty claim, a goodwill claim, or whatever you’re going to do to rectify that problem–You’re dealing with the high costs involved with a repair.
Just last week I was talking with one of our new rebuilder suppliers. They recently sold us a new unit that passed our inspection and was sold to a happy retail customer. However, just days after purchase, the customer comes in complaining of a catastrophic engine failure. Our customer has a warranty, the rebuilder agreed to warranty the car. In the end, the car went back to the rebuilder. That is a very expensive repair for everyone involved.

The Biggest Mistake…

that a rebuilder usually makes is clearing the error codes from an engine and hoping that the problems go away. So, after a significant repair and clearing the error codes, make sure you drive at least 50 miles and preferably 100 miles. In my experience, if the codes are going to reappear, it will typically happen at this point. Remember, a couple of gallons of gas is much cheaper than having to warranty a major claim. To avoid significant warranty expenses and maintain strong customer relationships, embrace the errors that you find and thoroughly test and inspect for anything associated with those errors.

If this isn’t standard practice for you, I encourage you to put those miles on your newly rebuilt vehicle prior to sale. So, roll the windows down and enjoy the fall colors while putting those 100 miles or so on the car.