Safety aftersales opp
January 18th, 2010 by Richard Aucock
CAR owners are ignorant about the service safety of many major mechanical components warns a big charity.
Brake carried out a survey that showed 2 in 5 motorists owned up to driving with at least one ‘dangerous’ defect in the past year.
Worn tyres, broken lights and incorrect oil or water levels were among the servicing and maintenance failings car owners admitted to.
Even more shocking, says Brake, is that 4 in 5 car owners do NOT know the percentage wear on their car’s brake pads. What’s more, over 70 percent say they only have their brakes checked once a year – at the annual service or MOT.
Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, says ‘this research shows a shockingly low level of knowledge and concern among drivers when it comes to the safety of their vehicle, particularly ‘out of sight, out of mind’ components such as brakes which are so safety critical.’
Owners are handing the responsibility over to car dealers – despite only willingly visiting them once a year. ‘Drivers seem to be placing far too much reliance on their annual MOT and passively relying on their garage to tell them when to replace components.’
The high-profile survey has so outraged the motoring safety charity, it is sure to begin a series of safety promotions aimed at turning this around. It is a good opportunity for car dealers to become a part of the process, by gearing up service departments to take advantage.
How do you think you could help drive aftersales business to address Brake’s high-profile safety campaign?
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Tags: aftersales, brake, safety, service