Tires are one of the major keys to customer retention. It has taken a decade or more, but most dealers now realize this is true. But what if I told you tires could play an even bigger role in the future of your dealership. Electric Vehicles are coming at us like a train on the tracks, and there is one aspect of these vehicles no one is talking about: They don’t need an oil change! So what, not a big loss, right? Wrong! The oil change has been the reason or trigger for the service visit for the last 50-plus years. It’s not about the lost revenue from this service. It’s the fact that without the oil change as the trigger for the scheduled visit, the customer has no reason to come back to your service department. Every maintenance package on every car has one thing in common: an oil change. We have built packages around this simple service since the ‘50s. And it’s gone with EVs.
So, what do we replace it with? Given that EVs will be a greater part of the service business, it makes sense to do something associated with tires. The evidence is clear that EVs will require more tires or tire-related services like rotation and alignments than an ICE vehicle. As a rotation is not possible on every vehicle, the service is a general tire inspection. Tires are getting more expensive for most vehicles as larger wheels and performance tires are commonplace. Positioning a tire inspection as a scheduled service to maximize the life of the tire and reduce the cost of ownership is a valued added service that consumers will appreciate. Especially if it is free!