April showers bring us May flowers, but they also bring a host of fascinating stories from the auto remarketing world.

First up: the surprising reason that many people walk away from a car purchase that has nothing to do with the car itself.

Next, an exotic car rental service offering people a taste of Ferraris and more expands and adds funding. Also somewhat promising is news from a lease-swapping service that lease transfer approvals remain fairly high, a good sign for a turnaround from credit crunch blues.

Finally, an owner of a less-than-inspiring Suzuki Vitara turns his car listing into a definitely inspiring — and decidedly awesome — ad.

Check it all out below!

 

Low-Trade In Offers Can Make a Sale Walk Away

According to a new report from Black Book, the second-biggest reason people walk away from a sale with a dealer has nothing to do with the car they want to buy. Rather, people become frustrated when a trade-in offer wildly differs from their expectations.

22 percent of respondents said that a low ball trade-in offer was the biggest reason they might walk away from a new or used car sale, second only to a bait-and-switch sales price. Vehicle owners who look up their vehicles estimated trade-in value online only to have the dealer offer them far less. 47 percent said that the offer had to be within $501 – $1,000 for them to say “yes.”

 

Read more here: http://www.autodealermonthly.com/news/story/2017/04/trade-in-quote-second-most-critical-factor-to-making-buying-decision-survey-shows.aspx

 

Exotic Car Rental Service Expands, Raises $1.5 M

CarHopper is an online-based car rental booking service that exclusively offers exotic and hyper-luxury vehicles. Inventory available includes McLarens, Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and more.

In total, the company has been able to raise $1.5 million in seed funding over the past six months, and it intends to use the funds to help expand its services beyond its native Miami to select markets. These markets include Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Read more about the company here: http://www.autoremarketing.com/trends/luxury-rental-platform-raises-1-point-5-m-expands-4-more-cities

 

Lease Transfer Approvals Hold Above 70% in March

When someone can no longer afford their lease, they either have to violate their contract or find a way to transfer it to someone else. Services like swapalease.com aid in these transfers, and there was some concern that low approval rates would lead to more defaults than expected in an already credit-crunched consumer market.

Not so in March, says swapalease.com. Approval rates actually bumped up to 75% in March 2017, a lift from decidedly lower approvals of 67% from the year before. The firm also forecasted that lease penetration levels will remain strong, maintaining their near record-high levels.

Get the full report here: http://www.autoremarketing.com/financial-services/march-lease-transfer-approvals-stay-above-70

 

Man Genius Makes the Best Used Car Ad Ever

Dealers take note: You don’t need to twist someone’s arm to convince them to buy a lackluster, nearly 20 year old used car model like the Suzuki Vitara. You just need to lie through your teeth. Having a background in computer graphics evidently helps, too.

At least, that was the approach taken by Eugene Romanovsky, who depicted his Vitara adventuring over mountains, through the snow, in the ocean and — without giving away too much — through some decidedly familiar scenes.

You can watch the mind-blowing video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP06gvFWW64

 

So how far would you go to add appeal to your listing? Do you think there’s a positive outlook overall for leases? Are you ready to rent a Lambo for a day? Finally, do you think your dealer may need to shift its policy on trade-in values to keep more customers?

Shout all about it in the comments below!