Good News / Bad News.  The Good News is that the manufacturer’s latest trend is to lower the number of on-site audits at dealerships.

The bad news is that their current trend has significantly increased the number of audits that they are conducting via their new tool–the Dealer Self Audit, which is done by your own dealership personnel.  This takes time away from selling cars and it takes a level of expertise to do it correctly.  Which of the “required” steps are not really required?  What part of the documentation that you are told that you need do you really not need?  What part of the self audit is not part of the Standard Rules of Eligibility and / or Plan Rules?

Instead of the General Auditor’s Office sending their auditors out to try to get money back from the dealers, they are now giving you a selection of deals that they identified, and they are asking you to voluntarily turn yourself in if you are not perfect.  While there are some perks to conducting your mandated self audit (like if you find a Plan deal where you erroneously over-charged a doc fee, you will simply refund the overage and be exempt from their $200 penalty), there can still be issues stemming from your self audit.

If you are selected for a Self Audit, contact us BEFORE you fill it out.  We can assist you with some do’s and don’ts from the experiences of other dealers who have gone before you.  What types of information that you might voluntarily provide to the manufacturer would probably prompt a full audit?  If you find a dealership issue on a group of deals that aren’t included in the Self-Audit, is it better to go ahead and volunteer the information and try to take advantage of the lesser, punitive fines?  What is the down-side to not doing the “voluntary” Self Audit?

We have the answers to these questions as well as most others that you might have about Self Audits.  We can probably save you both some immediate dollars as well as help mitigate future charge back exposure.  Call us today for a free consultation before you initiate any audit, but especially before you begin a Self Audit.