Ford pauses pilot program with Carfax after receiving industry feedback
Ford has paused a pilot partnership with Carfax that it promoted as a way to improve values for vehicles repaired at a Ford Certified Collision Network location.
It paused the pilot a day after it was announced based on feedback from the FCCN network and collision industry partners, a notice sent to the network says.
“We want to reassure our partners that during this initiative that no proprietary business data (such as labor rates, parts margins, or estimates) or personal customer information was shared; no shop names were provided to Carfax; the scope remained limited to validating repairs on vehicles no longer owned by retail customers (e.g., auctions and lease returns) and only insights from shops that explicitly opted-in were utilized,” a statement from Ford given to Repairer Driven News says.
It adds that Ford remains committed to finding the right solutions to highlight the superior quality of FCCN repairs to help protect vehicle values.
“We look forward to collaborating with our certified network to develop future initiatives that benefit our shops and our customers,” the statement says.
A notice about the partnership was sent to the network Tuesday. The notice said that when a Ford vehicle was repaired at an FCCN center, the repair record would be linked to the VIN.
It adds that as these vehicles were sold at auctions or traded in, Carfax would track the higher transaction prices and refine their algorithms to reflect the premium value of an FCCN repaired vehicle.
Carfax would then cross-reference accident reports with the FCCN repair records and increase the vehicle’s valuation upward compared to if a repair was done at a non-certified shop.
The notice goes on to say that Carfax’s “accident” flag typically lowers a car’s value but having a vehicle repaired at a certified shop helps “claw back” some of the lost value.
Talking points for how to talk to customers were also provided in the notice.
On Wednesday, Ford sent a second notice saying that, based on feedback from FCCN shops it would be realigning for any next steps related to the pilot initiatives.
“The pilot initiative previously communicated was designed to explore how validating repairs completed at FCCN centers could support vehicle value retention by helping offset Carfax diminished value practices,” the notice says. “We value our collaboration with our repair partners and have incorporated your feedback into our planning. Consequently, we are realigning to further refine our strategy in coordination with our network and the industry.”
The notice adds information similar to what Ford said in its statement to RDN. This includes stating that no proprietary business data, shop name, or personal customer information was shared with Carfax. It goes on to say that the scope remained limited to validating repairs on vehicles no longer owned by retail customers, such as auctions, trade-ins, and lease returns.
Only insights from shops that explicitly opted-in were utilized, it says. It adds that Ford does not share any additional information with Carfax.
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