Fleets are increasingly turning to independent workshops for company cars and vans aged around four-years-old when it comes to their service, maintenance and repair requirements.
New data from fleet technology firm Epyx shows that the purchasing of SMR changes from 30% independent garages and 70% franchise dealers at one to two years old to a 35%/65% mix at two to three years old, 40%/60% at three to four years old, and 38%/62% at four years old and over.
The information comes from transactions processed during 2023 on the Epyx’s 1link Service Network platform, which helps fleets to arrange servicing for their vehicles.
Epyx data charts trend
Tim Meadows, Chief Commercial Officer at Epyx, commented: “It has long been recognised in the fleet sector that as vehicles age, their operators are more likely to use independent dealers, and these new figures show that effect in action.
“It is clear that fleets see different types of garages as appropriate for different points in a vehicle’s lifecycle and that as they age, factors such as the requirement to maintain a franchise dealer service history or needing to take advantage of the specialist knowledge that comes from using the manufacturer’s official service, maintenance and repair supplier appear to become less important.”
Epyx data also suggests that there is an ongoing fall away from independent garages for older vehicles, with suppliers being used for 44% of service, maintenance and repair jobs for company cars and vans that were over four years of age in 2021, decreasing to 40% in 2022, and 38% in 2023.
“This is an interesting trend and not one for which we have an obvious explanation, other than the fact that accessing any kind of service, maintenance and repair can be difficult at the moment, and fleets may be finding it easier to book with franchise dealers than independents,” concluded Medows.
