How the connected car can inform and empower drivers in ways not possible before.
Editor’s Note: The RCR Wireless News Reality Check section is where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences.
Imagine you’re at the dreaded auto repair shop waiting for the mechanic to finish work on your car. Whether you’re there for a routine checkup, a problem that your car has developed or because it’s not running at all, do you really know what your mechanic’s diagnosis will mean to you and your pocketbook?
It’s OK if the answer is no. While there are many drivers who are proactive and knowledgeable when it comes to their vehicle, there are many more who don’t know much about their car besides how to drive it. Especially with the advent of the digital revolution, an increasing number of young consumers don’t feel the need to learn about the inner workings of their car. For these folks, technology has weakened the link between drivers and cars.
But on the upside, technology can truly help consumers understand their vehicles in innovative new ways. There is now a whole market dedicated to connected car technology, with devices capable of everything from location services to security features to system diagnostics. If you’ve parked your car in a full, faraway lot, for instance, connected car technology can enable you to find the car easily through an application and receive notifications if someone tries to break in.
With all of these conveniences, connected car technology doesn’t just help your car connect to the cloud – it can also help reconnect you to your car in a variety of fresh new ways.
Curbing the repair shop blues
Let’s go back to the auto repair shop. By its nature, the shop retains business because there are a number of automotive fixes that consumers typically can’t perform on their own. Today’s cars are complicated machines and it takes educated professionals with sophisticated diagnostic tools to solve complex auto issues.
Ironically, there can be confusion – if not absolute distrust – between consumers and automotive professionals. According to a Gallup poll about honesty and ethics in various professions, only 29% of people view auto mechanics as highly honest and ethical.
This disconnect can often be attributed to a general lack of consumer car knowledge. But it would be different if customers knew exactly what was going on in their car, the extent of the problem and what it would take to fix it. Connected car technology can easily provide that information. For instance, take aftermarket connected-car products like Voyo, Zubie and Kahu, all of which are examples of devices that tap into a car’s onboard diagnostics system and record data as the user interacts with the vehicle.
“We’re pulling about 80 to 100 advanced parameters from the car,” said Voyomotive CTO Robert Vogt. “We can tell you interesting things, like has the stability control been activated? Have the airbags gone off? What’s the radio volume? What’s the radio station? Are the seat belts buckled? How many people are in the car? Are the windows open or closed? Are the doors locked? Pretty much anything the user interacts with in the car, we can read from the vehicle.”
Having this detailed picture gives car owners a more accurate idea of what services their vehicles require, which in turn can help in determining the appropriate repair costs. This technology could potentially tell you, for example, that your car is using gas more quickly than usual because you need your spark plugs replaced or fuel filter serviced. You could then do some independent research on standard costs and services associated with those repairs.
From there, consumers can actually begin building a trusting and transparent relationship with the mechanics that they will eventually rely on.
Data democratization for all
Equal access to car data is beneficial not only to consumers but also to automotive professionals. Well-informed customers will inspire accountability, efficiency and competition in repair shops and dealerships. Perhaps more importantly, mechanics themselves can gain a deeper understanding of their trade with the information connected car technology provides for their customers.
Everyone has heard of or had an auto repair experience when it’s taken multiple visits to the mechanic to fix a single problem in the car. Even for the most skilled mechanics, it can take some trial and error to find the root issue.
This is often driven by the storage structure of car data. Original equipment manufacturers and independent organizations all collect massive amounts of valuable collision and repair data, ranging from recommended warranty maintenance to probable causes for specific car trouble codes, for example.
Unfortunately, this information typically gets siloed, meaning the data stays within these companies’ storage systems and doesn’t usually reach consumers. While there is legislation in place that requires automakers to publicly disclose car information like repair data and diagnostic codes, repair shops would realistically need to use third-party services to successfully interpret and implement this data. And despite there being a number of these services, shops don’t necessarily know they exist or want to pay for them.
On the other hand, aftermarket devices like Voyo, Zubie and Kahu give both drivers and automotive professionals high visibility into the car’s internal mechanisms by integrating with the OBD system. Additionally, aftermarket products are largely agnostic of a car’s make or model, so practically anybody can make their car connected. Because of their accessibility and widespread compatibility, these connected car technologies are easier alternatives for bridging the data discrepancy.
Buying a new car?
There are people who prefer to shop for a new car independently and then there are others who like to be guided by salespeople in their buying process. Car salespeople can cater to the latter by offering products that will further guide consumer-vehicle interactions. In this case that product would be aftermarket connected car technology. Younger consumers in particular seem to be less comfortable with going to car dealerships because of the pricing models since there can be little consistency from one dealership to the other.
This can be partly amended by the emerging distribution model of connected car technology being sold through dealerships. Spireon, an Irvine, California,-based vehicle telematics company, is an early adopter of this sales model, distributing its Kahu product exclusively through car dealerships. The logic behind this distribution model is that it creates a streamlined, educational experience for the customer. A study Spireon recently conducted indicated 68% of consumers would rather buy connected car features at the same time they buy their car. If standard connected car technologies arise and become more commonly sold throughout dealerships, customers can expect a more consistent buying experience.
As more auto repair shops and car dealerships respectively start to use and sell connected car technology, customers and their cars will inevitably become linked to the point of purchase. A repair shop, for instance, could receive a trouble code from a car when there’s a failure and alert both the driver and the mechanic to the issue in near real time. This enables valuable opportunities to build trust and long-term relationships for shops competing for business and dealerships that may not see customers return for repairs after the warranty on their vehicle expires.
All in all, connected car technology has the potential to foster new relationships between consumers and automotive professionals. Most importantly, this technology provides visibility and transparency that gives consumers a greater sense of understanding and autonomy in relation to their vehicles.
