Ally Financial Inc. will now automatically add protection coverage on all eligible vehicles that dealers sell through SmartAuction, Ally’s online wholesale vehicle auction platform.
ClearGuard, which provides protection coverage of up to $2,500, is now standard on all eligible vehicles dealers sell through SmartAuction, Ally announced in a press release yesterday. The additional protection means dealers using SmartAuction can avoid the unexpected cost, time, and trouble of arbitration for minor damage or misrepresentations. Standard arbitration guidelines apply to all ineligible vehicles and claims over $2,500.
SmartAuction worked with the Ally Insurance team to develop the ClearGuard protection product. There is no fee for auto dealers to post a vehicle on SmartAuction, but once it sells, a standard $200 fee is charged and ClearGuard is automatically included. Nearly all dealer-owned passenger cars and trucks with a sales price of less than $75,000 are eligible for the ClearGuard coverage.
SmartAuction, launched in 2000, has 8,000 wholesale buyers, and sellers bid on 22,500 vehicle listings each day, according to a 2015 press release. Nearly 1,200 different makes and models of cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, and RVs are represented on SmartAuction, and buyers and sellers include automakers, dealers, banks, fleet/rental, and auction companies. In 2015, SmartAuction had sold five million vehicles, according to the release.
