Wouldn’t it be great to just ditch a traditional title and go completely digital? What about using an Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) as the source of truth — an E-Title? And what if one simplified form provided all the necessary information needed for Digital Dealer Titling — the MV212? It’s all real and it’s here, now. Developed in conjunction with Montana MVD, read on as to how Digital Dealer Titling is a game changer for your dealership.
The Problem: Time is Money and We’ve Got Cars to Sell.
One of the main things that can grind a vehicle sale to a halt is getting a transferable title in hand. When your dealership acquires a vehicle through a trade-in, what do you do when the seller doesn’t have a vehicle title on hand? In order to resell that vehicle, you must have a transferable title in hand. When the seller has a title on hand, the process is easy.
But you know all too well the heartache and delays when no such chain of custody exists. The process begins by trying to piece together an accurate chain of custody, submitting (or walking the deal) to MVD and waiting. The short story: it’s all time-consuming.
Let’s commiserate for a moment and talk about the chain of custody. So, your customer who traded in the vehicle has no title and is long gone — hopefully in the new car that they purchased. But they left you with no title — maybe some other proof of ownership.
Before you can get anything over to MVD, you have to rebuild the chain of ownership. This has the potential to be tedious and troublesome because sometimes you need additional information, but the seller is unavailable.
When your dealership has to rebuild the chain of custody, the clock is already ticking. And you want to get that car back on your lot to sell it, but you are stuck.
Now for the second part: the actual submission to MVD. Finally, you have the necessary documents and you are ready to apply for a new title in your dealership’s name. So you do that by either mailing the application and paperwork in or, more likely, sending a runner to your nearby MVD office. And then you wait.
It’s not like the State of Montana and MVD are not busy; it’s just you know that these things take time. And you are still waiting.
Once all is said and done, maybe you’re days, weeks or months away from getting the title. And you know all too well that time equals money. Remember, every day you’re paying for the space on your lot while that vehicle just sits there.
Let’s do some math. Based on national standards and averages, that vehicle sitting on your lot waiting to be titled costs at least $15.54 per day. Once you factor in the overhead from space on your lot and staff, the cost per day rises. As you all know too well, time equals money.
The Solution: E-Titling for Dealers.
Ah, yes — Vitu has been talking about this for a long time, right? For nearly a year and a half (or more), we’ve heard John Brueggeman discuss this new way to DTO with a completely digital process that takes days, not weeks or months. So, what is it?
Enter Digital Dealer E-Titling.
In a nutshell, E-Titling uses the MVR as a replacement for an actual title for a given vehicle. When you think about it, the MVR is the record of truth when talking about who actually owns the vehicle. As such, it’s the new way to procure a title in your dealership’s name. The end result is the same, it’s just the process is completely digital and takes a lot less time.
How Does it Work?
When your dealership has a vehicle that you need titled in your name, you simply submit all required documentation digitally through Vitu. These documents include but are not limited to:
- Image of the original title front and back or Motor Vehicle Record
- Bill of Sale from consumer to dealer
- POA, if applicable
- Lien Release
When you can’t actually get the original or a replacement title, take advantage of E-Titling where an MVR is used in place of a title, helping to speed up and simplify the process.
Once your dealership completes the digital submission using Vitu, our Montana audit team reviews everything and makes sure it is all accurate. Once everything is confirmed and looking good, the title work is then sent electronically to the state where a final approval takes place.
The following business day, all approved titles are printed. Once all titles have been printed, they are then shipped out overnight to your dealership, which by the next business day has a completed digital dealer title that they can now use to sell the vehicle.
The whole transaction can take just days from start to finish — if everything is correct. Plan ahead for any errors or weekends and holidays. Regardless, your dealership is looking at a much faster turnaround time than the average six or more weeks that you’re used to.
The Little Things to Make Your Life Easier.
As mentioned above, E-Titling involves using a MVR in place of a title, helping to speed up and simplify the process. This helps eliminate the need to get a replacement title when it has been lost by the consumer. E-Titling recently went into effect on February 14th, 2023.
And, there’s a new, all-in-one form titled the MV212 — the Electronic Vehicle/Vessel Transfer Form. This secure, controlled form is only available digitally and built into the process within Vitu.
What’s so cool about a form? The MV212 combines the Bill of Sale, Power of Attorney and Transfer sections of other separate forms into one. This eliminates the need to obtain these documents separately.
Lastly, do you need to get a signature from your customer, but they are already on the road enjoying their new vehicle and long gone? Using Vitu’s Digital Signature feature allows you to get any missing signatures quickly, securely and with minimal interruption to your customers by digitally signing on their phone.
Why Did Vitu Develop Digital Dealer E-Titling?
Digital Dealer E-Titling was created in 2022 to serve Montana dealers by saving time and money throughout the vehicle titling process.
Montana’s MVD (and even other state DMVs) often take upwards of six or more weeks to process a title. When your dealership is sitting on these vehicles waiting for their paperwork to process, you are losing large amounts of revenue.
Knowing this, Vitu reached out to the State of Montana, presented them with the issue and offered them a partnership with a solution. Montana has since become the first fully digital titling state for Digital Dealer E-Titling and continues to build that technology going forward.
Big changes are here for Big Sky Country. Montana, it’s you who are pioneering and setting the standards for the rest of the nation.
To learn more visit vitu.com.
