ATLANTA — Cox Automotive’s DealShield brand has added a 30-day return option to its DS360 wholesale risk management offering. Clients who subscribe to DealShield can choose to take a full month and up to 500 miles to ensure that their purchase meets their expectations. This optional upgrade from the existing 21-day guarantee is designed to further help deduce reduce recon costs, eliminate costly mistakes, redeploy capital faster, and gain greater peace of mind.

DealShield, which has covered 1.3 million vehicles to date, is available at more than 100 U.S. auction locations, including 71 Manheim locations and a growing number of Independent auctions. With the DS360 guarantee, dealers can purchase a vehicle at a participating auction. If it doesn't meet their expectations, they can return it to any location in the DealShield network for a full, hassle-free refund — no arbitration required and no questions asked, according to company officials.

“Dealers tell us they love that DealShield provides a truly hassle-free return experience and gives them the confidence to expand how and where they buy, as well as take chances on riskier inventory that could help grow their businesses,” said Brett Woods, interim vice president of assurance at Cox Automotive. “The new option to extend the return window to 30 days makes clients more resilient, giving them more flexibility to get vehicles frontline ready and make the right decision for their dealerships.”

Having nine extra days on the clock is a significant advantage for clients, particularly those who may want to use the added time to see how a vehicle performs on their lot. If it does not attract consumer interest before the 30 days are up, dealers can easily return the vehicle and quickly redeploy that capital to acquire another unit.

DS360 subscribers can also extend their protection window even further when they transport their purchases with Ready Logistics through a partnership solution called “Ready. Set. Pause.” The program is designed to enable dealers using both the DS360 guarantee and Ready Logistics’ full-service transportation to effectively stop the clock on their days of coverage while a vehicle is in transit — giving them even more time and reasons to be confident in their purchase.

“What makes us really excited about this extended guarantee is that it was truly driven by requests from our dealer clients,” said Stu Dressler, interim leader and senior director of operations at DealShield. “They have seen so much success with the original product that they were invested in helping us evolve it to be an even better fit for how they conduct business and the growth they’ve experienced.”