According to data gathered by Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s Automated Rental Management Systems (ARMS), the U.S. average length of replacement rental (LOR) increased to 11 days in the third quarter of 2014, a slight increase over the average third quarter LOR for the last five years. ARMS tracks the length of time a replacement vehicle is rented to collision center customers and is considered a proxy for vehicle repair time.
“Several factors are likely contributing to the increase in LOR, including increasingly complex vehicles and an overall downward trend in the number of repair centers compared to previous years, as well as major weather events,” said Frank LaViola, assistant vice president of collision industry relations, Enterprise.
While the national average increased to 11 days, up 0.3 days from Q3 last year, not all U.S. regions experienced an increase in their year-over-year LOR.
Enterprise began sharing length of rental information – at no cost – with collision repair centers five years ago in an effort to highlight below-market average cycle times and provide critical performance data for consistent industrywide comparisons. Today, these LOR metrics have gained traction with insurers and repairers as a means to track and improve cycle time.
Enterprise data from the first half of 2014 indicates that insurance companies are significantly improving turnaround times – by more than 25 percent – when they refer policyholders to collision repair centers using ARMS.
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