Ford used-car platform adds 14-day, 1,000-mile money-back guarantee

DETROIT — Nearly a year after launching the Ford Blue Advantage used-vehicle digital marketplace, Ford Motor Co. plans to enhance the platform with a 14-day/1,000-mile money-back guarantee.

The automaker is betting that Ford Blue Advantage will help its retailers win a larger slice of the used-vehicle sales pie and stop defections to third-party sites such as Carvana.

This month, General Motors launched its own used-vehicle platform called CarBravo.

Andrew Ashman, Ford's U.S. used-vehicle manager, told Automotive News the automaker added the money-back guarantee following a request from its dealer council. Ford piloted the concept last year with 16 dealerships and found it led to increased sales.

“This gave the customer peace of mind that they made the right decision,” Ashman said. “It’s kind of like if you buy a sweater and don’t like it, you can take it back.”

Ford Blue Advantage is powered by Autotrader and brings together certified used-vehicle inventory from dealers across the country. Customers can search by vehicle type, color, mileage and a number of other options.

The site features guaranteed pricing and Kelley Blue Book's Price Advisor tool. The listed inventory, which includes non-Ford vehicles, is backed by warranties under two different certification levels: gold and blue.

Gold covers Ford vehicles up to 6 years old with fewer than 80,000 miles, and blue covers vehicles from any brand that are no more than 10 years old and have fewer than 120,000 miles.

Ford says internal data shows traffic to the Ford Blue Advantage website is up 500 percent over its prior certified pre-owned website, and that CPO sales rose 26 percent in 2021.

Ashman on Thursday said that roughly 55 percent of Ford’s 3,000 dealers had signed up. The automaker previously said that many who sign up have already experienced noticeable sales bumps.