It’s no secret… making money selling cars is getting harder.
As margins compress on the variable side of the dealership—car sales, finance, insurance—the fixed ops department continues to be the hero of the P&L. It’s the one place dealers can still count on predictable, repeatable revenue.
The twist? For most of the operators I’ve spoken with, service business is already great.
How do top-performing stores grow another 10–15% in 2026 without burning out their staff or overbooking their bays?
It’s a compliance nuisance turned profit lever: vehicle recalls.
1. Don’t wait on mailers—mine your own data first.
Snail mail recall notifications have been the default for decades only yielding at best 2-5% response.
And while the NHTSA is pushing OEMs toward digital alerts, reality paints a different picture:
- 60 million cars on U.S. roads today have unfixed recalls — a 16% jump in recent years.
- From 2015–2024, around 12 million vehicles were recalled for airbag defects, and 22% remain unrepaired. Huge opportunities!
Many operators we work with note that customers generally have no idea they even have an open recall unless we reach out to them. OEM awareness efforts often satisfy regulatory requirements but don’t go far enough to drive appointments.
Meanwhile, leaders are showing what’s possible with a proactive, data-driven strategy. Using Callsource Automotive automation backed by live agents- mining to scrub their database nightly, we identify customers who haven’t visited in 497 days, 900 days, even over 1,000 days.
Our team then reaches out directly—educating customers on the recall, the time required, and appointment availability—and reactivates “dormant” customers who otherwise would have remained out of the retail cycle.
This approach helped generate a 15% lift in fixed
ops revenue simply by reclaiming lost relationships.
2. Smart dealers position recalls as the bait, not the prize.
The true win is when a long-lost customer returns to the store. In that moment, the dealership gains:
- Updated mileage and real-time vehicle condition
- A chance to perform a full inspection
- Declined service recapture opportunities
- A renewed loyalty touchpoint
- A natural opening for a trade-in or equity conversation
This is why recalls are the cheapest reacquisition channel dealers have—and the only one the OEM is legally required to help generate.
Marketing channels cost dealers money.
Recalls bring customers back for free.
3. When stores focus on the ownership experience, loyalty becomes the real ROI.
Here’s the quiet truth:
When a dealership invests in the ownership experience, the customer stays loyal.
And when there’s loyalty, you don’t need a big hook or a clever CTA.
The dealer is already top-of-mind.
Handled correctly, recall outreach reinforces trust by demonstrating that the dealership is:
- Watching out for customer safety
- Proactive and transparent
- Respectful of their time
- Invested in the full ownership lifecycle
This is what keeps customers in your ecosystem—not just for today’s RO, but for every future visit and eventually their next vehicle purchase.
The Bottom Line
Why?
- Vehicles are increasingly complex
- OEMs continue to “recall in arrears” on past engineering shortcuts
- Regulatory pressure keeps mounting
The dealers who embrace this reality and industrialize recalls—building them into an ongoing workflow rather than an occasional campaign—will be the ones who win in fixed ops.
By turning a compliance headache into one of the most efficient revenue and loyalty engines available today.
