Managing Warranty Across a Dealer Group
Ben Chapdelaine
Head of Product & Content
How a fixed ops director sees warranty claims across every rooftop: which numbers to compare, where money slips between stores, and how to fix it weekly.
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Quick answer: Managing warranty claims across a dealer group means comparing the same few numbers for every rooftop each week: claims paid on the first try, days from repair order close to submission, open rejections, and aging warranty receivables. Stores that drift on those numbers are where the group's warranty money slips.
Most groups see warranty at month end, store by store, after the money has already been won or lost. Every rooftop runs its own admin, its own habits and often its own brands. The fixed ops director ends up with a stack of warranty schedules and no easy way to tell which store is leaving money behind. This guide covers what to compare, where the gaps usually are, and how to run it as a weekly habit instead of a month-end scramble.
Why warranty is hard to see across stores
- Every store files differently. Two admins can claim the same repair under different labor operations and get paid different amounts. Nobody notices, because neither claim is rejected.
- Every brand has its own system. Ford claims go through OWS, Toyota claims through CPS in Dealer Daily, and Stellantis claims through GCS. A multi-franchise group runs several systems at once. See managing multiple OEM warranty portals.
- Short claims are invisible. The manufacturer pays what's claimed. A claim filed short is never rejected and never shows up as a variance, so the gap never appears on any report.
- Coverage depends on one person per store. When a store's admin is out, that store's claims stop while the others keep going.
The four numbers to compare every week
| Number | What it tells you | Where to look when it drifts |
|---|---|---|
| Paid on first submission | How clean claims are when they leave the store | Labor op choices, technician stories, missing documents |
| Days from RO close to submission | How fast repairs turn into claims | Admin workload, absences, backlogs |
| Open rejections | Money waiting on a fix | Who owns rejections and how fast they're worked |
| Aging warranty receivables | Cash the manufacturer still owes | Unpaid and short-paid claims on the schedule |
Track them the same way at every store, so the comparison is fair. Two stores selling the same brand should land close together. When one doesn't, that's where to look first. For more measures, see warranty claim KPIs.
Where money slips between stores
- Labor operations. One store claims the extra op for a common repair and another doesn't. Compare what each store claims for the same job.
- Diagnostic time. Some admins claim it every time it's allowed, some never do. See claiming diagnostic time on warranty.
- Parts markup and labor rate. Each store's approved rates differ. A store that hasn't filed for a rate increase is paid less for the same work.
- Speed. A store that files a week after close carries a bigger receivable than one that files the same day.
Running it weekly
- Pull the four numbers for every rooftop on the same day each week.
- Flag any store that moved the wrong way since last week.
- Pick the one gap per store that's worth the most and assign it to someone by name.
- Check the warranty schedule for anything past due, and clean it up before month end. See how to clean up warranty receivables aging.
Forge gives a group one view of every rooftop, with daily reporting, and files each store's repair orders the same business day. Every claim carries a record documented to the manufacturer's requirements, so the director can see what was claimed and why.
See every rooftop on one page
The gaps between your stores are dollars your group already earned. Book a demo and see what Forge finds across your rooftops' recent repair orders.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is centralized warranty management?
- It means running warranty claims for several rooftops with the same process and the same reporting, so a director can compare stores and fix gaps. The claims are still filed under each store's own dealer code.
- What warranty numbers should a dealer group track?
- Start with four for every rooftop: paid on first submission, days from repair order close to submission, open rejections, and aging warranty receivables. Compare them weekly, not just at month end.
- Why do two stores selling the same brand get paid differently for the same repair?
- Usually because they claim it differently: different labor operations, diagnostic time claimed or not, or different approved labor rates and parts markup. Short claims are never rejected, so the gap stays hidden unless you compare.
- Can one admin handle warranty for several stores?
- Some groups share an admin, but it puts several stores' cash on one person. Some manufacturers add requirements when an admin is shared; Ford, for example, requires a certified manager at each store that shares one.
About the author
Ben Chapdelaine, Head of Product & Content
Ben leads product and content at Forge, which prepares and files warranty claims for dealerships.
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