Vehicle theft: “98% of geolocated vehicles are recovered thanks to CarControl”

Drivalia France is a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Auto Banque, which offers short- and medium-term vehicle rentals through several brands:

• Drivalia — a wide range of vehicles for short-term rental or monthly subscription, from cars requiring no driver’s license to large premium sedans.
• Rent & Drop — one-way utility vehicle rental.
• E+ Share — a car-sharing service based in Lyon for up to one day, with a fleet of 150 electric Fiat 500 vehicles.

In total, Drivalia employs 80 people and operates a fleet of 4,000 vehicles through 13 company-owned branches and 120 partner pickup locations.

Like all rental companies, we face vehicle theft and, above all, misappropriation. Most of the time, these cases involve drivers who signed up for a monthly subscription or a medium-term rental and have defaulted on payment, yet refuse to return the vehicle. We open about thirty cases a year, 95% of which involve misappropriation.

Before turning to Echoes, we would file a complaint and rely on the goodwill of law enforcement to recover the vehicle. Only 50% of the cars were recovered. After 30 days, we would transfer the case to our insurance company, which would compensate us with a significant deductible, resulting in a net financial loss for Drivalia.

Drivalia keeps its vehicles for an average of 6 to 12 months, or 24 months at most. Over such a short period, taking the vehicle off the road once for installation and then again for removal would represent a significant cost and waste of time.

Worse still: we have only one logistics center for all of France, which could potentially mean sending our vehicles on long, unnecessary trips. These expenses would be added to the initial setup, subscription, and maintenance costs associated with the devices. Consequently, Echoes’ proposal, based on the cars’ native connectivity, became the obvious choice for us.

First, a late payment or failure to return a vehicle results in several reminders via phone, text message, and email, followed by more formal notices. If these efforts are unsuccessful, we use Echoes’ CarControl service, which involves filing a complaint and then locating the vehicle using the manufacturer’s built-in connectivity. The Echoes team then handles the recovery of the vehicle.

A compelling result, since 98% of the vehicles we track are located and recovered! But above all, Echoes’ CarControl solution saves us the time and energy involved in administrative tasks and filing complaints. Handling such disputes isn’t our job, nor is dealing with dishonest and sometimes threatening customers over the phone or in person.

Due to GDPR requirements, we don’t track vehicles continuously, but the geofencing feature offered by CarLocate lets us trigger an alert when a vehicle enters a defined area. I have set up certain borders in Southern and Eastern Europe so that crossing them triggers an alert: at that point, I check whether there is cause for concern or not.

CarLocate also tracks mileage, which is very useful for customers on medium-term leases with a mileage allowance: if necessary, we can notify them that an adjustment will be required when the vehicle is returned. Finally, in the event of a breakdown or malfunction, renters are entitled to suspend their payments. But some claim their car is in the shop while continuing to use it! Tracking vehicle movements via CarLocate allows us to verify their good faith.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with CarLocate, and I can’t wait for my entire fleet to be eligible! To better address our security and logistics challenges, the widespread adoption of remote engine start/stop would be invaluable: this feature would allow us to facilitate vehicle movement or retrieval without worrying about where the keys are.