A drawer full of logbooks
The admin office has a drawer of V5Cs. Some are for cars in stock, some for cars sold last month, some for part exchanges that were sent to auction. A customer rings to say they have not received their new logbook. Another asks why they are still getting reminders for a car they part exchanged in the spring.
Nobody can say for sure which keeper changes have been done. The answer means going through the drawer and the DMS, car by car.
Logbooks and notifications live outside the DMS
Most DMS products track the car and the deal. The V5C as a physical document, and the keeper change tasks around it, are often handled on paper or from memory.
- Part exchanges arrive with, without or with the wrong V5C.
- Trade purchases send V5Cs later, by post.
- Keeper changes into and out of trade are done when someone has time.
- Private plate transfers add their own paperwork.
Each car can have several open tasks, and nothing lists them in one place.
What slipping tasks cost
Customers who part exchanged a car and keep getting notices for it are unhappy and call repeatedly. New owners waiting for their logbook ring the dealership. Cars cannot always be sold on or sent to auction without the right document, which delays stock turn.
Where the dealership is recorded as keeper, it can receive notices meant for someone else, which cost time to sort out.
The office time is the steady cost. Every logbook question means a search through a drawer and a DMS record, and the same few administrators spend part of every week answering calls that a clear list would have prevented. When one of them is off, the answers stop.
There is a reputational edge too. A customer who part exchanged a car and then receives a notice for it assumes the dealership was careless, even when the delay was in the post.
How we build the V5C tracker
- Every car entering stock gets a document record: V5C received or not, reference, where it is kept.
- Part exchange and trade purchase checklists prompt for the V5C and flag cars that arrived without one.
- When a car is sold, the keeper change task is created with the buyer's details from the DMS.
- Tasks are listed by due date for the admin team, whether they are done online or by post under your process.
- Each completed task is recorded with the date and method, and the V5C record updated.
- Customers can be sent a message confirming the keeper change was notified, which heads off calls.
| Event | Task created | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Part exchange arrives | Receive V5C, record trade keeper | Date and reference |
| Trade purchase | Chase V5C if not received | Date received |
| Car sold | Notify new keeper | Date and method |
| Plate transfer | Transfer paperwork | Stage and date |
How and when you notify is set by DVLA requirements and your own process. The tracker makes sure each task is listed and not forgotten.
An office that knows where every logbook is
The drawer becomes a list: each V5C, each car, each task and its status. Customer calls about logbooks and notices are answered from one screen. Cars are not held up for missing documents that could have been chased weeks earlier.
Recognise your admin office?
- V5Cs are kept in a drawer without a log.
- Keeper changes are done when someone remembers.
- Customers ring about logbooks or notices for old cars.
- Cars arrive without V5Cs and nobody chases.