Auto dealers slowly embracing report of sale program
Southern Nevada auto dealers are belatedly embracing the state’s new Electronic Dealer Report of Sale program, just as the Department of Motor Vehicles ramps up its enforcement of the program, promising fines for noncompliance.
On July 1, DMV implemented the mandatory program designed to use technology and alternative services to deliver licensing and registration to residents more efficiently. It was the final step in a yearlong effort that included massive outreach to dealerships.
The program lets vehicle purchasers register their vehicles, transfer existing license plates or receive new plates by mail on the DMV website without visiting a DMV office, said Kevin Malone, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.
“It speeds up the transactions for all customers who choose or are otherwise required to register their vehicle at a DMV office,” Malone said. “The information on the Dealer Report of Sale is already in the system and the DMV technician is not required to type it in. This also reduces the risk of data errors caused by the former manual process.”
Dealerships, however, do have to manually enter the information into the DMV’s system, said Rennie Roopchand, general manager of Towbin Dodge and Prestige Chrysler Jeep Dodge on Auto Mall Drive in Henderson.
“It would be great if there was a way for this information to automatically download from our system into the DMV’s system,” Roopchand said.
Despite the lack of ease, Roopchand added that Towbin Dodge and Prestige Chrysler Jeep Dodge started following the Electronic Dealer Report of Sale at the end of May.
“At our dealerships, we like the policy because it makes things more clear and much easier for our customers,” Roopchand said.
Park Place Infiniti General Manager Joe Tortomasi said the dealership, at 5605 W. Sahara Ave. in Las Vegas, is still gauging the Electronic Dealer Report of Sale Program.
“This new program is being evaluated by our team and we are learning how to adopt this process into our own processes,” Tortomasi said. “Everything that we do at Park Place is about making the ownership experience easier for the client, so before we implement, we need to make sure we understand the program.”
The number of dealers using the Electronic Dealer Report of Sale nearly doubled in July and August as the DMV began enforcing the program, Malone said.
“Under the previous process, dealers would obtain books of Dealer Reports of Sale forms from the DMV, however, these paper forms are no longer available,” he said. “Instead, the dealer prints the Dealer Report of Sale on plain paper from the EDRS Web transaction.”
Malone said the new program requires dealerships to surrender any existing Dealer Report of Sale books they may have. He added that the DMV has begun to fine dealerships that continue to use paper forms and that to date the department has assessed $300 fines against 35 dealerships in Clark County.
As the number of dealers enrolled in the Electronic Dealer Report of Sale increased from 570 in July to 632 in August so did online transactions. In July, 8 percent of new registrations and plate transfers were completed online, compared with 11 percent the following month.
Malone said the DMV is working to have every Nevada dealership enroll in the program and conducted a sweep in June to ensure the dealerships know the requirements.
“Many (dealerships) were not aware of the requirement despite the department’s best efforts to inform these stakeholders,” Malone said. “Some dealers have been simply resistant to change and have been unwilling to learn the new process.”
