Sales of used cars through the RAC Dealer Network are up 10% by volume so far in 2017 – exceeding the business’ expectations.

Around 1,100 dealers now make up the growing network and each has formal links with the RAC at various levels, from comprehensive used car propositions through to simply offering RAC warranty products.

And Sean Kent, director, corporate and independent dealers, has been impressed with their performance so far in 2017.

Kent acknowledged that the used car market has had a generally strong start to the year but added: “Even allowing for this, the performance across the network has been impressive.”

He said: “Our proposition is based on offering used vehicles of the highest quality available, backed by a very strong support package and underlined by the credibility of the RAC brand.

“The feedback that we hear indicates that there is an increasing appetite in the market place for this approach – and the success our dealers are currently seeing proves this.”

 The RAC works with two main levels of independent dealer, providing a product range to fit almost every car retailer.

RAC dealers supply a minimum mandatory three months of warranty and 12 months of breakdown cover, while RAC Approved Dealers have exclusive agreements to take part in the comprehensive RAC BuySure initiative.

The initiative also sees dealers commit to an 82-point RAC Approved Preparation Standard on every vehicle, a vehicle data check, and a minimum of three months of RAC Warranty cover.