More dealers are looking at expanding their role in installing and calibrating breathalyzers (alcohol ignition interlock devices).
Dealers increasingly see the category as a way to get more people through the door, especially since foot traffic declined after the pandemic.
Also, a slow remote start season is leading some dealers to focus more heavily on breathalyzers. Where a shop might have worked with one vendor such as Lifesafer, Smart Start, Drager or Intoxalock, they are now looking to add more. The idea is to bolster a small but steady revenue stream as well as boost foot traffic.
One distributor told us a quarter of his dealer accounts would be in the red if not for breathalyzer installs and calibrations.
While asking not to be named, he said, “While high end shops are doing well, anyone in the middle of the road that doesn’t have a breathalyzer business is really slow…. Most of these accounts have five or six breathalyzer companies they deal with at the same time so all these people are coming in. And even a few years ago they would have to wait for a check. Now they get paid directly by the customers.”
Jodi O’Connor of distributor AZ Autosound and General Manager of Jo-Di’s Sound Centers, CT confirmed the trend. “A lot of dealers in New England are thankful they are involved in breathalyzers. It keeps the money coming. Even at the Jo-Di’s stores, it’s definitely helpful. We’re pretty lucky at our retail stores, we have flow just for being around for 50 years, But yes, I would say more than ever, I’m thankful we are in the interlock business. It’s nice because it’s something consistent, even on those days when not a lot is going on.” Jo-Di’s works with Drager, Smart Start, ADS and Intoxalock.
Dealers tend to earn $110 to over $400 for installing an interlock device (depending on the state, the type of car and the ignition interlock vendor). The devices prevent cars from starting unless the driver breathes into the interlock and passes a breathalyzer test.
Some vendors/states let dealers set their own installation rates so they can achieve their normal labor rates. Interlock clients then return every month to calibrate the devices at rates anywhere from $20 to $50 per visit.
Owner of Automotive Specialists in North Haven, CT David Eichornm works with eight interlock vendors (there are a total nine in his state, he said). “We look at it as free marketing. At least they come into our shops. We’re not going to get rich but we can convert them to a lifelong customer. For us, that’s the purpose.”
Several shops we interviewed, such as Tunes N Tint, FL, are considering adding more interlock brands.
“It’s a little bit of a funky revenue source for us,” said Kelly Kirshner of Performance Auto Sound, WA. “It’s about a wash as far as what we’re spending and what we’re getting, but it allows us to help pay for personnel–that extra person you have in your shop [who might otherwise not be busy enough] and it does bring customers back into your store on a regular basis. That’s the main reason we do it. They are not exactly ‘audiophiles’ but in the same aspect, you definitely get exposed to people you might not otherwise get exposed to.”
Thirty-four states and Washington, D.C. require all first and repeat alcohol-impaired driving offenders to install an interlock device as of July 1st , 2022.
The data on the number of installation of ignition interlocks is hard to decipher. The Traffic Injury Research Foundation, TIRF said, “There were 99,570 new ignition interlock devices installed among the 13 states and Washington, D.C. who reported data in 2020. A comparison of new interlock installations among the 11 states and Washington, D.C. reporting in both 2019 and 2020 showed a 21 percent decrease in installations from 96,899 in 2019 to 76,836 in 2020. However, an analysis of data from the two states (Iowa and Pennsylvania) reporting annual data since 2014 showed a 26 percent increase in TIN [Total Install Number].”
Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities increased 14.3 percent in 2020 (11,654) compared to 2019 (these are the latest statistics available by TIRF).
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Every shop/ tech I know that does these absolutely hates them. The clientele is insufferable, already mad to be there, and a lot of time bringing in cars that are barely roadworthy. Nevermind the huge draw on the battery that they add (in WI it’s cold, and a heating element is running essentially 24/7 on the brand most install around here.. smart start if I remember right?). Tons and tons of dead batteries and issues with clients complaining about everything. In fact one shop went to being an Interstate dealer because that meant they could also soak the person for a new battery when their old one inevitably died in the cold from the interlock system.
It’s money, no doubt, but it’s not fun money. Not by a long shot.
One nice thing is the bar of entry is so low. Most of these things that come through my shop after they’ve been installed just leave spaghetti under the dash. A slapdash butt connector to put the starter back together, T taps left on the wires in the car and just snipped hanging down, etc etc. There’s essentially no responsibility for doing a good install, it seems. That may just be my area, but they get slammed in in the worst fashion.