More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Car dealerships will be allowed to reopen from today after the Prime Minister announced more relaxed lockdown measures last week.
Given a week's notice, Kent dealerships and MOT companies have been putting precautions in place to keep people safe and socially distanced.
The announcement came with the news that the UK would start moving to 'stage two' of easing lockdown, where non-essential stores will gradually reopen to re-introduce a 'new normal'.
Car dealerships were announced to be opened at the same time as outdoor markets ahead of indoor stores as the PM says it is much easier to maintain social distancing in an open area.
Affordable Cars Kent, a dealership in Rochester, put together its idea of what safely selling a car looks like during a pandemic.
The dealership will let only two people in at one time and will enforce social distancing, with soap and gloves readily available for people to keep clean upon entry.
Only one person will be allowed in the office at a time, where a 'sneeze screen' has been fitted to desks and contactless payments will be used.
The cars, keys and offices will be cleaned regularly to stop any transmission and temperatures of staff will be checked daily to monitor their health.
Neil Roberts, owner of the dealership, said: "We will be offering our customers unaccompanied test drives. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has said customers can use dealerships' trade plates to test drive vehicles.
"Everyone will be vetted beforehand and we will be asking for two forms of ID, as well as extra safety precautions."
The reopening will be a relief to Mr Roberts. He added: "It’s been reasonably tough. We were still able to sell online and had click-and-collect measures in place but sales were down by almost 50%.
"I believe furloughing played a massive part in the company being able to retain our excellent team, of which some have been here 12 years and I’m glad to say are still with me amid these tough times. Keeping hold of staff was a massive thing for the company for moving forward in the future."
Not all dealerships will allow visitors to test drive vehicles by themselves. To get around this, companies such as Lipscomb Cars LTD in Maidstone and Canterbury are having to be resourceful.
They will allow one person to test a car at a time with a disposable cover separating them from an accompanying sales consultant. The consultant will be sitting in the back of the car wearing gloves and a face mask and will clean the car after the drive.
Lipscomb is also offering virtual tours of its cars.
MOT companies are also open and putting similar measures in place, such as desk screens, contactless car key drop-offs and home deliveries to make the process easy and safe.
A spokesman for Lordswood Motorist Centre LTD said that now lockdown had been eased, it would be dangerous not to scrap the government's MOT extension - which extends MOT's which expire after March 30 for six months.
The spokesperson added: "We see cars with dangerous faults come in every day which unfortunately would be left another six months if people waited until an MOT's due date.
"We would recommend anyone with an MOT due to get one."
