In our last article, we shared some industry knowledge on scheduling your upfit to help you avoid the busiest time of the year and get your vehicle into the shop without having to wait for months for the upfit process to be complete. Today, we’ll share a few more expert tips with you concerning pricing, services, and communicating more effectively with your upfitter.
Pricing Tips
When you’re getting quotes from various upfitters and searching for the best value, don’t immediately run to the upfitter with the lowest prices. Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples if you get more than one quote. We would recomend asking the following questions before evaluating your quotes:
- How long is the product going to last?
- What’s the product quality?
- What’s the installation quality?
- Does the upfitter offer state-approved pricing?
KELTEK Tip:
For a reference, we hold state contracts (discounted, state-approved pricing) on various products as well as our installation services. Our prices are highly competitive due to our high quality of products and services.
Upfitting Services
Consider the services your prospective upfitter offers and the quality of service they provide. You can learn a lot asking questions like:
- How long have you been in the upfitting business providing your specific services?
- Will you be able to take care of all the services I need, or will I have to go elsewhere for some things?
- What are you certified in? Are you certified installers/integrators?
- What’s the history of your company? Where did you start and how did you become who you are today? Some upfitting service providers don’t start out as upfitters. They might specialize in another area and provide upfitting services on the side without the expertise you could find elsewhere.
KELTEK Tip:
We’ve been upfitting since we first started our company over 15 years ago. That’s our main focus and always has been. We provide virtually all upfitting services, from planning your vehicle purchase and upfit products to industry leading installation and support.
Communicating More Effectively with Your Upfitter
In our more than 15 years in this industry, we’ve seen so many public safety professionals and fleet managers make the mistake of getting an upfitter involved way too late in the process. Because of that, we advise you to contact your upfitter/installer as soon as (if not before) you purchase a vehicle so you can work with an expert from the beginning and avoid loading your vehicle with things you don’t actually need.
KELTEK Tip:
We’ll show you the most appropriate OEM options and offer our expert advice to help you upfit your vehicle as cost effectively as possible. We’ll help you determine exactly what you need and what you don’t.
If you want to use parts from an older vehicle and transfer them to your new vehicle, we can help you figure out what is usable and what’s not from a logistics viewpoint.
We hope you’ve found this insider information helpful. We know how important it is to find a quality, trustworthy upfitter to work with. If you’d like more information on any of our products or services, you can browse our website, schedule a consultation, or request a quote below.
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