It’s a scenario buy-here, pay-here dealers likely have experienced often. A contract holder falls behind on payments because the vehicle was impounded, impacting employment and income.

To help BHPH operators and special finance companies navigate this common challenge, Advantage GPS on Tuesday announced a major enhancement to its impound lot management system.

Advantage GPS highlighted the upgrade introduces new capabilities for vehicle finance professionals, including the ability to search a comprehensive, nationwide database of impound lots and contribute real-time information, transforming impound lot management into a more powerful and collaborative tool.

The company explained the update can enable customers to easily search through a comprehensive, nationwide database of impound lots, set up personalized alerts and contribute real-time data to keep the system accurate and up to date.

Advantage GPS noted these new tools can help BHPH dealers and other finance companies can minimize recovery times and reduce costly impound fees as other key enhancements include:

—Geofencing and advanced search: Customers can now search impound lots by geographic location and add them to their alert system, receiving instant notifications when a financed vehicle enters one of these lots for faster recovery.

—Community-powered contributions: Customers can add new impound lot locations to the database, ensuring it remains accurate and reliable through collective industry input.

—Custom alerts: Personalized alerts allow users to act quickly when a vehicle is impounded, reducing delays and minimizing escalating storage fees.

Advantage GPS director of product management Brian Tate pointed out impound fees in the U.S. surpass $1.1 billion annually.

“By combining real-time data, searchable maps, and community contributions, we’ve created a dynamic tool that gives customers the control and insights they need to minimize financial losses associated with impound lot fees,” Tate said in a news release.

“This enhancement taps into the power of community collaboration,” Tate continued. “By harnessing the collective knowledge of the industry, we’re ensuring our tool remains accurate and up to date, providing customers with the most reliable information for efficient vehicle recovery.

“Our users are not just customers — they are collaborators, helping improve the platform for everyone,” Tate added.