Used car sales have been boosted by 6% in July from leads fed through from dealers’ service departments, according to data lead management company enquiryMAX.

A leap of 26% in the number of leads coming from the service department illustrates the increasingly data-led approach to selling employed by the UK’s vehicle retailers.

EnquiryMAX analyses data of 700 dealerships across the UK to put together monthly trends.

David Boyce, managing director of enquiryMAX, said: “The most efficient and cost-effective way to sell a vehicle is to existing customers.

“Converting vehicle sales from the service department leads to higher rates of conversion and deepens the customer relationship.”

The data from enquiryMAX showed that PCP penetration increased by 27% for new and used cars in July. It also showed that the window to complete a sale continued to close with 14% more drivers buying on the first day they visited the dealership.

The average sale price of a used car fell by 6.7% from £20,132 to £21,588 in July year-on-year.

The average price of a part-exchange vehicle also fell from £8,930 to £8,588 over the same period.