For years, F&I performance has focused on which products dealerships offer and what customers are buying. But recent survey research suggests the bigger issue may be how consistently those products are presented to the customer.
A July 2026 survey from AutoPayPlus of more than 2,000 dealership professionals found that just 39% of dealer principals say structured or accelerated payment programs are consistently presented in their F&I offices, while 61% report inconsistent presentation, discontinued programs, no offering or uncertainty about whether their dealership offers one.
The finding raises a broader question: What happens when dealerships have products that could provide value, but customers are not consistently given the opportunity to consider them?
Customer Acceptance May Not Be the Biggest Obstacle
One of the more revealing findings involves customer response. Among dealer principals whose dealerships offer structured payment programs, nearly 60% said customers respond positively or very positively. Another 29% said customers respond well when the program is clearly explained.
Taken together, these findings challenge the assumption that consumers are inherently resistant to additional F&I products. This does not mean every customer wants every product. Nor does it suggest that dealerships should add products simply because they are available. Rather, it reinforces the importance of relevance, explanation and consistency.
A product cannot be evaluated by a customer if it is never presented. Even when it is presented, the quality and clarity of that conversation can influence how the customer perceives its value.
For dealerships, that means the question may need to shift from asking whether customers will buy a product to asking whether the dealership is consistently giving customers an opportunity to understand whether that product is right for them.
More Products Do Not Necessarily Mean Better F&I Performance
There is another challenge underneath this discussion. F&I departments are already managing substantial product complexity.
More than half of dealer principals surveyed, 54%, reported that their dealerships carry eight or more active F&I products. At the same time, menu fatigue and compliance pressure tied as the top challenges facing F&I departments, each cited by 23% of respondents.
That combination deserves attention. Adding another product to an already crowded menu may create incremental opportunity, but it can also increase the demands placed on F&I managers. Every additional offering requires training, explanation, compliance oversight and effective integration into the sales process.
The objective, therefore, should not simply be maximizing the number of products available. It should be creating an F&I process in which the right products can be consistently and clearly presented to the right customers. That is an operational challenge as much as a product challenge.
Accountability Matters More Than Enthusiasm
The survey also provides an important insight into what dealer principals believe drives consistent product presentation. Active management tracking of product penetration ranked first, cited by 33% of respondents, followed closely by F&I manager pay plan alignment at 31%. Those factors ranked ahead of training, ease of explanation and executive enthusiasm.
This suggests that consistency is not necessarily created by telling teams that a product is important. It is created by building systems that make performance visible and incentives that reinforce the desired behavior. Measurement is particularly important.
More than half of dealer principals, 52%, said they regularly track penetration rates by individual F&I product, while only 4% reported having no formal product performance tracking process.
As dealerships become more data driven, F&I should be no different. Product level measurement can help identify where performance is strong, where it is inconsistent and where additional training or process changes may be necessary. The goal is not to use data simply to push higher penetration. It is to understand what is happening within the process and why.
Compensation Deserves a Closer Look
There is an interesting disconnect between how dealer principals view compensation and how they make product decisions. While 31% identified F&I manager pay plan alignment as one of the most important drivers of consistent presentation, only 17% said pay plan fit is their primary consideration when deciding whether to introduce a new F&I product.
That gap suggests compensation is sometimes treated as an operational issue after a product decision has already been made rather than as part of the original implementation strategy.
If a dealership expects consistent presentation, the incentives surrounding that behavior should be considered before a product is introduced, not after.
Compensation does not have to mean simply paying more for selling more. It can be part of a broader framework that rewards appropriate product presentation, process compliance, customer satisfaction and sustainable performance.
Trust Remains an Important Foundation
The findings also offer some perspective on customer sentiment toward F&I. Nearly 60% of dealer principals said customer trust in the F&I office has remained stable over the past three years. Only 14% believe customers have become noticeably more skeptical.
That does not eliminate the industry’s responsibility to build trust. F&I remains one of the most important points of interaction between a customer and dealership, and transparency should remain fundamental to the process. However, the data suggests the industry should be careful about assuming that customers are becoming uniformly less receptive.
Customers may be skeptical of unnecessary costs or unclear explanations. That is different from being unwilling to consider products that have a clear and understandable value.
The Opportunity Is Better Execution
The broader lesson is that dealerships may not need more F&I products. They may need to get more value from the products they already offer by improving how they are selected, measured, explained and presented.
That means aligning incentives, reducing unnecessary complexity and giving F&I managers the training and tools to have meaningful customer conversations. The next phase of F&I performance may be less about expanding the menu and more about improving the process behind it.
The opportunity is simple: make sure customers have a clear opportunity to understand relevant products and make informed decisions.
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