Six in 10 dealer principals say structured payment programs are not consistently presented in their F&I offices — yet among those whose dealerships do offer them, nearly 60% report customers respond positively or very positively, pointing to an execution gap rather than a demand problem, according to a new survey from AutoPayPlus.

Conducted in July 2026, the survey of more than 2,000 dealership professionals found that only 39% of dealer principals say structured or accelerated payment programs are actively and consistently presented in their F&I office. In a release, AutoPayPlus executives say the most commonly cited barriers among dealerships that don’t currently offer a structured payment program are a prior program that did not perform well and a lack of finance source support.

“The remaining opportunity isn’t convincing dealers these programs matter, but about helping more stores consistently integrate structured payment programs into their everyday F&I process so customers have the opportunity to benefit from them,” writes Robert Steenbergh, the company’s founder and CEO.

Dealer principals rank active management tracking of product penetration (33%) and F&I manager pay plan alignment (31%) as the two most important drivers of consistent product presentation — yet only 17% said pay plan fit is their primary consideration when deciding whether to introduce a new voluntary protection product. More than half of respondents carry eight or more active F&I products, and menu fatigue and compliance pressure tied as the top challenges facing today’s F&I departments at 23% each.

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