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Looking to make a change

Apr 25, 2012
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Josh
We are looking at switching from Reynolds to DealerTrack. Anyone made the change lately? I am curious how much data, if any, is lost in the conversion. What were the pains associated with the conversion? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

Josh
 
I investigated this earlier this year. No matter what they tell you data will be lost. I suggest you contact other dealers and talk with CFO's or comptrollers to discuss accounting issues. Speak to service managers and advisors and parts managers also. I made sure I did this when I looked into it. I kept Reynolds. I heard stories that were nightmares. All the Dealer Principals I talked to thought it was great because they like the bill at the end of the month. The employees (most of them) hated it. Dealertrack does not have enough support yet to deal with their DMS. They will in 2013 I think and I may look at them again. Switching DMS is like getting a BAD DIVORCE. It costs you lots of money. Its not just the bill at the end of the month.
 
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From my marketing position at my previous store, the DMS was one of the few technology systems I did not admin. That said, we did transition from Reynolds to ADP with only minor issues. Months after the switch, there was a general consensus that it was a good move. One interesting advantage to a DMS change is that you are forced to reevaluate all of your processes. You'll find that some people have been using work-arounds that may or may not have been necessary which result in less accurate data (or worse?) I know that money was the original discussion point, but Reynolds all but mugged the dealer in a store acquisition and we came really close to switching mid-contract. That Reynolds' retention plan is based on contracts rather than customer service is unfortunate. Data was not a crisis, but the integration for the CRM (VinSolutions at the time) became a surprise added monthly cost. Be aware that ADP seems to charge for the most basic of integration, including linking data between some of its own products.
 
We are looking at switching from Reynolds to DealerTrack. Anyone made the change lately? I am curious how much data, if any, is lost in the conversion. What were the pains associated with the conversion? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

Josh

Josh,

I've been through a DMS change. Are you the one that is going to be instrumental in implementing the change and training all of the employees? Have you considered other stores? Updated your resume? Put any feelers out?