We were paying like $599, now it's $1,600 for pretty much the same features. And it appears we can't down grade either or go back. They say it's all co-op eligible, etc. but $1,600 is way too much to begin with. Subaru won't let us run our own site anyways, so what are we to do? Anyone else kind of mad over this?
Subaru Websites? $599 to $1,600/Month.. No Upgrades with New "Dealer.com"
- Thread starter kcar
- Start date
- Mar 7, 2012
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- Mike
I don't have a Subaru franchise, but I hate paying for OEM garbage website. No control of the content and the customer service is horrid becuase they know you're not going anywhere. I don't see why the OEM's can't give us a list of "approved vendors" to select from so that there was still some form of free market at play. I would die if they doubled my monthly fee, as we're already paying for a website worth having on top of the OEM site. Not much you can do that I'm aware of except complain to your DM and enjoy getting it off your chest.
Every other franchise we have I can do pretty much whatever.. I do remember hearing something about OEMs letting certain dealers switch providers.. If you don't have a good standing with the provider or have a ton of issues, or complain enough.. Have been told it's possible, but really really rare. Oh well.
- Mar 7, 2012
- 158
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- First Name
- Mike
When I was with Toyota they cared absolutely nothing of who we used for our site. When I went to Mercedes it was like night and day. I though it was a highline thing, but I heard about Chevy forcing their dealers to use a certain vendor and now Subaru. I really don't see what the OEM has to gain from this outside of consistant branding and maybe some kickback money, but it would be great if they would give it up.
$1,600 is nothing. Especially since it is Co-Op'd. The DDC package out of the box is fairly strong on the SEO front, and generally has good engagement with little modification. A cobalt page of the same caliber can run upwards of $4,000. Product innovation = time + developers + money.
I don't agree with all the limitations that they impose on you, or them forcing us to use a certain vendor... But to answer this question, one of THE biggest advantages for the manufacturers is that they have access to their entire dealer body's website data as well as shopper data and trends.
As for the 1600, yes it's more, but you actually pay less 'out of pocket' now than we did before.
- Mar 7, 2012
- 158
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- Mike
I suppose that's true, but if the service provided is so poor that dealers are willing to pay two or three times as much as they have to to have site worth visiting, the numbers are skewed anyway. Toyota just showed the biggest profit they have since America accused them of trying to kill everyone a few years ago, and they give the dealer all the control in the world. An OEM can have success without micromanaging dealer operations. I think the less the OEM tries to act like they know what's best for the dealer the better, but that's just me...
- Apr 29, 2011
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- Chris
I think initially, it was an effort to get all dealers to move to digital, but some of the more recent deals with manufacturers and website vendors is really a step back for automotive internet marketing. Ideally, the dealership's advertising agency should be doing the all the media (web, tv, radio, print) and not contracting out web vendors. The innovation, in my opinion, has been pretty flat among website vendors, while the rest of the web has been innovating fairly rapidly. There's big dollars being spent in this market, and I feel like dealers are being given too much standard issued software to work with.
