Ford CPO vehicles are now on Amazon.
Consumers can shop, finance, and buy directly through Amazon and then just pick the car up at a local Ford dealer.

Here’s the part nobody wants to say out loud:

OEMs force dealers to use website platforms that are slow, limited, restrictive, and impossible to optimize. So when a company like Amazon offers a cleaner, faster, transparent buying experience… it becomes very easy for them to replace the industry’s “front door.”

And that’s exactly what’s happening.

Amazon now owns:

• The first click
• The search
• The product recommendations
• The shopping experience

Dealers (for now) still own:

• The inventory
• The pricing
• The delivery
• The paperwork
• Service, warranty, and backend products

This isn’t Amazon “selling cars.”
This is Amazon owning the experience people actually want and pushing dealers away from the first hello.

We've all been there – you're shopping for a car on your phone, land on a VDP to check the price, and BAM... instant pop-up covering the entire screen before you even see the vehicle. Then the chat widget slides up. Then another overlay for a trade-in offer. Then a cookie banner pushes everything down.

Sound familiar?

Here's the thing: pop-ups might bump your raw lead count, but they're also killing your mobile conversions, tanking your page speed, and potentially hurting your SEO. And the data backs this up.

What Google Actually Said (June 2025 Update):Google's guidance was just updated on June 17, 2025, and they're crystal clear: avoid intrusive interstitials and dialogs. They've been penalizing mobile pop-ups since January 2017, but now they're explicitly recommending small, dismissible banners instead of content-blocking pop-ups.

The Performance Problem You're Not Tracking: Remember when Google cared about FID (First Input Delay)? Well, in March 2024 they replaced it with INP (Interaction to Next Paint) – and pop-ups are killing your INP scores. You need to be at ≤200ms at the 75th percentile.


Every chat widget, behavior tracker, consent tool, and modal pop-up adds scripts that slow down your site exactly when shoppers try to interact. The 2024 Web Almanac specifically calls out behavior tracking and consent tools as major INP killers on mobile.

The Quality Trap: Sure, auto-open pop-ups can increase your raw submit counts. But they also:

• Drive fake/low-intent emails and phone numbers
• Hurt mobile UX, leading to more bounces and fewer VDP interactions
• Risk SEO penalties if they block content
• Degrade INP/CLS metrics (which Google is watching)

Nielsen Norman Group's decades of usability research shows modal pop-ups are literally the most disliked pattern on the web. The Coalition for Better Ads lists mobile pop-ups among the least-preferred experiences globally.

What Dealers Should Do Instead:

✓ Replace pop-ups with slim sticky bars (footer or header) – "Get E-Price," "Check Availability," "See Payment Options" – but only after the shopper scrolls or engages

✓ Make chat manual-open – Show a small bubble; load the heavy SDK only after they tap it

✓ Keep cookie consent small and stable – Footer banner that doesn't push content down. No stacking multiple prompts on first paint

✓ One prompt at a time – Never stack cookie + promo + chat on page load

Quick Check (Takes 15 Minutes):

• Run your VDP through PageSpeed Insights
• Look at INP and CLS in the mobile CrUX summary
• Goal: INP ≤200ms, CLS ≤0.10
• Then check Google Search Console → Core Web Vitals

Question for the DR Community: Have any of you actually tracked INP/CLS before and after removing pop-ups? What happened to your valid lead rate vs. total submit count when you made the switch?
Most importantly – when you browse your own mobile site right now, how many taps does it take before you can actually see a vehicle price without dismissing something?
Let's stop the pop-up madness and focus on what actually converts quality leads.

Howdy everybody. First time posting on here. Based in SW, Florida.

I was genuinely curious what the unit economics look like for sites and varying scales? VDP's are kinda becoming a melting pot of varying sources, data, partners etc... From a consumer perspective, it all feels like the same experience, and it's never truly enjoyable. Out-linking, re-routing, unclear presentation.

I've tried estimating how many exist on the internet and accounting for duplicates, dealer sites, marketplaces and other aggregators, I'd venture to guess it's ~30-35m at any one point in time. That's a whole-lot of competition, and a wildly scaleable industry.

So I'm curious, based on different scales, how many sources are in any given VDP on your site? What's the cost of producing any one VDP?

Hey everyone! If you're focusing on local SEO for dealerships, GeoSERP is a tool you should check out. It gives precise, hyperlocal search insights, allowing you to see what customers view at specific locations—ideal for tracking Google rankings across neighborhoods.

Why try it?

1. Local Visibility: See how you rank in areas.
2. Competitor Analysis: Spot who’s ranking around you.
3. Easy Tracking: Monitor progress and refine strategies - even download reports.

Simple to use and affordably priced (FREE!), GeoSERP can help fine-tune your dealership’s local SEO strategy.

My Automotive News Annual Subscription Cost has gone from:

2018 - $79
2019 - $99
2020 - $119
2021 - $169
2023 - $199
2024 - $349
2025 - $499

Meanwhile, they've taken away content (buy/sell reports) and become more political and one-sided coverage (i.e. tariffs, regulations, etc).

With other competitive sources for news, blogs and information ... is Automotive News worth it? Is it still relevant?

Looking for some insight from the group.

For dealers who acquire outside of trade-ins, what’s your process for deciding whether a vehicle is worth bringing into inventory?

Specifically:
• Where are you sourcing (auctions, private sellers, wholesalers, upstream feeds)?
• What are the checkpoints you run before moving forward—history, recon estimates, market data, profitability, or something else?
• Who on your team typically owns the evaluation?
• And if you’re using tools like vAuto, Vincue, or something custom, what part of the workflow do they actually improve (and what still feels manual)?

Curious how different stores are making these decisions, especially as margins tighten and inventories shift.

Appreciate any perspectives from the group.

Is this just a story of someone outrunning the market? As much as I complain about some of their reporting progress, the core usability continues to improve beyond any other CRM out there (which is why I chose them). There is just no excuse for any of our sales teams to not be paying attention to the CRM at this point. Check out the iOS Watch app... Any VinSolutions, eLead, or DealerSocket users out there with similar features? Not a diss track, just curious if Drive is just that far ahead at this point.

Hey everyone,

I’m doing some research into CarGurus and wanted to get some honest feedback from other dealers who have used (or are currently using) the platform.

There’s been a lot of talk about changes to their offerings, pricing structure, and future direction — so I’m curious how the dealer community specifically is actually experiencing these changes. A few questions I’d love to get folks’ input on:

1. If you are a current user and have upgraded to their paid services, was it worth it? If not, what held you back?

2. Value of Carguru’s Premium Features
Have the premium add-ons such as pricing tools, market insights, etc. added any measurable value to your operation? Are you seeing real ROI from the premium features, or do they feel more like extra cost without clear performance?

3. For those who started with the free tier — did it actually deliver leads/sales, or just push you toward paying?
Do you think the freemium model devalues the platform or helps get dealers onboard?

4. Have you stuck with CarGurus over time, or dropped it? For those on premium packages, is the ROI still justifying the price?
Have lead quality or conversion rates improved enough to warrant the cost increases?

Would really appreciate your thoughts — even quick bullet points or gut impressions help. Trying to understand how CarGurus is performing from the ground level and how it has improved dealer’s experience.

Thank you in advance.

Hello everyone.
This is just trying to gather information on how to proceed.
Little context: During a online auction with Manheim the simulcast glitch and bough a car without my intervention.
After filling the proper arbitration they reach the "Buyer Bought" conclusion.
What is the best course of action in your experience in this type of situation?
Any input will be much appreciated...
Thx

David

Hello,

We recently opened a used car dealership a few months ago in Los Angeles (near LAX) and had some questions on what is the best way to advertise our cars and just get our company out there. Along with a couple of more insights.

Our website: HK Rides

We currently use:
DealerCenter for our DMS
Have Offerup ($155) and Autotrader/KBB ($550) for our premium web postings
Use Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace
Carfax vehicle history and linking reports to our websites ($400)

We wanted to know what websites/companies are recommended to sell our vehicles?
We currently have only sold a handful of vehicles but recently started to go full time and have 4 vehicles available currently.

What company or in general can help optimize Google SEO? To get our company to populate when someone searches for "used cars"?
How can I use Google Drive to send Credit apps to potential customers? (Or is there an alternative I should be using)

And any other helpful tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone, we made a free QR code platform for dealerships. And yes, it's free. No trial, no CC required. You can manage your QR codes, print hangtags with QR codes on them, track customer scans and more, all for free. Here's how it works.

1. Login to the platform. Don't have a login? Make one for free. Again, FREE. No CC needed, no "free trial" or trickery.

https://dealr.dealrqr.com/qr/signup/

2. Once logged in to your dealership account, on the left menu bar you will see "Free codes". Click there and you can add a free
batch of hangtag QR codes.




3. Now it's time to assign those codes to your inventory. On the left menu under "Manage codes" select "available". You will see a list of all
your codes. Now just "Edit" any code and enter in year, make model and cut and past the VDP URL from your website for that vehicle.



4. Now print the hangtags with the QR codes and hang them in your inventory. Our codes have a clear call to action to scan for car buyers, and there's space at the top half of the hangtag for you to write the vehicle price, etc. When you print out the hangtag, there's space at the top of the hangtag to write which vehicle the tag is for so when you go out to put them on your inventory you're not guessing what goes where.

Need to re-print a code? Go ahead. Its free!

You get stats tracking for close scans by day, code stats, listings of the top 10 vehicles in inventory by popularity of scans and all of the VDP traffic is UTM encoded so all your QR code traffic is easily tracked in your analytics web package.

Am posting here before mass industry launch as I'm looking for feedback from everyone here on the refresh forum.

Here are some examples that I printed on various hangtag stock we all get from our automotive supply vendors.



Thanks!

David "The QR code guy"

Figured I'd share my 2 cents since seeing a lot of folks talk about facebook automation. I run a small lot and honestly Facebook Marketplace has become our biggest lead source, but manually posting inventory was eating up so much time. We'd have one of our sales guys copying descriptions, uploading photos, answering the same "is this available" question 50 times a day. It was brutal. I kept hearing about automation tools but wasn't sure if they actually worked or if it would just feel robotic to customers. Finally pulled the trigger and trying one out and it's surprised me by miles. It posts our inventory automatically from our website, messages get answered instantly even when everyones out of office, and sold units come down automatically too. The time we've gotten back is insane; probably 15-20 hours a week that my team can actually spend selling instead of doing admin work. If you're still doing everything manually on Marketplace, you're probably leaving money on the table just from missed responses alone. Heres their link if anybodies interested: www.relayautos.io

What Exactly Is a Social Media Troll?​

Social media trolls are individuals who post inflammatory, offensive, or off-topic messages on your dealership’s pages with the primary goal of provoking an emotional response. They’re not interested in resolution – they want attention and conflict. Unlike legitimate unhappy customers, trolls typically have no intention of reaching a reasonable outcome.

The 5-Step Strategy for Effective Troll Management​

1. Distinguish Between Trolls and Unhappy Customers​

Before taking action, determine if you’re dealing with a genuine troll or simply an upset customer. Here’s how to tell the difference:

• Unhappy customers will usually reference specific experiences, provide details about their visit, and may respond positively to resolution attempts
• Trolls often use excessive profanity, make vague accusations, and show no interest in taking conversations private

When in doubt, offer to continue the conversation via direct message or email. A legitimate customer will typically appreciate the opportunity to resolve their issue privately.

2. Maintain Professional Composure​

When facing provocative comments, your first instinct might be to defend your dealership passionately. Resist this urge. Remember:

• Your response is visible to everyone, including potential customers
• A calm, professional reply demonstrates confidence and reliability
• Taking a short break before responding can help you avoid emotional reactions

3. Implement Strategic Comment Management​

Modern social media platforms offer several tools to manage problematic comments:

• Hide comments rather than delete them – the commenter won’t know their post is hidden from others
• Use comment filters on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to automatically hide posts containing specific words
• Mute particularly persistent trolls without alerting them
• Save banning as a last resort for the most egregious cases

4. Protect Your Community​

Your social media pages aren’t just about your dealership – they’re communities where customers interact. When trolls target other commenters:

• Step in quickly with a professional response
• Clearly communicate your community guidelines
• Consider pinning a post outlining acceptable comment behavior
• Thank positive contributors to encourage constructive engagement

5. Document Problematic Interactions​

Keep records of serious troll encounters, including:

• Screenshots of problematic comments
• Your responses
• Any actions taken (hiding, muting, banning)

This documentation can be valuable if situations escalate or patterns emerge with specific individuals.

When to Seek Professional Help​

Managing your dealership’s social media presence requires time and expertise that could be better spent selling vehicles. Consider partnering with automotive social media specialists who can:

• Monitor comments across all platforms
• Respond professionally to both positive and negative engagement
• Implement effective troll management strategies
• Build a positive online community around your dealership

At Dealer Authority, our social media management team handles the daily challenges of online reputation management so you can focus on what you do best – selling cars and serving customers.

Remember, your dealership’s online reputation is just as important as your physical showroom. Don’t let trolls tarnish the image you’ve worked hard to build.

Hi all! I have an idea for a new app for marketers. In a nutshell, it will help them share their work, advertising layouts and ideas. In addition to exchange, it will offer tools for joint development of high-value advertising and marketing projects.

There are doubts about the very idea of reusing advertising materials during exchange from the point of view of non-uniqueness in b2b. Although in b2c everyone has long been using the same second-hand and secondary markets for cars, equipment, and real estate. Also, approaches to sales techniques (scripts, 5 steps of sales, etc.) have been used for a long time.

I would like to enlist some opinions from a respected audience. Please write whether the idea itself is normal in your opinion? All the mechanics for implementation have already been thought out, but I don’t want to try at random... Thank you!

One of my locations recently signed up for DDC SEO.

Was wondering if anyone had experience with the SEO these companies offer.

Are they any good and worth it or am I better off doing it in house?