R.I.P. Automotive Sites that have FAILED.

[joe.pistell]

Remember MyRide.com?



Ouch.

Autobytel describes MyRide.com as the…

“first vertical search experience for the automotive marketplace. “MyRide.com is designed to help Internet-savvy consumers FIND, SEE, BUY and LEARN anything automotive and BELONG to a diverse community of people who have similar automotive interests.†Vertical Search Experience?
​

Jeff Kerschner wasn't impressed in 2007:

"Autobytel’s consumer Web site, MyRide.com was launched in a Beta version. Sort of a 2.0 Social networking website for car enthusiasts and consumers. Good idea, maybe..but the site is NOT 2.0."
​

The Weekly Refresh – ThinkDigital07, CallCommand, MyRide.com | DealerRefresh


In Jan 2008, Jeff K adds:

"I don’t know about you, but MyRide.com drives me crazy. I find myself easily lost on the site and always clicking on the main logo to get back to the home page. I can’t seem to grasp exactly what the site is for?…community networking, vehicle data base for search, vehicle research or what? And I don’t see how they could possibly fit any more ads on the site."
​

Jeff continues:

"Hopefully they’ll use some of that money they made selling AVV and hire someone to fill in their description tags so consumers can actually find the site in the search sngines.​

<title>New, Used Car prices, reviews and dealers at MyRide.com</title> <meta name=â€description†content=â€" />
<meta name=â€keywords†content=â€" />
WTF?"
​

I followed JK's reply with:

MyRide.com = YACWSTTLC.
You can just feel the Suits at autobytel.com running it. It lacks "attitude".

YACWSTTLC
Yet
Another
Corporate
Web
Site
Trying to
Look
Cool
​

CS from Tactical Technique web development and graphic design saw the train wreck coming:

"Joe I'm not so sure that money is all is needed. Sites that are easy to use are successful, and very few car shopping sites are. Dealers shouldn't have to put their URLs in images in order to help customers find their websites. Car sites don't understand tracking funnels so they blackout features instead of managing them properly.
​

Garbage in, garbage out. This is the same shit I can get on any other site with brighter colors"
​

Autobytel Sells AVV, does this mean more money for the infamous MyRide.com? | DealerRefresh


CarGurus.com is all over this space: cargurus.com's (rank #1,704) Site Profile | Compete

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Way to dive into the ol memory tank Joe. As soon as I read this I remembered this one...

Reynolds and Reynolds Launches CarLocate.com: A Vehicle Search Portal for Consumers

I chuckled as I went back and read this..

“Reynolds designed and built this new product from the ground up to better connect the business needs of dealers with the car-buying needs of consumers,†said Trey Hiers, vice president of Corporate Marketing at Reynolds and Reynolds. “We’ve taken our knowledge of automotive dealerships – and the entire car buying process – and applied that to the Web experience that consumers go through in searching for a car.â€

“We’re not just another media company or Internet start-up looking for a way to replace classified ads or clicks, like many of the sites out there today,†Hiers said. “We are experts in automotive retailing and in technology and in bringing the two together, which is what we’ve done with CarLocate.com.â€

Click here for the full CarLocate Press Release.



I took the liberty to do a Compete compare between CarLocate.com, MyRide and through GetAuto in the mix for shitz and gigglz.

 

[joe.pistell]

Wow, look at those changes year over year. -77%, -86% WOW!

It's a zero sum game... who's been eating their lunch?

AT is up 12%, cars.com looks flat


Ahhh... Langley Stieneart's CarGuru.com is rockin' the house! CarGuru.com +98% (yr over yr) We've been tracking CarGurus.com here for a while.


CarGuru 1st hits my radar last year: Used Cars - CarGurus.com - vAuto and the Travel Industry (great thread). I write to the exec's at cars.com to warn them of the CarGuru.com business model and CEO Langley Stienart creates a post as he tries to close the communication gap. A classic DR thread!


Months later.... I build another DR Forum post:CarGuru's calls Dealers CHEATS

Then, CarGurus.com CEO Langley Stieneart drops into the DR forums to execute a letter perfect Reputation Management sortie.

1. He fixes the problem,
2. writes a public reply and then
3. calls the writer (me)

TEXT BOOK EXECUTION!


I follow it with an eyeopening and detailed DealerRefresh Article: ...There's a New Guru in Town

 

[Ralphe]

Here a couple for you: Greenlight.com--I worked there. Rock solid business plan. Had a second round of funding that dried up. Here's some information on them: Greenlight.Com - How Greenlight.com Worked, Attracted The Interest Of Large Dealers, Added Dealers In 31 States - Service and Company

Now, there was another at the time--the name escapes me. There was a young person that wrote a business plan for Trillogy. They funded a reported $100m. The model was that they would advertise new cars online, and the consumer would pick it up at a local dealership. They then started buying small dealerships in rural areas that were having a hard time making it. They would have o parts and service business. Dealers screamed at the OEM's and were heard loud and clear. They would not allow this to happen, so the company quickly closed after burning through that cash.

 

[kcar]

Only interested in Cars.com, Autotrader.com, AOL.com, etc. Don't really know how those smaller sites are getting quailty traffic in first place. I highly doubt it's good traffic for leads anyways. Until dealers start hoping on board with these smaller sites, they will keep dying one by one.. They really have no game plan that's going to re-invent anything or compete effectively.

 

[Billfred]

Since y'all brought up CarLocate, I went and pulled up our summary reports from them for the last six months.

There are three employees at our dealership that handle internet marketing tasks at whatever level. We could count the number of trackable actions done on our 200-plus-car inventory on our combined fingers.

Better than a poke in the eye, but I doubt we'd want to bet big on it...

 

[Chris Cachor]

Only interested in Cars.com, Autotrader.com, AOL.com, etc. Don't really know how those smaller sites are getting quailty traffic in first place. I highly doubt it's good traffic for leads anyways. Until dealers start hoping on board with these smaller sites, they will keep dying one by one.. They really have no game plan that's going to re-invent anything or compete effectively.

With the way the SERP's have changed, it seems as though customers are just going to the dealer's sites directly now. I don't see a lot of value in third party inventory aggregation services to justify their costs anymore. Maybe $399/mo to get listed on a network of sites you mentioned (Cars.com, AutoTrader, AOL, etc.)

 

[john.quinn]

Although it really wasn't a website, there was a plug-in called "My Live Offer," by Auto Bid Systems. Honestly, it was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. You put a big green button with "Bid Now" or something like that next to your inventory, which would take you to a computerized "offer/counteroffer" mechanism. If I remember correctly, like eBay, you'd put your MSRP and bottom-price algorithm into the system, and the software would counteroffer your offer until you reached the basement, then you could "lock-in" that price with a credit card then contact the dealer to go pick-up your vehicle. Talk about colossal failure. I can't imagine they are still in business, at least with that product.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Although it really wasn't a website, there was a plug-in called "My Live Offer," by Auto Bid Systems. Honestly, it was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. You put a big green button with "Bid Now" or something like that next to your inventory, which would take you to a computerized "offer/counteroffer" mechanism. If I remember correctly, like eBay, you'd put your MSRP and bottom-price algorithm into the system, and the software would counteroffer your offer until you reached the basement, then you could "lock-in" that price with a credit card then contact the dealer to go pick-up your vehicle. Talk about colossal failure. I can't imagine they are still in business, at least with that product.

We actually got it to work. It took a lot of work and the right advertising promotions, but the customers who used it really enjoyed it. It was a fantastic lead generator, and we even sold a few cars straight through that system. I wrote the lack of overall success off to the tool being a bit ahead of it's time and the fact that it took a lot of work (something most people don't like to do).

Last I heard there was some internal turmoil within the organization and that's why it isn't around in this flavor anymore. I think they moved into accessory sales and mostly cater to OEM programs now.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

We actually got it to work. It took a lot of work and the right advertising promotions, but the customers who used it really enjoyed it. It was a fantastic lead generator, and we even sold a few cars straight through that system. I wrote the lack of overall success off to the tool being a bit ahead of it's time and the fact that it took a lot of work (something most people don't like to do).

Last I heard there was some internal turmoil within the organization and that's why it isn't around in this flavor anymore. I think they moved into accessory sales and mostly cater to OEM programs now.

Alex, I remember you and I having many conversations over this service. You went full on with online advertising. I remember you having the Checked Flag guy sitting in bed in his PJ's "you can now Buy your next vehicle in your PJ's" ...or something like that.

I wasn't and I'm still not a fan of the "virtual negotiation" platforms. I have yet to see one work. However, I'm totally on-board with offering a full shopping cart like experience, allowing the customer can do just about everything online but pick up the car. Most people are not ready to make a full transaction of the magnitude completely online but many like to step through the process of the shopping cart experience with out having a sales person breathing down their neck.

How many times have you configured your next Mac on their website, only to step into the Mac store to make your purchase. Pure Bliss!

Each and every time you can get a customer into the "shopping cart", engaging them while in there - that's a win. Just as you said Alex, not a lot of people completed the purchase but the consumers that would actually go through many of the steps enjoyed it. It provided them an experience like they had never had before. That alone was enough to earn the customer business.

Ive been working with Motorize for quite some time now. They offer a "Buy it Now" service that plugs into the dealership website. Not a lot of consumers completing the purchase but we do have people using the shopping cart like process. Great time to offer products as well.

I think what finally did My Live Offer in was when there was some internal changes and they renamed it to "skootz". Ha! I think of a dog riding their ass across the carpet every time I hear that word.