DEAL DealerRefresh Exclusive Offer for Winning VDPs

[jackcarlson]

First, thanks to @Jeff Kershner and @Alex Snyder for setting this up, DealerRefresh has been one of the better places to get real feedback and actually connect with dealers.

We've been running Carvia.ai on dealer VDPs and wanted to share a deal here since this seemed like the right place for it.

The short version: we put an Carvia on your VDP that interprets the vehicle from the VIN — trim context, what's actually included, ownership outlook, buyer fit- answering the question "Should I buy this car?" Answers the questions that otherwise send buyers off your page to Google, gpt, Reddit, etc. More time on page, better lead quality, more leads.

You can see it live here: 2017 Chevrolet Cruze LT Alliance OH | Lavery Automotive Sales and Service 1G1BE5SM7H7146334 - scroll below the gallery.

As a deal for this community: 30% off the first year. Lightweight install, no rebuild required.

DM me or drop a reply if you want to talk through it.

 

[joe.pistell]

OPINION:
@jackcarlson LOVE what your building. If u have any ppl in this store that listens to you, the spinning video is a choppy mess.
2025 Buick Enclave Preferred Alliance OH | Lavery Automotive Sales and Service 5GAERARS7SJ304088

 

[Ryan Everson]

Congrats on the launch! Reminds me of the old CarStory and PureCars VDP reports that used to be everywhere.

One piece of advice would be to make sure the AI report isn’t injecting doubt or unnecessary questions into the customer’s mind about a vehicle. I ran into quite a few cases where the report called out known reliability issues with certain engines and even warned about the potential for major upcoming repairs like a turbocharger. That just gives the dealership sales team one more self-inflicted objection to overcome and is probably the fastest way to get taken off a dealer’s website right after being added.

Sure, some customers might potentially come across something like that on their own through a Google search or AI chat. But there’s really no reason to highlight it directly on your dealership’s own VDP. I wouldn’t consider that a lack of transparency either, even Carvana doesn’t highlight things like that. It ends up feeling a little bit like you're the prescription drug commercials that list every possible rare side effect.

 

[jackcarlson]

Thanks @Ryan Everson ! This is fair and exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping this community would give. Some of what you have called out may be relics of our direct to consumer past, framing that doesn't belong on a VDP. We're reworking the sections that create doubt rather than confidence.

The goal here is to make buyer and seller conversations more productive, not to create a buyer who shows up with a checklist of objections. Appreciate the callouts, will share over the changes made later today.

 

[jackcarlson]

OPINION:
@jackcarlson LOVE what your building. If u have any ppl in this store that listens to you, the spinning video is a choppy mess.
2025 Buick Enclave Preferred Alliance OH | Lavery Automotive Sales and Service 5GAERARS7SJ304088
View attachment 9803

@joe.pistell Yeah, it's not great...I'll bring it up with them today in our sync.

 

[joe.pistell]

@joe.pistell Yeah, it's not great...I'll bring it up with them today in our sync.

Jack,
lobby hard for a review of this. Shoppers LOVE to look at gallery photos. Make sure the spinny-clunky-video-thingy improves shopper engagement and interactions.

Why? Because your product's ROI is tied to the entire VDP UX. EXAMPLE: If the shoppers don't get hooked on the photos, they wont read your helpful content.

You will find that when sales slow and dealers tighten up, they cut vendors. IMO, your product is 1000x better than that clunky-carvana-copy-cat widget.

 

[jackcarlson]

Jack,
lobby hard for a review of this. Shoppers LOVE to look at gallery photos. Make sure the spinny-clunky-video-thingy improves shopper engagement and interactions.

Why? Because your product's ROI is tied to the entire VDP UX. EXAMPLE: If the shoppers don't get hooked on the photos, they wont read your helpful content.

You will find that when sales slow and dealers tighten up, they cut vendors. IMO, your product is 1000x better than that clunky-carvana-copy-cat widget.

Part of our strategy is to be as close to the top of the page and push everything on the VDP (like the huge feature dumps with irrelevant information) below our integration. Logically that can't go above the gallery, so we need to work well with the gallery. I agree what they have is not putting their best foot forward and likely can hurt a user's propensity to scroll us into view.

We are seeing so far an average of 39% increase in engaged time/session & 30% increase in session duration when our information is front and center, and legacy VDP bits are pushed below.

 

[jackcarlson]

Congrats on the launch! Reminds me of the old CarStory and PureCars VDP reports that used to be everywhere.

One piece of advice would be to make sure the AI report isn’t injecting doubt or unnecessary questions into the customer’s mind about a vehicle. I ran into quite a few cases where the report called out known reliability issues with certain engines and even warned about the potential for major upcoming repairs like a turbocharger. That just gives the dealership sales team one more self-inflicted objection to overcome and is probably the fastest way to get taken off a dealer’s website right after being added.

Sure, some customers might potentially come across something like that on their own through a Google search or AI chat. But there’s really no reason to highlight it directly on your dealership’s own VDP. I wouldn’t consider that a lack of transparency either, even Carvana doesn’t highlight things like that. It ends up feeling a little bit like you're the prescription drug commercials that list every possible rare side effect.

I spent some time re-ordering and reworking some of the sections you called out @Ryan Everson , screenshots below comparing to this car. Pulled out the red flag framing, bad answer columns and anything that read like a pre-purchase investigation checklist. "Known Considerations," "What to Inspect," "Ask the Seller" have been rewritten or renamed to lead with confidence rather than doubt.

Community Insights now leads with actual owner quotes sourced from forums like Reddit and F150Forum, with a satisfaction stat as a closing line. The ownership section opens with lifespan potential and maintenance habits that get owners there, not a list of things that go wrong.

Reworking to help a buyer feel informed enough to move forward, not armed enough to push back.

Still a WIP and not released just yet, hoping you can take a look and share some more feedback. Thanks!

 

[joe.pistell]

We are seeing so far an average of 39% increase in engaged time/session & 30% increase in session duration when our information is front and center, and legacy VDP bits are pushed below.

As a fellow merchandiser, our clients with the shittiest VDPs see the highest lifts

Once your product shows that level of lift, then, they...

RESPECT YOUR AUTHORITAH!