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A Kappler

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Feb 1, 2017
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Anyone ever go down a rabbit hole to build their own car buying/ trade tool? Not interested in a value populating just data and image/video collection for our own needs. Currently using ICO, looked at TradePending and others but none of them suited our needs.

If anyone could point me in the direction of a knowledgeable developer in this field that would be great. Thanks
 
We have built 3 such tools for dealer clients over the last 15 or so years but all of them were eventually replaced by something else.
2 of them integrated with a data provider (like NADA/JD Power or KBB) and 1 had no data integration.
The one with no data integration ran the longest - 5 or 6 years.
Its' expensive upfront and monthly costs depend on the data provider. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
 
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Anyone ever go down a rabbit hole to build their own car buying/ trade tool? Not interested in a value populating just data and image/video collection for our own needs. Currently using ICO, looked at TradePending and others but none of them suited our needs.

If anyone could point me in the direction of a knowledgeable developer in this field that would be great. Thanks
A dealer and I built our own tool. We have eliminated the need for a shopper to fill out a tedious form and enabled a text engagement. Going this route allows us to ensure every lead is accurate with a verified mobile number, vehicle data, and shopper's name. The system cannot be tricked with bogus contact data.
 
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A dealer and I built our own tool. We have eliminated the need for a shopper to fill out a tedious form and enabled a text engagement. Going this route allows us to ensure every lead is accurate with a verified mobile number, vehicle data, and shopper's name. The system cannot be tricked with bogus contact data.
At my day job we do this for a living. When you go text-only, you limit yourself because you cannot get an accurate picture of what their car actually is. It is especially critical when working with a domestic truck. The wrong info can give you a swing of $60,000 :eek3:

And then there is the customized Porsche route...
 
Not necessarily true. The platform we built accesses y/m/m/trim/options on 95% of vehicles. We've built this from the ground up over the last 8 years. The way we built our tech, allows us to not only eliminate forms, and grab accurate contact data, but also extensive vehicle info. Your scenario happens... rarely. I can count on two hands how many times over the past 8 years.
 
A dealer and I built our own tool. We have eliminated the need for a shopper to fill out a tedious form and enabled a text engagement. Going this route allows us to ensure every lead is accurate with a verified mobile number, vehicle data, and shopper's name. The system cannot be tricked with bogus contact data.

"We have eliminated the need for a shopper to fill out a tedious form" :popcorn:

"every lead is accurate with a verified mobile number, vehicle data, and shopper's name" :oops:


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Not necessarily true. The platform we built accesses y/m/m/trim/options on 95% of vehicles. We've built this from the ground up over the last 8 years. The way we built our tech, allows us to not only eliminate forms, and grab accurate contact data, but also extensive vehicle info. Your scenario happens... rarely. I can count on two hands how many times over the past 8 years.
Are you giving the customer a value on their vehicle?
 

✨ AI Highlights

A dealer asks for developer recommendations to build a custom in-house trade-in and vehicle purchase data-collection tool, unsatisfied with existing solutions like ICO and TradePending. The thread shifts into a real-world critique of Textium's tool as used by direct mail agency InMarket Solutions, where a dealer reported only 3% of leads included trade data despite a trade-focused campaign — a discrepancy resolved in a phone call that exposed the agency's execution failures rather than a flaw in Textium's system. A side debate emerges about whether AI expertise or automotive subject matter expertise is the more critical ingredient for building useful dealer tools.

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