My Rant about DealerInspire.

[Ryan Everson]

Guys, Quick question. Is anyone here using the FB Conversions API and DI?

We use Stape.io - $10/mo

Implementing Meta Conversions API Gateway - Stape

The easy way to implement Meta Conversions API with no manual tagging. No need to hire a tracking specialist or use a third-party integration tool.

stape.io

Pretty easy to setup as long as you already have your pixel setup and firing events.

 

[joe.pistell]

We use Stape.io - $10/mo

Kudos, you know where all the kool tools are.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

Guys! Is there anyone in this forum or in internet land that this post can reach that uses the Dealer Inspire pricing API with VAuto??? Is your pricing API disconnected??? Ours has been disconnected now for months!! I've had a case open with this issue for three months now for this issue to get fixed. VAuto swears from the mountain tops that they have their integration setup correctly. This is 1,000% on DI's end with their change. These Devs at Dealer Inspire simply will not take the time to sit down and get this fixed!!! This wasn't like this before. They were know (especially in this forum) for their support.

I've Been on the phone multiple times with DI about the issue.
Talked to Inventory team at DI. Given multiple stock examples.
Conferenced in VAuto and DI support and DI's inventory team on the calls.

I'm fairly patient and understand bugs and scripts not working correctly, ripple effect with code changes, etc... but damn man.

@Jason are you still over there at DI? Can you help with this?

@AlexVetter could you please ruffle some feathers over there with the DI devs and help get this fixed?

 

[Aimee]

Wes Davey is the Senior Director of Operations for Cars Commerce (owns DI), and was VP of Production for Dealer Inspire. I will PM you his contact info.

 

[jeffspreen]

Trust me, two years ago I would have balked at the idea of switching to Dealer.com. We were eager to move our Ford store off their platform and onto Dealer Inspire where the rest of our sites were.

Fast forward two years, and I’ve developed a newfound respect for the DDC platform. It’s rock solid, like a tank - things don’t just break randomly, and onboarding is a breeze. Their mobile SRP and VDP's are among the best in the industry. They also have some impressive new designs coming out at NADA.

Dealer Inspire was a great partner of ours for nearly a decade, and there’s a good chance we’ll eventually go back. As vendors grow and scale, there’s a cyclical nature to it. Sometimes what’s old becomes new again.

Is DDC perfect? No. But is any OEM approved website provider really?

(PS: We don't use DDC for dig-ad)

@Ryan Everson ; Yeah I though that was a big deal when you took your whole group to DDC. Especially after you've done a video testimonial for DI and been such a techie advanced partner of theirs. But I assume you did this to "push the easy button" and simplify your platform across the board with your dealerships and OEM requirements?

I do think the DDC SRP\VDP is pretty slick these days and fast; but I do think we as a group know the DI platform front to back as Wordpress users for years (since inception) and we've got some advanced admin access from DI to go beyond support and fix our own problems ourselves on the fly. Where DDC in the past would take a week or more to get the simplest things done. Not sure if that has changed?... also its COX.... We all want off as many COX products as possible.

We took a short stint to check out Team Velocity; and as of today; we taking our 5 stores back to DI and our prior SEM\DigAd Vendor.

But before I pressed all the enrollments; I did a deep dive into the vendor lists again across our OEM's and we wanted to pick 1 vendor across our brands; and that list is short... It was #1 Dealer Inspire, #2 DealerOn, #3 DDC; which honestly we didnt look too hard at DDC; I think they could of slid into #2 or maybe given a shot at store or two in #1 spot. But our SEM-Vendors and our people prefer DI. I also noticed all these vendors have been like whisper quiet for like 3 or more years; as if they all got 1000-3000 dealers on their platform; they all have the OEM certs and connections to Shift etc; and now they just printing cash\firing support staff\"streamlining".... And its going to be HARD for a new advanced vendor to break into the OEM certs and on the lists; this kind of prevents future innovation..

Guess well see what unfolds next as Shift and JD power make their new list of vendors for 2026 which they expect to roll out in March.