@Ryan... you are right on.. I would add the
{kewword:} insertion tag can be used in all boxes... title, description and URLs. Plus the case of the keyword tag also make a big difference.
I don't know if I would agree that it takes lot of time and effort to manually do a PPC campaign... you need 2-3 weeks to get it up and then 3-4 hour a week to manage it. Granted that you spend some time to learn the basics... best way is to just do the the ad words certification training online...
This is what I would normally do.
1. Review my competition. (jott down any adverts I like... go to west cost... with city at similar size... do the same... get more ideas for advert... run the top bidders... on keyword spy or spyfu.. get ideas for keywords)
2. Split my city into four squares.
2. Create campaigns for Make (sub group by model, multiple adverts in each... varry my destination URL)
3. Create Campaign for Generic Terms. (sub group by body types)
4. Create Campaigns for my competition (AutoTrader/Cars.com/InfoUSA) at NE,NW,SE,SW
5. Make sure site can do converstion tracking... I have some kind of analytic (GA,Yahoo,ClickTrack,Omni)
5. Build one campaign out... (run.. test)
6. Test conversion tracking... print my stats for reference.
6. Build the other... (while build cycle to first... run reports... find my best adverts... refine...)
repeat 5 & 6 as many times as needed... once campaigns are all build... keep refining my adverts... until I reach a winner...
If my conversion is too low... plug in google website optimizer... test headings... layouts... etc... until I find something that works.
Hmm... looks like bit of work... but if you know bit of HTML... and website provider gives you access... it is all doable... in 2-3 weeks.