Rovalo AI: A New Modern Automotive Marketplace For a Better Value - Questions for Dealers.

[CorbinWesler]

Happy 4th of July Weekend, everyone! First, let me start off with a little about me: I worked in various departments in dealerships for about 6 years (service, BDC, sales, F&I, assisted managing a used car dealer), then worked for one of the large marketplaces for 7.5 years before getting laid off. I've always had a passion for helping dealers, and I felt like that passion and experience in the industry was missing from the way the major marketplaces did business. They seem to be more focused on being a tech company that makes investors happy.

So, I'm launching my own online marketplace as a competitor, and I'd love to get some input on what frustrates you with the current options, what you wish was different, and what you think would help you out.

Basic Overview Of What It Offers:

• AI chat bubble that allows users to filter vehicles using plain English, and a "sales" talk track for users who are just starting their search and learning more about what options are available. User can type questions such as "I'm looking for a truck that can tow a 2026 Cedar Creek 383fb", and it'll look up the 5th wheel specs, give recommendations, and filter based on that. When a customer submits an inquiry, the dealer gets the full chat log, so the dealer knows what the customer's needs are.
  • I know Cars, CarGurus, and AutoTrader all have AI Powered chats that provide chat logs, but it seems like Cars and AutoTrader don't really advertise that option enough and the UX is poor, so it's not getting utilized as much as it could be.
  • Sales talk track asks closed ended questions.
  • My question regarding this: How frequently do you see chat logs from those AI chats, how useful is it to you, and what do you think could be improved on in terms of the info you get?
  • My thought: Someone spending their time with a chat is probably more likely to be a more serious buyer than someone just clicking around and inquiring on every random vehicle they see.
  • Things seem to be the same as they were 8+ years ago when I was in the industry: You get flooded with "I'd like to confirm availability" leads that are basically worthless. Just throwing crap at a wall until something sticks.
• When users bypass the AI chat and use just the filters, you get informed on what filters they intentionally selected.
• The site has a vehicle comparison tool, and if one of those vehicles is inquired on, customers can opt in to share the vehicles they were comparing for more visibility to you.
• AI Negotiations/Deal Rooms (dealers can opt in/out of this). Vehicles with this option will be compared against other similar vehicles, if the platform has an invoice price in the database, the platform can figure out a reasonable negotiated price. It gives the customer an option to "Negotiate" that price with the dealer. The dealer can then counter offer online, or try to get the customer in the door. I would eventually like to incorporate more of the sales talk track into all of this, so it helps with getting people in the door.
  • AI Negotiations will also show customers vehicles that might be a little out of their desired payment, but there's a sales talk track to keep a customer open to that vehicle.
  • AI Negotiations do not guarantee or agree to prices. It always provides a disclaimer stating that the final price is up to the dealer.
  • Dealer can opt in all vehicles or certain vehicles in their inventory.
• Vehicle appraisal page guides users through taking photos and video of their trade, so it's not completely sight unseen, and you can be better prepared for an appraisal.
• The AI Chat bubble is offered as a 3rd Party tool that dealers can add to their site, and that's included in all of the packages offered to dealers. That chat interfaces directly with just your inventory.
• Package pricing will be consistent and competitive. This means one dealer isn't paying more than another dealer for the same package/inventory size. Obviously groups receive a discount.
• I'd love to learn more about what different dealers are paying. Over all my goal is to offer a better value (less pricey, better system, more included).

Questions For You:

I already have some dealers extremely interested in it.

• What are some of your complaints with the marketplace industry?
• What do you like/don't like about this concept?
• What would you like to see?
• What's the monthly average number of leads you receive from the different providers, and what's the ROI (how many come in, how many get closed out)
• What would make you want to sign up to have your inventory shown on a new provider like this? What would be one or two features that if this were to have it, you'd immediately want to sign up with no questions asked?

Side notes:

• It's getting testing in a development environment and should be live next weekend. I'm just waiting to hear back from JDPower about getting set up with Chrome VIN Decoding. That call is scheduled for later in the week.
• I'm offering a free 3-month trial to dealers interested in signing up... I hope this doesn't break rule 7.

Feel free to leave a comment here or message me since I know some topics like pricing, packaging, advertising information can be confidential. I'm always more than glad to schedule a call at some point as well, or if you're in the Denver/Northern Colorado area, I'm more than glad to meet up!


I'm going to try to attach images in a little bit. I need to figure out why DealerRefresh keeps saying my images are too large. I've tried resizing them.