I think we should talk about this in real terms;
The web, the entire web, is made of templates that follow from previous designs. But that also happens to be the case for architecture, books, umbrellas, cars, bicycles, etc, and it is not a bad thing.
From time to time someone will break with the conformity of accepted patterns and at great risk and investment (not for $699/month!) will find a new application that works better for a particular set of circumstances (small application).
I think that we get lost on the fact that sometimes the "custom web" comes with content, graphics, and other things that the dealer wouldn't do with their previous website and hence the increase of performance (and I don't say this as a negative thing).
I'm very skeptical about informal usability layouts and weary about design ideas. Overlooking at 1000 websites (and Joe more than that) I would put informal design at the bottom of my list when it comes to increase a dealer's performance.
Custom is not always best in a large investment scenario, the next ones to up our business, real state and banks, got nothing custom (is only custom to their needs for the most part).
I strongly believe that non-custom became negative in our business as an inheritance of the 90s when Cobalt had one way to bake the cake and that was it. Nowadays there are many other important factors other than the perception of custom.
