Community evidence
→ Stable
Dealer Specialties has 35 mentions across 20+ years of DealerRefresh dealer discussion — rated 43% · Mixed. The community includes 6 positive and 8 negative takes.
35 mentions · 6 positive · 8 negative · Scored from 20+ years of candid DealerRefresh discussion. Scores shift as new conversations happen.
POSITIVE
"Keith has built a terrific CRM which we have discovered works beautifully with our own robust products such as Dominion VUE DMS, DealActivator, Dealer Specialties IVM and Prime Response."
iMagicLab/CRMSuite is now Dominion's CRM →
POSITIVE
"Dealer Specialties is the largest provider of inventory collection services in the industry and we are proud to offer our clients instant updates of their data and photos."
XIGroup introduces real-time inventory →
POSITIVE
"users recommending dealers either push back for a refund/exception or bypass Cobalt altogether by using the Dealer Specialties frame-in option"
Nice job fleecing us Cobalt... →
NEGATIVE
"Stefan seeks recommendations for inventory management software to replace Dealer Specialties"
Inventory Manager →
NEGATIVE
"Many years ago (~2001) Trader Publishing/ Dealer Specialties took this stance and was beaten to a pulp over it. One of the most uncomfortable meetings I've ever been in involving one of the VPs of a big national organizations getting up and walking out of the meeting and saying 'when dealers find out about this, you'll have no business left'. Luckily, Trader eventually backed down from this stance"
Photography Ownership by Third Party →
NEGATIVE
"I managed a market for Dealer Specialties in a past life, these kind of "shortcuts" cost a lot of time refreshing data to the classified sites, and really, FAIL Blog shouldn't be on your top list of sites for Free exposure."
FAIL Blog may not be the best place to advertise... →
MIXED
"the consensus points to either a data mapping issue between Dealer Specialties and eCarList or poor implementation on eCarList's side, with the suggested solution being to switch to a more robust data feed from Dealer Specialties"
eCarList System Wide VIN Decoder Problem →
MIXED
"this is actually a franchise service (OnSight Solutions/Dealer Specialties) that handles both production and installation, costing around $1,200/month for dealers stocking 40 units. While some members debate the ROI (noting $48 per sticker is expensive compared to digital marketing)"
Windshield Custom Printed Sticker anyone??? →
NEUTRAL
"uploaded to our site through dealer specialties, and pushed to cars.com, autotrader, etc, they are gone. Is there anything I can do to speed up the process? We currently clean the vehicles and take photos within 2 days. I am wondering about the digital side of the process. || You would need to work with your inventory provider. There [I]shouldn't[/I] be that much of a delay on it. If Dealer Specialties uploads the inventory the same day they take it."
How can I get my vehicles uploaded and on sites like cars.com and autotrader faster? →
NEUTRAL
"several professionals respond with specific solutions including Dealer Specialties DS2Go, TeleText Solutions, and DealerHD—each offering features like individual vehicle texting, media integration, and mobile VIP customer lists"
Text Marketing Vendors →
NEUTRAL
"WordPress build with a custom inventory plugin integrated with Dealer Specialties data feeds"
Suss Buick GMC →
NEUTRAL
"A third-party site operator asks for a list of inventory aggregators beyond Dealer Specialties that offer bulk daily inventory uploads."
Who are the inventory aggregators? →
NEUTRAL
"the option to start with a DIY program through their current vendor, Dealer Specialties"
Pictures/labels →
NEUTRAL
"Multiple vendors are recommended as solutions, including standalone texting platforms (DealerHD), Teletext Solutions, Dealer Specialties, and HomeNet Automotive, with several forum members providing direct contact information for sales representatives."
Question about getting leads through text messaging →