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Dealer.com — DealerRefresh Vendor Library
Dealership website platform and digital marketing solution owned by Cox Automotive.
About suggest a correction →
Dealership website platform and digital marketing solution owned by Cox Automotive.
What you do with it
improve their website's search engine visibility and ranking for local market keywords, so they can capture more organic traffic and inbound leads without paid media spend
When a dealer needs to attract in-market shoppers through organic search
deploy and manage a dealership website with inventory display, promotional content, and lead capture, so they can convert more site visitors into actionable sales leads
When a dealer needs a primary digital storefront to showcase inventory and generate leads
make real-time updates to site content, inventory pricing, and digital advertising from a unified platform, so they can maintain an accurate, on-brand web presence without dependence on vendor support for routine changes
When a dealer or dealer group needs to control website content, pricing rules, and advertising across locations
Community evidence → Stable
The DealerRefresh community presents a sharply divided picture of Dealer.com. On the positive side, specific SEO wins are cited — one dealer reports jumping from position 40 to position 3 in weeks — and the platform is frequently named as a preferred primary website vendor over alternatives like Cobalt. However, persistent and serious negatives dominate the thread volume: dealers report paying premium prices ($599–$1,600+/month, sometimes OEM-mandated with no opt-out) while encountering extra fees for basic content changes, poor support responsiveness, widespread site outages, a critical meta-data cross-contamination bug affecting multiple clients' Google listings, and a URL vulnerability raising SEO and brand integrity concerns. Canadian dealers describe a particularly degraded experience following Auto Trader Canada's involvement. The overall community sentiment is that Dealer.com has strong platform potential but is undermined by reliability, pricing transparency, and service execution failures.
Pricing and fee transparency5 mentions
Support quality and responsiveness6 mentions
SEO performance4 mentions
Platform reliability and uptime3 mentions
Technical bugs and data integrity3 mentions
Dealer control over website content4 mentions
OEM-mandated vendor lock-in2 mentions
Canadian market / Auto Trader Canada degradation2 mentions
Platform preference vs. competitors (Cobalt, DealerOn, Clickmotive)4 mentions
Inventory video and multimedia capabilities2 mentions
Multi-store / group-level access and management1 mention
210 mentions · 42 positive · 42 negative · Scored from 20+ years of candid DealerRefresh discussion. Scores shift as new conversations happen.
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"We recently launched our dealer.com powered group inventory site on [URL="http://www.usedcarsaustin.co"]www.usedcarsaustin.co[/URL] domain"
.co (dot CO) Domains - Anyone doing a good job getting their .co domains ranked? →
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"I have looked at products by Dealer.com, and outside the industry."
SEM - determining budget →
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"Dealer.com is recruiting an SEO Manager to lead their search engine marketing strategy and manage an in-house team of analysts while collaborating with product, marketing, and sales teams."
SEO Manager →
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"A dealer.com user shared a reference key of Google Analytics events that Dealer.com pre-codes into their sites, tracking specific user interactions like VDP engagement, MyCars logins, and faceted search filtering."
Google Events for Dealer.com sites →
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"paid solutions like Dealer.com's Social Relationship Manager"
How do you Montor Your Reputation Online? →
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"Dealer.com functions primarily as an Internet Lead Management (ILM) tool rather than a full-featured CRM"
Where does Dealer.com's CRM fall in terms of quality? →
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"after evaluating options like Dealer.com, Cobalt, and Dealer Socket"
Anyone have advice for the overwhelming amount of vendors these days? →
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"Patrick Workman posted a job listing for a Sales Director position at Dealer.com, reporting to the Account Management Team Manager and responsible for mentoring 5-10 Account Managers while maintaining an individual sales quota focused on upselling existing clients."
Dealer.com Sales Director, Account Management →
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"Dealer.com's (Social Relationship Manager)"
What should you pay for a social media offering and who do you guys recommend? →
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"debate between templated solutions (Dealer.com, eBizAutos) versus custom agency builds. The consensus favors templated platforms for smaller dealerships due to cost-effectiveness and proven conversion rates"
Website Vendors? →
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"Jeff Kershner from Dealer.com outlines the core features of their Digital Marketing platform and SmartSite offering, including website construction, SEO optimization, inventory management, and call tracking capabilities."
Dealer.com - list of features. →
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"Respondents clarify that Dealer.com offers mobile sites but not a dedicated app, and point toward third-party solutions like DealerApp by Zocalo Labs"
I-Phone App Integration with Websites →
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"leveraging Cox Automotive's suite of products (Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and Dealer.com) to help dealers meet their business objectives"
Digital Media Sales Reps (Multiple Roles, Nationwide) →
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"A motorcycle dealer seeking third-party tools to automatically post 100-150 used bikes from their Dealer.com inventory feed to Craigslist and eBay"
Which third party tools do you lkike for help posting to Craigslist, eBay, etc? →
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"Bob George of Dealer.com discussing trending topics from the DealerRefresh forums"
Refresh Friday with Mike Phillips of McCloskey Motors and Bob George of Dealer.com →
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"after acquiring DealerTrack (which owned multiple CRMs) while already owning VINSolutions and Dealer.com"
DealerTrack VS DDC VS VINSolutions - But Cox still Wins →
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"We are currently partnered with the best automotive technology vendors, so if you've been reading DealerRefresh you can expect to become familiar with: Dealer.com, iMagicLab, ActivEngage and a few"
Checkered Flag Internet Department →
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"ranging from established players like Dealer.com (Cox Automotive) and Dealer Inspire (Cars.com) to smaller, specialized providers"
Listing of all the Dealership Website Hosting Companies →
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"explores solutions including Dealer.com's built-in QR feature and manual sitemap parsing. The original poster ultimately develops his own custom solution by parsing the dealer.com sitemap.xml file"
Dealer.com - Deep Linking to Detail Page by Stock Number? →
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"Our primary website is our dealer.com site, that has a dynamic tracking number."
The Phone is not ringing?? →
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"Dealer.com is recruiting a SEM (Search Engine Marketing) Manager to lead their paid search strategy and manage an in-house team of analysts."
SEM Manager →
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"potential appearances by Mike Lane and Rick Gibbs (Dealer.com founders)"
Guest Suggestions →
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"Exact same website platform (Trader smart solutions aka Dealer.com)"
Good ol conversion question →
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"String Automotive's blog (with platform-specific guides for Vinsolutions, Cobalt, and Dealer.com)"
List of Google Analytics Goals per Automotive Web Platform →
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"GM's iMR-approved SEO providers, asking the community whether there are vendors beyond the six listed (CDK, Dealer E Process, Local Spectrum by SMG, Naked Lime, Search Optics, and Dealer.com)"
GM iMR-Approved SEO Providers →
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"keeping inventory listings current across dealer.com and other platforms, particularly after experiencing increased inventory turnover from cash-for-clunkers"
Live inventory display management →
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"I just got back from a Dealer.com visit and when I visit they ask me to spend some time with their Account Management/Support team for some Q/A time."
Selling cars on facebook →
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"Dealer.com is not necessarily "newer" or more advanced than Clickmotive—Clickmotive actually offers more customization, while Dealer.com has lighter code and faster load times, though both vendors offer similar core features and technology."
Clickmotive VS DealerCom →
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"FCA announced multiple website provider options beyond Dealer.com for Q2, prompting dealers to discuss the implications of OEM-approved vendor lists."
New FCA Website Options →
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"Sharko documents his experience switching from one dealer website vendor to Dealer.com"
Breaking-Up and Switching Vendors: The Story →
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