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Impel — DealerRefresh Vendor Library
Impel
36% · Criticized
27 DealerRefresh discussions
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Impel (formerly SpinCar, rebranded 2022) is an AI-powered customer lifecycle management platform purpose-built for automotive dealerships, offering generative AI products including Sales AI, Chat AI, and digital merchandising tools (360° WalkArounds, Video Tour) to automate lead engagement, appointment setting, service marketing, and omnichannel customer communications. The platform uses fine-tuned LLMs and proprietary models to handle vehicle-specific inquiries, trade-in/financing questions, and long-term follow-up across email, SMS, and web chat, and serves over 8,000 dealerships across 51 countries following its 2024 acquisition of Outsell. Impel is privately held and venture capital-backed, having raised over $130 million including a $104 million growth equity round led by Silversmith Capital Partners in 2023.
Community evidence → Stable
Impel has 27 mentions across 20+ years of DealerRefresh dealer discussion — rated 36% · Criticized. The community includes 4 positive and 7 negative takes.
27 mentions · 4 positive · 7 negative · Scored from 20+ years of candid DealerRefresh discussion. Scores shift as new conversations happen.
POSITIVE
"Have you considered something like FlickFusion or SpinCar that could do the photos and feed them into your website?"
NEEDED VINCAMERA →
POSITIVE
"SpinCar and IHS Markit announced the results of a six-month study measuring the impact of digital merchandising for automotive dealers. The study examined the relationship between shopper behaviors on dealer websites and vehicle purchase rates. SpinCar analyzed digital merchandising engagement behaviors and vehicle purchases of 4 million consumers over more than 200 dealer websites from July through November 2020."
SpinCar and Polk Automotive Research - The Impact of Digital Merchandising →
POSITIVE
"I recently joined Impel, formerly Spincar. I'll ask your CSM to ring you. They may be able to make a suggestion or show you a few examples of booth designs to pattern after."
Photo Booth Services →
POSITIVE
"other solutions like Impel"
Has anyone here used Vinsolution's Vinessa (Virtual Assistant) →
NEGATIVE
"The thread raises an alarm about automotive website vendors secretly harvesting dealer website traffic and selling shopper behavioral data to third-party advertising companies... It points to a related thread about SpinCar being caught doing exactly this... [URL="https://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/busted-spincar-caught-selling-dealer-data.5914/"]go there for more details and updates![/URL]"
Do you trust your vendors? →
NEGATIVE
"It appears SpinCar may be selling and/or diverting your website visitor data (maybe even lead data) to multiple 3rd parties AGAIN. And guess what, many of these 3rd parties may also be reselling and/or using your visitor data against you."
6600 Dealership Website Hack? - SpinCar At It Again? Clarivoy "hack the dom" →
NEGATIVE
"consensus that current offerings from vendors like Podium and Impel are inadequate and only CRM-integrated systems have viability"
Post Your 2025 Predictions →
NEGATIVE
"The man who exposed SpinCar and the ruthless industry siphoning your data underneath your nose."
Guest Suggestions →
NEGATIVE
"A dealer asks for real-world experiences with Impel AI and similar platforms for automated lead follow-up and engagement, comparing them to earlier solutions like Conversica. Respondents reveal significant skepticism about current AI solutions—while they can produce impressive individual conversations, they struggle with contextual judgment, creating awkward customer interactions and requiring substantial setup labor, with some recommending alternatives like Hammer AI and Seezar instead of Impel."
Using IMPEL A.I. for help in lead management/follow up? →
NEGATIVE
"Really good points and I see Spincar has been ignoring the entire episode. No pun intended."
Data Theft, SpinCar, and other mind blowers today →
NEGATIVE
"This is a very common issue with the Impel Spincar app - usually user error."
How much do you pay for photos? →
MIXED
"BUSTED Spincar caught selling dealer data A dealer alleged that SpinCar was selling customer data to competitors for profit... the original poster eventually reconciled with SpinCar after gaining more knowledge about their practices. 2021 EDIT: It has almost been 3 years since this post was originally started. In that time I have gotten to know the people at SpinCar and do not have the same fears of them I did."
BUSTED Spincar caught selling dealer data →
NEUTRAL
"I spoke with JP Petrovay from Impel about this yesterday. Impel will roll it out EOY or early in 2026."
AI Incoming Phone Call attendant for Sales Appt. Setting →
NEUTRAL
"Art Dessein from Impel discussing how AI is being practically applied in dealerships, with a focus on using AI to drive internal productivity rather than just consumer-facing applications."
What is A.I. doing for Car Dealers? | Art Dessein of Impel →
NEUTRAL
"I think there are a few companies that are likely on this course. Conversica, Impel, Reynolds/Gubagoo, etc."
Uncle Joe's Makeover Diary 2.0 →
NEUTRAL
"Or I can supplement my CRM and sales team with something like Hammer or Impel for around $1,500-$3,000/mo."
VinSolutions issues →
NEUTRAL
"would you have better adoption with app like Podium, Impel, etc that is integrated to the CRM for that status update?"
No Show Appointments →
NEUTRAL
"Congrats on making the shift from Impel to FourEyes."
Is the promise of "Big Data" back from the dead? →
NEUTRAL
"A study by Impel and Cresta reveals that AI has significantly improved dealership internet lead responsiveness, increasing top-tier response rates by 90% within 10 minutes."
AI raises dealerships’ internet lead responsiveness →
NEUTRAL
"I am running an AI tool, Impel, at one location on top of Vin but layering solutions isn't ideal as it creates more admin for sales people."
Carfax Advantage Dealer →
NEUTRAL
"We are a dealer group with multiple vendors doing marketing outreach for us (elead, automastermind, impel, mailchimp, weststates, etc)."
Marketing Opt Out →
NEUTRAL
"I've recently hired on with Impel and have been digging through a lot of data that echos your sentiment."
You’re Firing the Wrong People! - Reconsidering the BDC →
NEUTRAL
"some chat providers (Podium, TOMA, Impel, PAM) are willing to optimize their code for speed"
Conversion vs. CWV: Finding a Chat Provider That Doesn't Tank Rankings →
NEUTRAL
"visits to vendor booths (Impel, Cox Automotive, GM)"
NADA 2023 - making DealerRefresh connections at the show →
NEUTRAL
"A DealerRefresh Recap: Our New Redesign, SpinCar, Digital Retailing, and More"
A DealerRefresh Recap: Our New Redesign, SpinCar, Digital Retailing, and More →
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