Auto Trader and Cars.Com

[birch3x]

Does anyone have opinions on the real value of these services? We've had them both for years. Being nearly impossible to track their ROI we're wondering just how important they really are. We keep detailed information on that brings in actual buyers, and repeat and referral are most of our sales. Chrysler Digital olso drives customers to our websit and generates e mail leads. Just wondering what other dealers are doing and I think this forum is the perfect place to find out.

[79LilRedExpress]

Originally Posted by birch3x

Does anyone have opinions on the real value of these services? We've had them both for years. Being nearly impossible to track their ROI we're wondering just how important they really are. We keep detailed information on that brings in actual buyers, and repeat and referral are most of our sales. Chrysler Digital olso drives customers to our websit and generates e mail leads. Just wondering what other dealers are doing and I think this forum is the perfect place to find out.

That's a good question and we are currently looking at the same things.

We feel if we have a plain run of the mill vehicle, say a Impala for example, we do not get much response at all. Now a Cummins diesel will get a lot of attention, but we usually sell it locally before the internet shopper can get here to see it.

The problem is being a small dealer... we don't spend enough money with Autotrader to get the prime placement on searches... I think that hurts us a lot.

Our OEM web-site gets 3 to 4 times more new car hits than A/T.com

We do not use Cars.com at this time...

[chryslersrt8]

79LilRedExpress hit the nail on the head. The "Joe Average" car doesn't normally fair well on AutoTrader. The extra clean extra low mileage unit (2001 Chrysler 300 with 29,000 miles, clean CarFax) or the unique vehicle (2011 Harley Davidson Ford F-150 with 7000 miles, clean CarFax) work outstanding. Same with certain imports (low mileage Subaru, clean Honda CR-V). And diesel trucks seem to always sell well.

What surprises me is the number of over 60 year old customers we get on Auto Trader leads. Never expected it...was expecting generation X and younger. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Not familiar with cars.com. Chrysler's dealer.com is useful except we run into situations where Chrysler's call center keeps bugging customers for followups. Overall it is worthwhile.

In our area newspaper is just not cost effective anymore.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by 79LilRedExpress

The problem is being a small dealer... we don't spend enough money with Autotrader to get the prime placement on searches... I think that hurts us a lot.

I agree 100% - that's the exact same experience I had.

I could have customers who lived within a mile of the store I was working at looking on AutoTrader for a used car that I had on my lot but my listing would be buried behind 10 - 15 listings from other dealers that were 20+ miles away because they paid for AutoTrader's "premium" service.

Not only was my ad buried, but it looked inferior when compared to the ad format offered to the "premium" dealers. I remember looking into the cost to upgrade and it just didn't make sense for the volume/inventory of used cars our store had.

Originally Posted by 79LilRedExpress

Our OEM web-site gets 3 to 4 times more new car hits than A/T.com

It was also my experience that the quality of the lead was much better from Chrysler's Factory Site than any of the other services. My Internet guys quickly figured out that it made a lot more sense for them to spend their time chasing the Chrysler leads since the majority of those hits were real buyers.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

What surprises me is the number of over 60 year old customers we get on Auto Trader leads. Never expected it...was expecting generation X and younger. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Interesting comment - I would have found that to be surprising too. I think it's great that older people are adapting to new technology. Maybe they should get the special Internet/AARP price?

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

Chrysler's dealer.com is useful except we run into situations where Chrysler's call center keeps bugging customers for followups. Overall it is worthwhile.

Interesting. Is Chrysler just following up on the new car prospective customers or do they follow-up on the used car customers too? I know if I were a customer I'd hate that - I don't like follow-up phone calls when I'm making a purchase decision. If anything, it tends to steer me away from a product or dealer. (For me, email follow-ups are OK but phone calls are too invasive.)

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

In our area newspaper is just not cost effective anymore.

Totally agree.

I still remember when the Sales Manager at the store I was at listed the wrong price for a new truck in the dealership's display ad by mistake - the price was about $10K under Invoice. He was stressing out when he saw the newspaper and made certain that the corrected price was displayed on the front door of the showroom with an explanation that the price in the newspaper was wrong.

As you can probably guess, no customers came in asking about the truck.

[gingersnap]

We are very small dealer. We use it as a new car dealer trade device. So far just this month alone we have got 4 cars off of CARS.com for customers of ours. Granted it has been odd stuff but I like it for that reason alone. And believe or not when i call the dealer who has it so far are VERY KIND and Helpful and go out of there way for the most part. Unlike new car dealer trades.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by gingersnap

We are very small dealer. We use it as a new car dealer trade device. So far just this month alone we have got 4 cars off of CARS.com for customers of ours. Granted it has been odd stuff but I like it for that reason alone. And believe or not when i call the dealer who has it so far are VERY KIND and Helpful and go out of there way for the most part. Unlike new car dealer trades.

I want to make sure I understand, are you indicating that you have customers who are looking for a unique used car and you're using Cars.com to locate the vehicle and then you make a wholesale purchase so you can retail the vehicle to your customer?

If that's what you're doing, it sounds like a great idea. I imagine there are still a lot of customers who don't want to use the Internet to search for a vehicle and they'd probably also rather have the security in knowing that they purchased their vehicle locally from someone they know and trust.

The only downside that I can see is what happens if your customer decides they don't want the vehicle? Do you contract the customer before you make your wholesale purchase?

[gingersnap]

Originally Posted by XDCX

I want to make sure I understand, are you indicating that you have customers who are looking for a unique used car and you're using Cars.com to locate the vehicle and then you make a wholesale purchase so you can retail the vehicle to your customer?

If that's what you're doing, it sounds like a great idea. I imagine there are still a lot of customers who don't want to use the Internet to search for a vehicle and they'd probably also rather have the security in knowing that they purchased their vehicle locally from someone they know and trust.

The only downside that I can see is what happens if your customer decides they don't want the vehicle? Do you contract the customer before you make your wholesale purchase?

Yes thats is what we are doing. And yes we contact the customer before and tell them what the figures are first. And tell us yes or no.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by gingersnap

Yes thats is what we are doing. And yes we contact the customer before and tell them what the figures are first. And tell us yes or no.

Thanks for the update. That's a smart strategy and I'm happy to hear it's working well for your store and your customers.

[Swcorp]

For our LA market on the West Coast, I see a split 50/50 on both advertisement effectiveness! AT as you know have special placement depending on price package's you choose and New car has there own special packages. I spend about $4500 on each of my stores (per rooftop) Yikes!!! But tracking about 50 sales per month. Cars is about the same units sold for half the price from AT. So, I know your prob thinking why would i spend that much more on AT? Simple answer, I am selling CARS!!! I don't have a crystal ball on my next sell and where their coming from? People are confused when calling us where they saw us, That's what call whisper is for to track the calls. My sales and desk guys do a good job tracking where they came from once they arrive to the dealerships. But for the best bang for your bucks!!! CL...... Love them!!!

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by Swcorp

For our LA market on the West Coast, I see a split 50/50 on both advertisement effectiveness! AT as you know have special placement depending on price package's you choose and New car has there own special packages. I spend about $4500 on each of my stores (per rooftop) Yikes!!! But tracking about 50 sales per month. Cars is about the same units sold for half the price from AT. So, I know your prob thinking why would i spend that much more on AT? Simple answer, I am selling CARS!!! I don't have a crystal ball on my next sell and where their coming from? People are confused when calling us where they saw us, That's what call whisper is for to track the calls. My sales and desk guys do a good job tracking where they came from once they arrive to the dealerships. But for the best bang for your bucks!!! CL...... Love them!!!

Great post - thanks for sharing your experience.

I smiled when I read that you're spend twice as much with AutoTrader as you are with Cars.com but they generate the same results. While some people might question why you'd stick with AutoTrader, I liked your answer - because you're still selling cars. It would be like seeing a $50 and a $100 bill on the sidewalk - sure it's more profitable to pick up the $100 bill but there's no sense letting the $50 bill sit on the sidewalk too.

Concerning Craigslist, I agree it's one of the best resources out there.

[79LilRedExpress]

Looks like the competition is heating up...


Today’s car shopper is realizing that sites like TrueCar* and Edmunds offer “actionable intelligence” that can truly assist with a purchasing decision by serving as a “one-stop online automotive destination” – rather than simply serving as another “semi-useful resource” in the arduous online buying process. Even Google, has recently entered the new car lead process, with their “Google Commercial Unit For Cars” – how can AutoTrader compete? And while AutoTrader owns several other business units, I’m not aware of any these units offering a unique product that isn’t already offered by several other competitors.

(From: DRIVINGSALES.COM article)