Cars Commerce announced its “instant appraisal engine,” AccuTrade, has been selected by FordDirect as its preferred vehicle acquisition and trade and appraisal solution.

AccuTrade becomes the latest tool offered in The Shop, FordDirect’s newly launched e-commerce platform for more than 3,000 Ford dealers and Lincoln retailers.

AccuTrade is designed to speed transaction time by enabling digital instant offers for consumers while providing the dealership with turnkey, transparent acquisition systems that complete an accurate appraisal in less than five minutes, from anywhere.

Car Commerce said its data shows AccuTrade generated more than 275,000 instant offers for consumers in 2023, and retailers completed more than 1 million appraisals.

In addition, the company said, half of the retailers using AccuTrade in the service drive at least doubled their volume of service drive appraisals from January to December 2023.

“FordDirect’s mission as a trusted partner and resource to our retailers is to work with the best vendors in the market to support the needs of all Ford dealers and Lincoln retailers,” FordDirect CEO Dean Stoneley said in a news release. “Acquiring and quickly turning high-quality inventory is critical right now for dealerships, and we’re providing a new marketplace of vetted partners to meet those needs.”

Cars Commerce said AccuTrade provides:

Vehicle appraisal engine: The appraisal technology is designed to allow dealers to identify, find and procure the exact vehicles they want for their lot. Dealers can use Cars Commerce’s no-risk vehicle divestment options for any vehicles they’ve procured that they don’t want to retail.

Access to consumer inventory: Cars Commerce said the instant cash offer capabilities give consumers on Cars.com instant and transparent cash offers for their exact VINs.

Integration with dealership website: The AccuTrade appraisal engine and instant cash offer capabilities integrate into dealer websites as well as in-store processes, providing a consistent vehicle valuation experience for consumers in-store or online.

Plug-in appraisal with OBD scanner: Dealers can generate a VIN-specific valuation with AccuTrade’s onboard diagnostics tool – a physical product that plugs into the vehicle from the service drive or any preferred location, enabling dealers to obtain vehicle condition data directly from the vehicle’s electronic control units.