Automotive diagnostic tools and information provider CarMD.com now is offering vehicle history reports to anyone who can access the Internet.
Now accessible online as well as via the new CarMD App, site officials Monday expanded the availability of their Health and History reports, which they believe are ideal to assist used-vehicle buyers in their purchase decisions.
With each VIN-specific Health and History Report, users can obtain the following information about the vehicle:
— Accident, theft, hail, fire and flood damage history
— Five-year cost of ownership
— Average miles per gallon
— If it has ever had its odometer rolled back
— Sales history, market value and the most current title information
— Upcoming maintenance items, including some beyond manufacturer recommendations
— Exclusive CarMD Predictive Failure listing probability of things likely to go wrong with the vehicle in the next year and estimated cost to repair
The cost is a bundle of five CarMD Health and History reports for $25.
Both the app and CarMD Health and History reports are available to anyone, whether or not you are a CarMD tool owner. Consumers who want additional information about the current health of a vehicle — including emissions test readiness, details about why the check engine light is on and related repair costs — may be interested in purchasing a CarMD Mobile product.
This Bluetooth-enabled handheld device can connect to the vehicle’s OBD2 port and works with the CarMD app to provide diagnostic information such as diagnostic trouble code severity, layperson’s description of the problem, and most likely fix including parts and labor.
“There are some great tools available to help used car and truck shoppers check vehicle history and see fair market value, but this is the first app to offer vehicle history along with CarMD’s proprietary maintenance and Predictive diagnostic information,”CarMD chief executive officer Ieon Chen said.
“For years CarMD has been the go-to source to empower drivers to solve check engine problems. With these new mobile tools, we are bringing our expertise to used-car shoppers to help them make smart buying decisions and avoid purchasing a potential lemon,” Chen added.
For more information or to purchase a CarMD report, visit this website or download the CarMD app that now available on the App Store and Google Play.
Carvana has launched a trade-in and valuation tool called Cardian Angel that is designed to generate a guaranteed written appraisal and video explaining why the value is what it is — all within two minutes, the company says.
Carvana said in Wednesday’s news release that through the Cardian Angel website, a consumer can punch in his or her car’s VIN or make/model/year to get the process started, then answer questions about its history, condition and features.
Cardian Angel then uses proprietary Carvana technology to verify the information via wholesale and retail value databases, Experian AutoCheck and other third-party sources.
The product then provides the trade-in value and the personalized video.
The consumer can then choose from the following:
— Use the trade-in value as a down payment on a Carvana online vehicle purchase. Carvana would then pick up their trade and deliver the new car.
— Sell the vehicle to Carvana, which would bring the customer a check and pick up the vehicle.
— Simply walk away, and use the value for informational/research purposes.
“Knowing what your car is worth and, even more importantly, the reasons why it’s worth that much, is an incredibly empowering piece of knowledge to possess,” said Ernie Garcia, founder and chief executive offier of Carvana. “To date, consumers have had to go through an opaque dealership-driven process that leaves them feeling less informed about the true value of their car.
“Carvana’s mission is to create a better car buying and car selling experience, and we are excited to launch a vehicle valuation tool, that for the first time ever, is efficient and simple-to-use, fun and engaging and, best of all, fully transparent. Regardless of where you are in the process of buying, selling or owning a car, Cardian Angel is something everyone needs in their arsenal.”
CDK Global has acquired NewCarIQ and RedBumper from Pearl Technology Holdings.
CDK said Wednesday it will combine the solutions of NewCarIQ (which focuses on new-car stocking and management of OEM incentives for dealers) and RedBumper, which focuses on used-car inventory management.
This will give dealers a combined platform offering “a comprehensive set of tools for dealers to manage both their new and used car inventory, CDK said.
"CDK is focused on providing a seamless easy-to-use experience for all of our dealer clients," said Malcolm Thorne, chief global strategy officer at CDK Global. "Inventory management is at the heart of every dealership. Our new inventory management solution will be the first of its kind in the automotive retail industry."
CDK currently provides new- and used-car inventory management tools separately via NewCarIQ and RedBumper.
"This is exciting news for the industry and will help dealers manage their profit centers more effectively," said Bruce Thompson, chief executive officer and founder of Pearl Technology Holdings. "Effective inventory management is probably the most critical component to the success of any dealership and bringing new and used together in one integrated application makes perfect sense for today's dealer."
Reynolds and Reynolds announced Tuesday that it has acquired ReverseRisk, a Web-based analytics reporting platform for automotive dealers.
ReverseRisk will be added as part of the Reynolds Retail Management System portfolio of solutions and can be used by any dealership regardless of their DMS.
According to the company, the platform delivers business information and analytics to dealers, aiming to help dealers assess their dealership’s performance and operating results.
Robert Burnett, Reynolds’ senior vice president for business development and acquisitions, explained the thought process behind the acquisition.
“Dealers I speak with consistently point out that one of the biggest challenges they face is how to identify the right information at the right time to continually optimize their dealership’s performance,” Burnett said. “That’s what ReverseRisk delivers. It’s intelligent, timely business information and analytics at a dealer’s fingertips — smarter, faster, better — that can lead to improved operating results and dealership performance.”
Of course one key trait of a Web-based platform is that it’s available anywhere there’s an internet connection, and the company says any device with internet access can use ReverseRisk. The platform allows information to be shared simply with dealer management, helping them to achieve their objectives from just about anywhere.
Reynolds believes that ReverseRisk is a prime candidate for a standalone reporting platform and “eliminates the need for dealership managers to use multiple reporting systems in order to gain a complete picture of their operations.”
“In the same way that Apple’s technology ecosystem is easy to use but incredibly sophisticated, ReverseRisk is an easy-to-use reporting platform with the sophistication behind the scenes,” Burnett said. “For single- and multi-point dealerships, ReverseRisk delivers complete control of their data and provides usable, relevant information for ongoing operating improvements.”
David Spisak, president and co-founder of ReverseRisk, says he is excited for company to join Reynolds and Reynolds.
“Being part of a company with the proven innovation and product development prowess of Reynolds will be a tremendous advantage for ReverseRisk and for our customers,” Spisak said. “We look forward to continuing to serve and support our current ReverseRisk customers and to adding new customers working with Reynolds.”
As part of a separate, prior partnership, ReverseRisk will continue to also be resold by NCM Associates under the NCM axcessa name to its automotive clients.
AutoPoint released its new mobile technology service drive solution for dealers today, called WelcomePoint, aimed at enhancing the greeting and write-up process.
Acknowledging the service drive as a primary area to enhance customers’ experiences and encourage return business and sustain profitability, WelcomePoint aims to personalize the service process through customer engagement as well as by using the service drive space to jumpstart the inspection process and proactively suggest service recommendations.
“We designed WelcomePoint to solidify the service relationship between the motorist and their dealership from the point of arrival onward,” said Rich Holland, AutoPoint’s managing director. “With WelcomePoint, we anticipate remarkable advancements in motorist engagement and service execution.”
Using tablet-based technology, WelcomePoint allows service advisers to greet customers on the drive by name and view their individual vehicle’s service history. It also allows advisers to pull up vehicle recall data and see current prepaid maintenance plans or previously declined service suggestions. WelcomePoint also includes walk-around inspection tools and photo capabilities that are integrated into AutoPoint’s existing MultiPoint inspection solution.
For more information on AutoPoint and its related features, visit its site here.
Outsell announced Thursday several enhancements to its buyer-detection product, BuyerScout, which aim to help dealers better manage their energy toward sales.
The BuyerScout solution now features integration with dealer CRMs via Outsell Connect and a simpler “most likely buyers” report aimed at improving ease-of-use for dealers.
According to Outsell, the new features make BuyerScout the first machine learning-powered analytics solution for dealerships. The company says BuyerScout is also the most popular add-on in Outsell’s flagship Outsell Fuel multi-channel customer engagement platform.
“The response to Outsell BuyerScout from dealers has been nothing short of amazingly positive,” said Mike Wethington, Outsell’s founder and chief executive officer. “Nearly every dealer that signs on for the Outsell Fuel platform now buys BuyerScout as well. It provides valuable intelligence about customers and prospects that they just can’t get any other way.”
BuyerScout is powered by a core of proprietary analytics models which predict consumer behavior to help dealers identify, understand and speak to individual customers and prospects to generate more sales. The models constantly react to new data through its machine learned dynamic predictive models.
After analyzing behavioral trends and tracking consumer engagements, the program alerts dealers when its current customers and prospects are in the market. The company says that the initial results on the upgraded BuyerScout models show an increase in conversion rates of up to 5.1 times and up to 2.1 times higher volumes of identified in-market buyers.
For more information on BuyerScout, visit its site here.
LotVantage recently announced that it has finalized an agreement with eBay Motors to become one of the latter’s Preferred Solutions Providers.
According to the company, doing so extends the reaches of LotVantage’s fully integrated software solution for the automotive, powersports, marine, RV, commercial truck, trailer and outdoor power equipment industries.
“LotVantage has been a leader in online marketing for over the last 12 years,” said Matthew Brown, LotVantage’s chief executive officer. “As a firm believer in the power of eBay and their local and national marketing packages, I believe this product is a must have for dealerships to leverage quality leads and secure online transactions. Dealerships are constantly looking for ways to handle their transactions and eBay has been doing this for over a decade.”
Jim Jabaay, LotVantage’s vice president of sales, says having the PSP designation will help extend advantages to the company’s reseller partners.
“LotVantage is eager to grow our eBay product offering to our nearly 4,000 dealerships, both direct and through our reseller partners,” Jabaay said. “LotVantage is now positioned to work with more dealerships than ever before.”
For more information about LotVantage, visit its site here.
Dominion Dealer Solutions announced the integration of its Dominion ACCESS dealer management system with General Motors’ MyPriceLink.
According to Dominion, ACCESS is the first automotive DMS to integrate with MyPriceLink, the latter which provides GM’s real-time retail and trade pricing for collision parts to its dealers in lieu of fixed list prices.
All GM dealers that use Dominion ACCESS now have MyPriceLink integration available with any subscription to CollisionLink PLUS, allowing any GM dealer with the subscription to export a quote or order information from the MyPriceLink tools within the ACCESS invoice system. Dominion also sends invoicing info to the dealer back through the MyPriceLink application, saying it increases the speed of reimbursement for GM dealers that use the Bump 2.0 program.
“Our customers expect solution and we are very proud to be the first DMS to complete the integration,” said Van Koppersmith, the president of Dominion DMS. “MyPriceLink allows our dealers to work seamlessly with body shops and collision estimating systems insuring fast, accurate pricing on GM parts. By eliminating much of the time-consuming quote building process, parts departments can focus on fulfilling the order and delivering the parts in a timely manner.”
Dominion Dealer Solutions recently took part in a three-month dealer pilot of the MyPriceLink integration. The integration is available at no additional cost to any GM dealer using Dominion ACCESS. For more information on Dominion Dealer Solutions’ offerings, click here.
Shift Technologies has officially expanded and brought its services to consumers in the nation’s capital. The peer-to-peer online car marketplace announced Wednesday morning that its first East Coast hub has opened in Washington, D.C.
The company said this move marks the beginning of its cross-country growth plans. It is also the first time greater D.C. residents will be able to utilize Shift’s services, and follows an announcement last month that Shift would be investing $20 million in an East Coast workforce based out of Northern Virginia.
Essentially, the D.C. hub will bring area consumers Shift’s services and serve as the company’s East Coast operational center.
“We’ve been eyeing D.C. as our first East Coast expansion city for some time now,” Shift co-founder and chief executive officer George Arison said in a news release. “Aside from being the geographic epicenter of the East Coast, D.C. is a city of commuters who rely heavily on their cars for navigating through daily life.
“Our unique model has created significant value and efficiencies for both buyers and sellers throughout California, which we know will change the game for drivers in D.C. and beyond,” he added.
Shift aims to operate in 20 cities by the end of the year. Last month, Auto Remarketing spoke with Toby Russell, the business and product lead at Shift, who will be leading the Northern Virginia operation.
He explained how the engineering workforce investment the company is making there fits into the overall expansion plans.
Essentially, Shift has two applications. There's the consumer-facing app, which a buyer or seller would use. Second is the app for Shift's “car enthusiasts,” who check out the vehicles, inspect them, bring them to the warehouse and take care of washing, detailing and posting online.
“Just as Uber has their passenger and driver app, we have our … end-consumer and our car enthusiast or internal apps,” Russell said. “San Francisco will be building and focusing on the consumer-facing, the equivalent of the passenger app. And D.C. is going to be focusing on our internal apps, that kind of core engine that will help us to deliver the great service and the experience that we create.
“The thing is, you can get a certain amount on the way, doing duct tape and bailing wire, working and having manual processes … but the, really, re-invention, the way we're scaling and the way we intend to go nationwide is really building out the technology with those internal apps that are going to allow us to scale out Shift,” he said. “That's the technology we're going to build in Virginia.”
Instamotor co-founder and former car salesman Val Gui had just about every job imaginable during his dealership days.
“I sold cars on the floor, I did financing, I opened up new stores for the company, (business) development, and basically every job,” Gui said.
After his work with Victory Automotive Group, one of the biggest takeaways for Gui was just how “capital-intensive” running a dealership can be: inventory costs, facilities, employees and so on.
So, when he co-founded his own company, the goal was to serve a different segment — private-party buyers and sellers — and find a way to do so in a less capital-heavy manner.
The result was Instamotor, a peer-to-peer car marketplace app based out of San Francisco that recently completed its beta launch. The company has since expanded into its first market outside of California, bringing its services to the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas.
And Instamotor has continued expansion on its radar for 2016, Gui said. There are currently about 1,000 cars per month sold in California on the platform, and Gui pinpoints the annual gross merchandise volume at $150 million.
With its foot (boot?) in the Lonestar State, Instamotor has its eyes on continuing growth in Texas and the Midwest, Gui said.
“There’s large markets that are still open, and we believe that we can come in and help clean up what’s going on in private-party transactions, and really try to add that trust and safety and some value to both buyers and sellers,” he said.
What makes Instamotor different?
The increasing presence of direct-to-consumer or peer-to-peer services like Instamotor and their recent expansions have become a common theme in the used-car space, particularly as the industry mainstays are ramping up their digital operations, as well.
But Instamotor sees itself as somewhat different than similar platforms, Gui said.
“We see ourselves as more of a pure marketplace than a lot of other players out there. We really see ourselves as being similar to something like Craigslist, except that we focus on trust and safety within the marketplace,” he said.
It doesn't offer shared services like some of its peers do, Gui said, but there are no transaction fees for buyers or sellers.
Again, Instamotor also focuses on the private-party sector, instead of the crowd that would typically go to the dealership to buy vehicles.
“There’s really two types of consumers. On one side are the consumers that are a little bit more convenience-sensitive. These are the consumers that are willing to go to the dealership … they want to have that variety there, they want to have that physical help with the financing and the test drive, and to walk them through it,” Gui said. “And that’s what the other players are targeting.”
Instamotor, meanwhile, hones in on the consumers who know they want to go the private-party route, he said. Part of why the company does not charge transaction fees, Gui said, is because many choose the private-party route for the financial benefit.
In essence, the company targets the private-party buyers and sellers since, “we feel like that market has been underserved substantially in the past,” Gui said.
Financing
Auto Remarketing also asked Gui about the financing options Instamotor has available.
“That’s actually what our business model is based off of. We know that there’s going to be a portion of consumers that will need financing to purchase a vehicle. And we’ve partnered with other people to help with that financing aspect of it,” he said. “And we try to make it fast and easy on the app so that they can get that application and be ready with a financing offer that they can make a purchase with. That’s actually how we bring in our revenue.”
The company works with a vendor that has partnerships with banks and credit unions, Gui said.
Working with traditional players
Many of Instamotor’s peers have partnerships with companies that would be considered some of the more traditional automotive players. Instamotor is no different in that regard. For instance, the company’s vehicle listings include vehicle history information from Experian AutoCheck. And there may be more collaboration with industry mainstays to come.
“I think that the traditional players still have a role in what’s going on,” Gui said. “I can’t get into specifics, but we are in talks with some very traditional players around some partnerships that’s going to help both of us. And we believe that there is value there for everyone. So that’s something that we’re very bullish on.”
