As AutoStar Solutions opened its seventh annual Innovate conference on Monday by highlighting six of the top new capabilities of its new DMS — Fusion 2 or F2 — president and chief executive officer Allen Dobbins explained how buy-here, pay-here dealers and finance company executives can sidestep the entrepreneurship landmines common in the industry. During […] [Read More]

Haystak Digital Marketing announced this week its partnership with vAuto to integrate their search marketing campaigns for shared users. The combination of vAuto’s pricing data along with Haystak’s inventory tool links pay-per-click ads to the attributes and retailing objectives for specific used vehicles. Duncan Scarry, the founder of Haystak, commented on the integration of the […] [Read More]

Thanks to the power of the Internet and regulatory zeal for them, consumer complaints boast a shelf life that’s more on par with red wine than red roses. Disagree? Consider this story Terry O’Loughlin shared earlier this year. O’Loughlin, now the director of compliance at Reynolds and Reynolds, spent 16 years with the Florida attorney […] [Read More]

AutoTrader.com’s Buy-Here, Pay-Here Center rolled out to the market a little more than three months ago. In that span, site officials highlighted four significant improvements that already have been unveiled as now more than 500 BHPH dealers nationwide are leveraging the platform to reach buyers in their specific market. In a recent phone conversation with […] [Read More]

We’ve all seen the ads that say, “We’ll help you get better credit by reporting your on-time payments to the credit bureaus.” These ads may accurately tout your customers’ advantage when you furnish their payment histories to the credit bureaus. This furnishing may help you, too, by lowering your cost of credit reports and credit […] [Read More]

I frequently receive phone calls from buy-here, pay-here operators who complain that the deep subprime auto market has changed. Reasons cited are: 1. More competition 2. Customers are more selective about the vehicles they want to buy. 3. Operating and vehicle acquisition costs have increased. 4. There are more regulatory challenges 5. Customers are not […] [Read More]

It’s hard to keep track of all online sales leads — and it is especially hard to discern which shoppers are ready to buy. AutoLoop has launched a new tool it says alerts sales personnel when ready-to-buy prospects are generated from dealership Web traffic, in real-time. The company’s Essentials product now includes what it’s calling Instant Online Leads.  “As […] [Read More]

Compliance is no longer something you can ignore. I know you have heard this over and over for a couple of years now.  You may believe you are a small operation and they won’t pay attention to you. Keep telling yourself that, and you could have a rude awakening one day. The website hosted by […] [Read More]

I just heard an old Korean saying that simply states, “It is dark under a lamp.” The concept — that a lamp illuminates everything out in front of it but can’t shed light on what lies just beneath — helps remind us that we don’t always need to look far for the answers we seek. […] [Read More]

When you read the headline of this article you may have felt some doubt. What could possibly offer all of the benefits mentioned? They are not even in the same category. It may not be anything you have ever thought about seriously doing, but it could be the “Best Idea Winner” at your next 20 […] [Read More]