Through a new pilot program between TrueCar and digital sales platform Roadster, consumers using TrueCar will be able to finalize their car buying deals digitally through an API that integrates into Roadster’s back-end software.

TrueCar president and chief executive officer Mike Darrow said that through the pilot program, TrueCar consumers at select dealerships will be able to build real car deals digitally.

That includes finance terms.

“The ability to finalize the terms of a car deal online is critical to creating a great retail experience,” Darrow said in a news release.

The capability is currently available at more than 650 dealers that work with both TrueCar and Roadster.

TrueCar said it aims for consumers to have as much or as little of their car buying experience online as they prefer. Consumers can research and find a car online, and get real pricing on an actual vehicle. They can receive a cash offer on their trade-in to use toward their new vehicle.

With the new program, consumers can extend the car buying experience even further online. They can do that by completing their deal terms digitally through the integration with Roadster.

TrueCar said the new program with Roadster is the first step in its work to use data exchanges and technology integrations with digital retailing providers such as Roadster to improve the car buying experience.

That approach modernizes data exchanges via API integrations built by partners such as Roadster.

TrueCar said the enhancement addresses what it describes as pain points for consumers and dealers, making car buying easier and eliminating unnecessary friction between buyers and sellers.

Consumers using the TrueCar and Roadster integration can now pick up on the dealer’s Express Storefront where they left off on TrueCar. They can do that without having to repeat any steps.

The consumer will see the same vehicle price, qualifying incentives, and lease/finance deal terms that they configured and were presented on TrueCar (subject to validation of the information provided by the consumer). Dealers will have all the pertinent deal structure inputs from the consumer and will see a more efficient process by passing the information into the dealer’s Roadster Admin sales tool for follow up.

TrueCar provided more detail on how the process works. Once a car buyer has built and personalized his or her deal on a vehicle on TrueCar, he or she can finalize terms of the deal with the option to enter into participating dealers’ “Express Store” powered by Roadster.

All the vehicle deal-building work configured by the TrueCar shopper is carried over from TrueCar into the “Roadster Admin” for follow-up. The dealer no longer must cross-reference or ask customers questions they have already answered on TrueCar.

“This puts customers and dealers on the same page, reducing friction,” TrueCar said. 

Online or offline, the consumer can finalize his or her deal terms with the dealer.

“Consumers want their car buying experience to be as easy as anything else,” said Roadster CEO Andy Moss, in the release.

Moss also said, “Through the development and use of robust retail APIs, like the one we are implementing here, we will now be able to create a seamless car buying experience for marketplaces like TrueCar. We are proud to work alongside such great partners like TrueCar to offer a modern end-to-end car buying solution that consumers have been waiting for.”