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Dealer.com — DealerRefresh Vendor Library
Dealership website platform and digital marketing solution owned by Cox Automotive.
About suggest a correction →
Dealership website platform and digital marketing solution owned by Cox Automotive.
What you do with it
improve their website's search engine visibility and ranking for local market keywords, so they can capture more organic traffic and inbound leads without paid media spend
When a dealer needs to attract in-market shoppers through organic search
deploy and manage a dealership website with inventory display, promotional content, and lead capture, so they can convert more site visitors into actionable sales leads
When a dealer needs a primary digital storefront to showcase inventory and generate leads
make real-time updates to site content, inventory pricing, and digital advertising from a unified platform, so they can maintain an accurate, on-brand web presence without dependence on vendor support for routine changes
When a dealer or dealer group needs to control website content, pricing rules, and advertising across locations
Community evidence → Stable
The DealerRefresh community presents a sharply divided picture of Dealer.com. On the positive side, specific SEO wins are cited — one dealer reports jumping from position 40 to position 3 in weeks — and the platform is frequently named as a preferred primary website vendor over alternatives like Cobalt. However, persistent and serious negatives dominate the thread volume: dealers report paying premium prices ($599–$1,600+/month, sometimes OEM-mandated with no opt-out) while encountering extra fees for basic content changes, poor support responsiveness, widespread site outages, a critical meta-data cross-contamination bug affecting multiple clients' Google listings, and a URL vulnerability raising SEO and brand integrity concerns. Canadian dealers describe a particularly degraded experience following Auto Trader Canada's involvement. The overall community sentiment is that Dealer.com has strong platform potential but is undermined by reliability, pricing transparency, and service execution failures.
Pricing and fee transparency5 mentions
Support quality and responsiveness6 mentions
SEO performance4 mentions
Platform reliability and uptime3 mentions
Technical bugs and data integrity3 mentions
Dealer control over website content4 mentions
OEM-mandated vendor lock-in2 mentions
Canadian market / Auto Trader Canada degradation2 mentions
Platform preference vs. competitors (Cobalt, DealerOn, Clickmotive)4 mentions
Inventory video and multimedia capabilities2 mentions
Multi-store / group-level access and management1 mention
210 mentions · 42 positive · 42 negative · Scored from 20+ years of candid DealerRefresh discussion. Scores shift as new conversations happen.
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"one Dealer.com employee cited a controlled A/B test showing video increased time on site and conversions"
Best Inventory Video Vendor Poll? →
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"the key insight is that dealers need transparency on lead sources (which Dealer.com already provides) to properly segment and follow up on leads appropriately"
FordDirect Lead Quality →
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"A GM dealer seeks recommendations on switching from Cobalt to a new website platform, with commenters suggesting VinSolutions, Dealer.com, DealerLab, DealerFire, and others, each with varying endorsements based on personal experience."
Vinsolutions/DealerOn/Dealer.com or cobalt for website? →
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"receives suggestions for DealerSocket, Dealer.com, ELeads, ProMax, and VinSolutions. The discussion reveals that while Dealer.com offers superior user experience for BDCs"
Looking for feedback on various CRM products →
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"while maintaining integration with Dealer.com and ELeads"
Alternatives for appraisal tools. →
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"digital advertising providers like Dealer.com and C4 Analytics, prompting discussion of two main billing models: fixed management fees versus percentage-of-spend commissions"
Digital Advertisers Pricing →
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"bringing nearly 20 years of automotive industry experience from previous roles at Transparency AI and Dealer.com"
Cars.com Appoints Darren Haygood as Senior Vice President →
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"The discussion centered on the complexity and financial implications of merging competing systems like Dealer.com and Dealer Inspire, with participants debating whether Cox would prioritize technological upgrades or protect revenue from legacy products."
Cars.com hires JPMorgan to explore possible sale →
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"A GM dealer seeks alternatives to CDK's expensive website platform and discusses options like Dealer.com and DealerInspire"
GM dealer leaving CDK website who to look at ? →
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"Rick Gibbs, the former CEO of Dealer.com, has been named chairman of FRIKINtech"
Rick Gibbs (former Dealer.com CEO) returns to the FRIKIN car business →
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"A dealer using VIN CRM with Dealer.com website integration seeks to route electric vehicle leads to specialized EV salespeople"
VIN related question? →
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"booth 3619 (shared with Dealer.com and Accelerate My Deal to showcase Cox Automotive integrations)"
Happy NADA 2023 Day! →
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"A CDJR dealer seeks recommendations among six OEM-approved website providers (DEP, Dealer.com, DealerFire, Dealer Inspire, DealerOn, and Pixel Motion)."
CDJR OEM Website Provider - Help Pick My Poison?? →
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"Several experienced professionals (including former Dealer.com and UsedCarKing innovators) commit to exploring custom solutions"
Websites →
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"Matt Murray, GM of Automotive at Podium and former Cox Automotive/Dealer.com OEM partnerships leader"
Matt Murray joins Jeff & Alex on RefreshFriday →
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"When I visited Dealer.com the other week many of them were running around with MacBooks of various sizes and styles."
I'm not a PC - joined the darkside! →
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"http://pictures.dealer.com//foranyauto/e98b99df40463872015fa713b084e26b.jpg"
Internet Sales Director - RARE Opportunity →
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"Mine (AutoJini). VinSolutions, AutoElead, EbizAuto, Dealer.com... very crowded segment with vendors... one thing that did popup at me was that they require IE for their portal... which is just silly... ADP & ReyRey do this crap as well."
LiquidMotors →
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"[IMG]https://pictures.dealer.com/beamandodgecllc/ec18873b4046387200811e1036b1e982.png[/IMG]"
Scrolling FB and Twitter Feed on Google page one →
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"[IMG]https://pictures.dealer.com/b/beamantoyota/1178/cee6482f0a0d02b70038462a267ee015.png[/IMG]"
Ever seen google do this Before? →
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"references to major industry platforms like Dealer.com, Autotrader, and Cars.com"
Define the secret Acronyms →
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"Multiple vendors and users weigh in on platforms like ADP (heavily criticized for poor mobile compatibility), ReyRey, eLead, DealerSocket, and Dealer.com, with the consensus being that true native iPad apps outperform web-based solutions in speed and offline functionality."
iPad friendly CRM →
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"hints at an unreleased Dealer.com CRM that some hope will eventually address these gaps"
Does a good CRM exist? →
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"software service providers like ADP and Dealer.com executives"
What are the highest paying jobs in the automotive industry? →
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"cross-platform data sharing with other vendors like dealer.com"
Suggestions for vAuto and Dale Pollack →
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"The thread discusses several options including Exact Target, DME's Red Rocket, Dealer.com, and AutoRevenue with Dominion"
Automotive Email Marketing Provider →
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"While one participant identified a technical DNS issue affecting Dealer.com users"
Cars.com BIG DROP since new design? →
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