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ryan.leslie · Apr 10, 2026

Rick Buffkin said:
@Evianexxy
Personally, since the cyber attack, I only conduct my highly advanced network stress tests using a carefully curated team of farm animals around the dealership. Chickens handle packet inspection, ducks manage bandwidth distribution, and the donkeys are responsible for brute-force emotional support and occasional firewall enforcement. If the rooster crows three times outside of the showroom on the used car lot, that’s our alert that latency has spiked somewhere between Nashville and the astral plane.

We did have one minor issue where improper duck-to-router alignment caused regional side effects. Cats within a 12-mile radius of our southeastern location became unusually judgmental (more than usual), and several dogs temporarily stopped barking at customers and instead stared directly into the void. The IT team is still investigating. The goats, however, maintained 99.9% uptime and refused to elaborate.

For more advanced scenarios, we escalate to our alpaca-based cybersecurity division. They specialize in DDoS mitigation and chewing through suspicious traffic patterns. Last deployment resulted in two geese going offline, a tractor achieving sentience, and a tabby in western Kentucky launching what appeared to be a coordinated attack against cloud infrastructure.

We’re also piloting a crypto-based payment system where the chickens peck the blockchain directly. It’s fast, secure, and only mildly cursed.

Phew, glad you have the internal resource to manage this @Rick Buffkin, it would be expensive to farm that work out.

(I'll see myself out.)

Alex Snyder · Apr 10, 2026

Mine is from a vendor/technologist perspective. Would love to hear how dealers are replacing things, or if they are yet.

We initially started with AI as a quality control test writer. It is excellent at that and has significantly reduced the priority of building a team there. I can't say it has outright replaced the need for a dedicated quality control person forever.

The second thing has been UI/UX development. We could be unique in that I could make a pixel-perfect design for engineers to implement before AI came around. For the redesign of our product from FRIKINtech to VehicleLyfe, I designed all the screens and worked directly with a backend developer to bring them to life. With AI, that backend developer can build a front-end product easily. As he is figuring it all out, he wants to turn me into a full-blown "developer" using prompts. I'm super excited to start spreading my wings. I can say that we absolutely have no need for a UI developer these days. Something I never thought we'd live without!

Alex Snyder · Apr 10, 2026

He may be the Sausage King of Chicago, but he's always been the Troller of Bots!

Alex Snyder · Apr 10, 2026

joe.pistell said:
My gurus are telling me the next release wants simpler prompts with goals and guardrails and to give the LLM freedom to guide itself to the goal you stated.

That intel is gold and makes tons of sense! Sounds like the natural evolution of AI.

I look forward to a vocal shift in the flow. If you use Claude Code today, you should be familiar with the Plan to Code flow. What would be super useful for people like you and me, Joe, would be to ideate via voice with an AI. Just talk to it. That would be the "plan" phase. Then a design phase where it outputs something like a mock or storyboard to approve. And finally, a build phase where it does the actual work.

With a flow like that, I can see multiple concurrent projects happening. Way beyond what some of us are doing today.

"Yesterday, AI made me efficient. Today, I'm busier than ever."

joe.pistell · Apr 10, 2026

AI power users know this, the code base of some of Anthropic's next release was leaked. AI insiders I follow are calling this a 'step up' in the AI slope of intelligence.

My biz has 150+ unique prompts, ALL of them have unique instructions to 'work around' the LLMs weaknesses. My gurus are telling me the next release wants simpler prompts with goals and guardrails and to give the LLM freedom to guide itself to the goal you stated.

I am preparing for the upgrade now.

joe.pistell · Apr 9, 2026

An AI moment from Main Street. April 2026.
Got a complex project stuck? Too many experts talking past each other?
I just built an AI communication translator. I call it "The Bridge."

I'm a merchandising guy. 30 years in automotive retail. I spot opportunity the way a mechanic hears an engine knock — pattern recognition from repetition, failure, and instinct. My son James is the developer. He reads product architecture the way I read the market. In structures and flows I genuinely can't follow.
Same project. Same goal. Two completely different mental models.

There's always been a translation tax. Ideas lost in the gap between what I meant and what he heard. Between what he built and what I saw.

The Bridge kills that tax.

Each of us stays in our lane. We speak our own language. The Bridge makes it readable on the other side. No dumbing down. No over-explaining.

That's not Artificial Intelligence.
That's Awesome Intelligence.

AI isn't replacing expertise. It's letting expertise finally talk to itself.

Alex Snyder · Apr 8, 2026

Brad Burlingham said:
just some of our existing ad agencies. i'm hoping to find someone that specializes in acquisition campaigns,

My company does this with your past sold and service customers.

Zhendrix · Apr 8, 2026

Please keep us updated, specifically with the goats. @Rick Buffkin

Brad Burlingham · Apr 8, 2026

Alex Snyder said:
Curious what you didn't like in the ones you tried.

just some of our existing ad agencies. i'm hoping to find someone that specializes in acquisition campaigns,

Brad Burlingham · Apr 8, 2026

Jeff Kershner said:
Hey @Brad Burlingham - be sure to poke your head into the "OG is back" thread. I called you out a few mins ago.

As for this one... mind clarifying "vendor they like for acquiring vehicles with no obligation to buy?" are you referring to a monthly service or a service that will place a bid/quote on a customer vehicle and will also purchase the vehicle if you pass on it?

we are starting a buying center, so i'm looking for an agency that specializes in generating leads for people that want to sell their car. we already used kbb/at buying center leads.

Apr 7, 2026

If you’re just generating car images… yeah, these tools are fine to play around with. But even when you start with a real car, a lot of them end up replacing or tweaking things to the point it doesn’t feel like the actual vehicle anymore. Panels look off, reflections don’t match… small stuff, but buyers pick it up. That’s why in automotive retail I’d stick with more reliable tools like Spyne or similar… ones that actually swap backgrounds cleanly without messing up the car itself. Keeps the transparency intact and the whole thing still feels natural.

Apr 7, 2026

I’ve been in this space a while and honestly this looks solid from a speed and ops point of view. Anything that helps dealers get cars online faster is always a win. This is something similar I’ve come across recently with Spyne… same kind of setup, upload your photos and clean them up quick. Works pretty well when your inventory shots are inconsistent or you’re trying to scale. Only thing… I’ve seen overly cleaned-up photos backfire a bit. When everything looks too perfect, people start questioning it. Shoppers usually trust what feels real. If it’s just enhancing lighting or fixing backgrounds, that’s great. But if it starts hiding imperfections, that’s where it can create problems later. Overall feels like a solid tool for speeding things up and fixing rough photos, just not a full replacement for real photography yet. Curious how it handles stuff like damage, reflections, or tricky lighting.

jscole86 · Apr 6, 2026

Rick Buffkin said:
I built something that produces a similar description to what @jscole86 is doing based on his layout. I love the structure. We use VAuto at our stores and utilizing a Chrome Extension we can build the descriptions per vehicle or do a bulk fetch and pull up to 20 separate vehicles at a time while the user is in VAuto. VAuto now has a AI description writer but there's not really any control over the AI behavior / tone or the prompt. Thats what I love about my custom solution. It's 100% customizable. Something I thought about over the weekend was, what if we had celebrity personalities writing our descriptions. I created a prompt in the Admin Portal and ask AI to pick at random a personality in a list 10 that I provided (Elvis Presley, The Terminator, James Brown, Ricky Bobby, Chuck Norris, Cousin Eddie (from Christmas Vacation), Ace Ventura and few others. Heres one by Ricky Bobby.

TOUGHER THAN A TWO-DOLLAR STEAK -- 2024 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 1500 LT -- 4WD -- 2.7L TURBOCHARGED ENGINE WITH 310HP -- CERTIFIED WARRANTY -- NAVIGATION & BLUETOOTH® -- HEATED SEATS -- TRAILERING PACKAGE -- IF YOU'RE NOT FIRST, YOU'RE LAST!

Hey there, you speed-loving thrill seekers, get ready to buckle up, because this black 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT is ready to give you the ride of your life! This beast is powered by a turbocharged 310hp engine that feels like you've got a herd of wild stallions under the hood. All-wheel drive? You betcha! This truck doesn't just laugh at rough terrain, it eats it for breakfast, then asks for seconds!

Slide inside, and whoo-boy, welcome to comfort city, population YOU! The Jet Black interior is all about luxury, with heated seats that feel like a warm hug on a cold morning. Dual-zone automatic climate control? Come rain or shine, you’re always in your own personal oasis. And with enough tech to make a spaceship jealous, this truck's got all the gadgets and gizmos you'd ever need, including a premium audio system that brings the concert right to you! Yeehaw!

Now let's talk tech, folks! We've got Navigation, Bluetooth®, even a backup camera, because backing into stuff is so 2005. With the Chevrolet Infotainment 3 Premium System, you'll never miss a beat, a turn, or your favorite tunes. It's like having a co-pilot who knows the way to fun city better than Google!

Safety is no joke, even if we're laughing all the way to the racetrack. It's got automatic emergency braking and lane keep assist to keep you out of trouble when you’re dodging those Sunday drivers. Plus, with a security system that guards your ride like a knight in shining armor, you’ll rest easy knowing this black beauty is in safe hands.

This isn't just a truck; it's a lifestyle on wheels. Whether you're hauling hay bales, towing trailers, or just acting like you're in the next big NASCAR event, this Silverado is your ticket to excitement! So what are you waiting for? Head on down to Newton Ford South, throw in that sweet burnout, and grab this bad boy before the flag drops. Remember, if you're not first, you're last, so make it count!

Another By James Brown:
2018 FORD F-150 PLATINUM 4WD -- 3.5L V6 ECOBOOST ENGINE -- LUXURY EQUIPMENT GROUP 701A -- NAVIGATION SYSTEM -- FX4 OFF-ROAD PACKAGE -- MAX TRAILER TOW PACKAGE -- TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE WITH APPLE CARPLAY/ANDROID AUTO!

All right, get a load of this ride, folks! Feast your eyes on the 2018 Ford F-150 Platinum, dressed to the nines in a shade of blue that’s bound to turn heads faster than you can say "Vroom vroom!" This ain't just any truck, this is a 4WD dynamo with a 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engine that says, "Yeah, I’m the king of the road, and I know it!" A 10-speed automatic? Oh, you better believe it, 'cause shifts so smooth, they’ll make you wanna dance!

Step inside, and whoo! You’re in leather luxury territory, people! Black leather seating so plush, you're gonna feel like you're lounging in a cloud. And it's not just about comfort, it's about control. You got memory seats, power everything, and a heated steering wheel that feels like a warm handshake every single morning. With dual zone A/C, you're in charge of your climate, no matter how wild things get outside.

Now, let’s talk gadgetry! This baby’s decked out with a navigation system that might just know you better than your GPS-loving self. And ten speakers? Heck, you’ll feel the bass in your bones thanks to the B&O Play Premium Audio System—good God, it's like a concert in the cab! Add in that SYNC 3 system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and you’re the maestro of a mobile symphony.

I’m here to tell you, this truck’s got safety handled all day long! You got a backup camera, rear parking sensors, and a lane-keeping system that’s got your back. Automatic high-beams and adaptive cruise control keep the ride smart and steady. Panic alarms? Not in this F-150, relax with peace of mind in every twist and turn.

Whether you're conquerin’ the urban jungle or escapin’ to the outback, this F-150 is all about lifestyle luxury. With an FX4 Off-Road Package, you’re ready for whatever Mother Nature’s got in store. And a twin panel moonroof? You’ll be stylin’ under the stars as you ride rough and tumble through every adventure.

Listen up, don’t be a fool! This beast ain’t gonna hang around forever, and you deserve more than just a truck, you deserve this machine! Get to Newton Nissan South, and drive off in your very own piece of Platinum magic! Now get it!

haha I love it - Chrome extension is a great idea!

Mitch Gallant · Apr 3, 2026

Joe, this is pretty amazing! Tons of runway for something like this to run and a great prompt. Thanks man!!

Trent · Apr 3, 2026

@DealerInt @joe.pistell @DjSec

SRPs are NOT the problem. Your legacy vendor is.

The reality we have to face is that OEMs and legacy vendors (like Cox/Dealer.com and CDK) have decided that harvesting third-party customer data is more valuable than actually selling whips.

I just ran a deep architectural sweep on a competing legacy site. Before a customer even clicks on a vehicle, the machine drops 11 server-side cookies, captures exact GPS coordinates, drops network fingerprint hashes, and runs 4 separate GTM containers. They are strip-mining local, dealer-paid traffic to feed their national data ecosystems.

And dealers wonder why their ad spend is bleeding out while their SRPs choke on a 10.7-second load time and an "E" performance grade.

I got so tired of this deception that I walked out of my GSM role last month and built the infrastructure myself. No bloat. No third-party data extraction. Just a clean, headless, server-rendered Next.js architecture.

Getting a 100/100/100/100 on Google PageSpeed Insights on an image-heavy SRP is not hard. It is actually basic math if you just ditch the tracking cookies and offload the animations to the GPU.

We just pushed a live inventory SRP this morning. The empirical math:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): 1.2s
Total Blocking Time (TBT): 40ms
Lighthouse: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

Gregg is right. You can't just change the test until you pass. Google's standards are the only ones that matter, and 99% of the industry is technically insolvent.

The "shiny shell" era is dead. If your platform isn't hitting sub-1.5s LCPs and passing Core Web Vitals, you don't own your digital retail infrastructure—you are just renting a slow, legally hazardous data-brokerage from a vendor who is using your own traffic against you.

The math doesn't care about their excuses.

Trent Sliefert
Founder, Darkhorse Data Solutions LLC

joe.pistell · Apr 3, 2026

DealerInt said:
Joe’s audit hits the mark—the SRP is the single biggest point of friction today. It’s where legacy vendors hide their 'value-add' scripts that do nothing but tank the DOM and drive up the Discovery Tax.

If we want to stay relevant, we have to move past the 'shiny shell' era of website design. The real battle is at the bottom of the funnel:

Data Accessibility: Implementing SSR so AI and crawlers can actually read a listing without a manual 'scrape.'

Frictionless Discovery: Bypassing the SRP 'gatekeeper' and sending traffic directly to the VDP Source of Truth.

#Respect

joe.pistell · Apr 3, 2026

DMS_LEAD said:
That's just off the top of my head

Got it, this could be great for indie dealers in the US.

joe.pistell · Apr 2, 2026

DMS_LEAD said:
I stumbled in on a joke that nobody's sharing?

Dude, the DMS in the dealership is the 800lb gorilla that no one can get out of the building. Tekion, a multi-billion $ startup, run by Tesla's ex CTO has been hard at work for a decade building a new DMS. Tell us about what you are building.

joe.pistell · Apr 2, 2026

oh oh...

. MS + Free Trial = :popcorn:

Matt Kelley · Apr 1, 2026

One thing I've done to adapt to 2026 SEO and LLMs is to consider each page (other than the SRP) as a Landing Page. Google's AI overview, in particular, right now just wants answers and so traffic may not necessarily come through the front door like it has in the past.

Knowing that we need to move away from basic 'templated' secondary pages that only focus on that content. Instead I'm including inventory on the "We Buy Cars" page because I don't know how they got there but maybe they haven't see the dealer's inventory yet. I see too many dealership pages where the finance page is just the dang credit app and NO TRUST factors shown. Or About Us is a boring generic paragraph with fill in the blanks for that one dealership. That's not good enough (never has been really)

This goes for VDPs as well. Someone mentions all car sites have the same exact data on them, that's true. So we are including additonal sections like "Why Buy From Us" content, the google map pack and dealership info, even Customer Testimonials, etc. A car buyer has more ways than ever to see your cars without visiting your website... so when they finally do land there the content on the page should sell them on the WHY US instead of assuming there is already trust there.

Lastly, building out more filtered inventory pages like "[body style] for sale in [city]" with relevant, relatable, local content and some FAQs instead of just a filtered list of vehicles. LLMs need REASONS to choose you...

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