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Trade in Appraisal tools - suggestions?

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J

jmoses

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Apr 30, 2010
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Joe
#1
Just wanted to reach out to the DR Community to get some opinions on the various Trade in Appraisal tools out there. Over the past year or two, each of our stores have each had varying levels of success using KBB, Blackbook, AT TIM, etc.

Most recently, we implemented Auto Trader's Trade in marketplace at all of our stores, and while the product looked nice, it didn't perform very well as a lead generator. Perhaps we weren't using it to the full potential and incorporating into our Process very effectively, but it wasn't worth the price we paid.

I noticed a lot of dealers are taking advantage of the 2 Months free trial of PureCars. Does anyone have any updated feedback on how its working for them and whether it has increased their leads compared to previous Appraisal tools?

Any dealers have any products they have had success with recently?

Thanks!
 
#3
Joe, I'll provide your with a link from the archives here on the forums...

http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f43/...ook-trade-appraisal-tools-their-site-714.html

If producing leads is what you want - I'm been pleased with BlackBook and GetAutoAppraise in the past. I have decided to jump on the latest Deals for Dealers offer for the 2 Free Months of PureCars Trade-In Reports. You too may want to jump on this offer - you have nothing to loose.

I have to give it to the crew over at PureCars - this is the most simplistic trade-in lead gen tool I have seen thus far. I'm excited to see how well it works.
 
#4
jmoses@prestonauto.com said:
Most recently, we implemented Auto Trader's Trade in marketplace at all of our stores, and while the product looked nice, it didn't perform very well as a lead generator. Perhaps we weren't using it to the full potential and incorporating into our Process very effectively, but it wasn't worth the price we paid.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

AutoTrader TIM is NOT a lead driver - at least not for volume on a dealership website. Thought anyone that would fill out that form on your website is a serious customer for sure. :)

Here's a great thread on the AutoTrader Trade-in Market Place tool and service.
 
#5
Our MTD average from TIM is about 9.65 per day between two lots. We also just signed up for the KBB integration that I believe will go live early next month. Will try to update once that goes live. We really do not push the TIM on our site as much as I want but we are going to be transitioning to a new website soon.

We are also seriously looking at PureCars as well and we would have moved forward already but our current website provider wanted to charge us to integrate. With us leaving them soon we figured we would wait. I may push PureCars back for a brief period once our new site is up and we can promote TIM more to see what happens.
 
#6
I am a fan of AutoTrader TIM but not from the usual perspective. Unlike KBB and Black Book, TIM will actually purchase the car at the stated value, provided that it is described accurately. Ever hear a Used Car Manager say, "books don't buy cars"?

Customers don't know how to book out cars, properly. They either go to private sellers or retail. Customers have faith in AutoTrader and understand that they are independant from the dealership. This builds their credibility. TIM walks the customers through the process much like your salesman would do through the "silent walk-around process" (if they actually did this).

If you have the customer book out their car through TIM, they will get a value that is even lower than "low ball" ...your Used Car Manager.
 
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#7
Jeff K and I have similar thoughts on this. BBOL was a GREAT lead generator. My thoughts are that people will generally try just about every appraisal tool they can find. They've probably already seen KBB before they were on your sight, so they may not be as apt to try the KBB tool on your sight as they would be if they saw an unfamiliar tool, like BBOL.

We had a significant drop in appraisal leads when we switched from BBOL to KBB.

On the other hand, there is certainly more "trust" with the KBB name, and if your appraisal numbers align with the reported KBB range, you may have an easier time closing deals.
 
#8
JQuinn said:
They've probably already seen KBB before they were on your sight ...
On the other hand, there is certainly more "trust" with the KBB name, and if your appraisal numbers align with the reported KBB range, you may have an easier time closing deals.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, they have spent an average of 19 hours doing research. If they are looking at a new car, they might have bids from two of your competitors. Care to guess what kind of figure they were shot? If they have been looking at used cars, they have sorted cars at 100 mile radius to determine the market value.

This might sound negative but I have spent a lot of time with customers, in front of a computer, showing me how they arrived at figures. Part of my ritual, each month, was to shop my competition for new cars. I knew which dealers would send out net net bids. In this market, most of them did. I have never worked at high line stores and I would think that is a different situation.

Customers trust AutoTrader and TIM gave me an edge. I want every customer, that has a trade, to get a buy bid through TIM.
It forces customers to face negatives about their trade and I know that the value will be low.
 
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