VinSolutions Problems with Benz

[mcampo2501]

I use VinSolutions ILM and Inventory module for both Mercedes-Benz rooftops that I'm responsible for. Over the last 3-4 months, the VIN Decoder that they use to import vehicles with has gone crazy. Long story short, I can't rationalize using VinSolutions any more for inventory management. I use DealerOn as my website provider, and couldn't be happier with them, however they use Homenet to power their web page. I believe Dealer.com does this as well, so those of you that are using either provider know what I'm talking about. I don't like using Homenet, but it feels like that's the only way my web page will look nice without doing double work. Is anyone else in a similar situation and using an inventory management tool that plays nice with everything inside your network? I'm really looking to find something that I can work inside of and not have to deal with going into every other back end to make additional changes. Does such a thing even exist? Am I asking too much?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

"Am I asking too much?"

Yes and no.

Is the only reason you don't like using HomeNet is because of having to use another program to manage your inventory?

API connection between HomeNet and DealerOn is solid. It's nice to see your inventory and changes posted to your website within minutes.

Also - curious to what vehicles you're having VIN explosion issues with?

 

[mcampo2501]

Homenet went through a handful of growing pains a while ago and I was turned off to them, however you are right in assuming that the main reason I want VinSolutions to work is because I don't want to have to use another program to manage my inventory. VinSolutions, as well as several other vendors, uses the simplicity and "oneness" to sell their product. This is nice when everything works, but it's tough to stomach some of the losses and hits you take when you start taking pieces out of the puzzle. I also have to mention that we spent almost $2000 on a Vin Camera, and I don't think that I could walk up to our dealer principal and tel him that I had him buy the most expensive paper weight he ever owned.

As for the VIN Explosions, the make/model/trim fields are all messed up. For example, we might have a dozen C-Class in stock. Instead of listing the model as either C250, C300, or C350 in the model field, it lists half of them as C-Class in the model field and the rest by their actual designation. If I have a salesperson that is looking to see how many C350's we have in stock and they search for a C350, they might not find any because VIN has listed them as C-Class and has offered no way to see which of the "C-class" are which. Because model isn't an editable field, it makes it difficult (if not impossible) to even fix this manually. Not to mention that I have two rooftops to manage and would end up spending all day every day editing the model and trim field of every Mercedes-Benz we stock. This is an issue for both new and used cars, so you can imagine the headache.