What software do car dealerships use?
Car dealerships run on a dealer management system, a DMS, and a handful of tools around it. The DMS holds the cars, the deals and the paperwork. Around it sit a CRM for customers and leads, desking for working out the numbers, forms and contracts, listing tools that put the cars online, a website, and the dealership's accounting. A big franchise store buys most of these as one expensive system. A small used-car lot usually needs a DMS and two or three of the rest.
Here's what each piece does, who needs it, and what a small independent lot can leave for later.
The DMS: where the cars and the deals live
The dealer management system is the center of it. Every car gets one record: the VIN, the specs, the photos, the status, what you paid and what you've spent on it since. When it sells, the deal is built from that record, and the paperwork fills in from the deal.
Franchise new-car stores run large DMS products from vendors such as CDK Global and Reynolds and Reynolds, built around parts, service and reporting to the manufacturer. Independent used-car lots choose among systems made for them: DealerCenter, Frazer, Wayne Reaves, AutoManager, Lot Wizard, Carsforsale.com, DealerVLO and GARAGEBIRDS. They differ in price, in whether they run in a browser or on Windows, and in what's included. Our guide to the best DMS for independent dealers goes through which fits which lot, and what a DMS costs lists each one's published price.
If you're new to the term, start with what a dealer management system is.
A CRM: the customers and the leads
A CRM keeps the people: who called, who came in, what they looked at, and when to follow up. Big stores with a sales floor and a BDC buy a separate CRM and connect it to the DMS. A small lot needs it once leads start coming from several places at once, and it works best inside the DMS, so the buyer on the deal and the lead in the CRM are the same contact.
Desking: working out the deal
Desking is where the numbers come together: price, fees, tax, the trade-in and, if it's financed, the rate, term, down payment and payment. A cash deal needs the basics. A financed deal needs payment math and a way to compare structures. Some systems also send the credit application to lenders electronically through networks such as RouteOne and Dealertrack; others leave the application to the lender's own portal.
Forms and contracts: the paperwork
Every sale needs the federal paperwork, the state's title forms and your own deal documents. Dealer software either fills them in from the deal or leaves you typing the buyer's name onto each one. Our guide to car dealership paperwork lists what every used-car sale needs.
Listings and a website: getting the car seen
Buyers find used cars on Facebook Marketplace, the listing sites and Google. Some dealers pay for automatic feeds to listing sites and a dealer website; many small lots list each car by hand where their buyers look. Either way, the listing should come from the car's record, so the price and photos match.
Accounting and the rest
The dealership's books usually live in accounting software, either inside the DMS or in a general product such as QuickBooks. Buy here pay here lots need loan servicing and collections. Larger lots add reconditioning tools, inventory pricing tools and credit-report services. These are worth paying for once the lot has the volume to use them.
What a small used-car lot needs on day one
A new or small independent lot needs four things from its software, and they all belong in the DMS:
- What each car really cost. The purchase price, auction fees, transport and every recon dollar, on the car, so the profit you see is real.
- One record per car. The VIN, the specs, the photos and the asking price, kept current.
- The deal. The price, fees and tax, the trade-in and, if financed, the payment, with the gross visible before you close.
- The paperwork. The state's title and registration forms and the bill of sale, filled in from the deal.
A CRM, a website, automatic feeds and buy here pay here can wait until the lot needs them. For the full list of what to set up first, see dealer software for new dealers.
Where GARAGEBIRDS fits
GARAGEBIRDS is a DMS for independent and small-lot dealers, and it starts free. The Free plan covers inventory, cost tracking with true profit per vehicle, VIN decode, cash desking with a per-deal margin view, built-in state forms for all 50 states with auto-fill, contacts and unlimited users. Pro adds finance desking, Smart Print Forms for your own contracts, assisted posting to Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, eBay Motors, Cars.com, AutoTrader and more, leads and contact history, private-party purchases and consignment. It runs in a web browser, and your books stay in the accounting software you already use.