Congratulations to Brian Finkelmeyer! He had one of the the most top exclusive blog posts in October: New Realities Of The New Car Business. We appreciate Brian so much for sharing his insights!

Check out our interview with Brian to learn more about new car sales.

Roadster Inks Deal with John Elway’s Crown Toyota to Become Exclusive Commerce Platform Across Online and Offline Channels

Crown becomes the third Toyota dealership in CA to turn to Roadster’s Express Storefront to empower salespeople to sell any car seamlessly and effectively from online to in-store

San Francisco, Calif. — November 20— Roadster, the leader in eCommerce solutions for car buying and leasing, today announced a comprehensive deal with John Elway’s Crown Toyota. As one of the largest Toyota dealerships in the world, Crown will be bringing a modernized, end-to-end selling experience to the marketplace.  The deal will place Roadster’s Express Storefront at the center of the one price dealership’s sales operations to help Crown’s entire staff sell more efficiently, effectively and seamlessly from online to in-store for the first time.

Through the partnership, Crown will receive their own online branded storefront, enabling the dealership to merchandise all of their vehicles online and across all devices.  The storefront will empower Crown’s customers to desk their own deals, navigate complex leasing and financing options, and receive instant trade-in offers. It will also make it easy for consumers who want to come directly into the dealership to pick up where they left off and finish the transaction side-by-side with one of Crown’s salespeople.

In addition to the online storefront, the partnership will give Crown access to Roadster’s Express Storefront app, which will empower Crown’s staff to greet a customer at the door and guide them through the entire car buying process. The app places all of Crown’s inventory, pricing and service and protection plans at the fingertips of salespeople on the showroom floor to help facilitate a more streamlined and transparent car buying experience. For example, if a salesperson learns that a customer had already started their car buying online, and is interested in adding a protection plan like Toyota Extra Care Platinum and ToyotaCare Plus prepaid maintenance, the app will give them the ability to immediately pull up all of the information the customer previously configured at home, and then add the additional products to the transaction. Lastly, Crown’s salespeople can also use the app to locate a new VIN or model number and instantly share deal terms with the customer so that they can review every detail of the available financing and service and protection plan options in real-time.

“As a one price store, transparency, efficiency, productivity and the speed of transaction are extremely important to us," said Paxton Gagnet, GM & Managing Partner of Crown Toyota.  “Roadster’s Express Storefront is the only commerce solution in the marketplace that empowers dealers to sell any car seamlessly from online to in-store.  Having a customer’s information available instantly and at our fingertips gives us the ability to run deal terms in real time and ensure our customers know exactly what to expect.  We’ve never seen a solution like Roadster’s and are thrilled to be placing Roadster’s end-to-end Express Storefront commerce solution at the center of all of our sales operations.”

Since October, Roadster has experienced an influx of dealer demand for its Express Storefront solution.  In fact, the partnership with Crown Toyota marks the third Toyota dealership in California to deploy Roadster’s Express Storefront Solution.

“It is exciting to be working with a new dealership as progressive and expansive as Crown,” said Rudi Thun, COO of Roadster. “Crown is an impressive addition to our customer roster and underlines Roadster’s commitment to modernizing the car buying experience and giving dealers access to the most innovative solution in North America.” 

For more information about Express storefront, please visit http://wwww.roadster.com/dealersales

About Roadster
Roadster is an eCommerce platform that enables hassle-free car buying 100% online through partner dealer websites and Roadster.com. Roadster dramatically improves the car buying process, significantly reducing dealership sales costs while ensuring buyers get a fair and transparent deal and save time. With unmatched industry expertise and complete knowledge of market pricing, lease and finance rates, and incentives and rebates, Roadster finally makes online car shopping a reality. Roadster is based in Palo Alto, CA and was founded in late 2013. For more information, please visit https://roadster.com.

About Crown

John Elway's Crown Toyota Scion, located in the heart of Ontario, CA is one of the largest Toyota dealerships in North America, serving the greater Ontario, Riverside, Corona, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, Norco, Chino, & Chino Hills areas, with their One Price, Simple, No Games sale experience.  For more information, please visit http://www.crowntoyota.com

Did you miss DSES, or want to remind yourself about the Innovation Cup winners? Well, you're in luck! Check out the full DSES 2016 Innovation Cup right here!

Did you miss DSES, or want to remember the awesome ideas we heard in the Best Idea Contest? Well, you're in luck! Check out the full DSES 2016 Best Idea Contest right here! 

Nissan Rogue Rogue One Edition

Nissan’s limited edition Star Wars car made its official debut yesterday at the LA Auto Show. The impressive Star Wars Rogue SUV (pay attention to the model name here, it’s related to the new Star Wars Rogue One movie due out this year) features subtle Star Wars touches. Insignia on the doors, floor mats, a symbol on the trunk and even in the cup-holders all come together to create this limited edition vehicle.

Free Storm Trooper Helmet Anyone?

Beside a few differences, this special edition Rogue is meant to look like other Rogues. Nissan explained that the purpose is to keep the integrity of the Rogue design, while making it extra appealing to Star Wars fans.

But the Star Wars appeal won’t end with the car; each vehicle will come with a helmet for the Imperial Death Trooper, the Empire’s head-to-toe black soldiers in the movie Rogue One.

Limited Edition Means Limited Edition

Nissan announced they are limiting the production to just 5,400 cars. They’ve made it available for order on their website, and roughly 5,000 will be sold in the U.S. with the other 400 set to be sold in Canada.

Michael Bunce, Nissan’s vice president of product planning said that the vehicle will not likely be restocked. “It’s going to be very, very precious, very limited, not a car that’s going to be available for the next six to eight months,” he commented to Inverse magazine.

The car will come in black and white models only. Nissan estimated that each of Nissan’s 1,100 American dealerships will be getting roughly two black and two white cars, four total.

“It was a joint discussion between Lucasfilm and ourselves, but the main point is when you name something limited edition, it needs to be limited in production, that’s how it becomes a little extra special,” said senior manager of marketing strategy for Nissan, Jeremy Meadows.

The Nissan Rogue Rogue One edition will cost roughly $28,950. If you’re interested in purchasing, you better hurry and sign up!

Lots of dealerships have crazy characters like you might find on the TV show "The Office." So which one are you? Take the quiz and find out! Please comment below your answer, it's been hilarious here at our office how accurate they all are!

A groundbreaking jump in technology, bringing real-time, upfront prices to the automotive repair industry

National– Finding an affordable, conveniently located auto repair shop can be a time consuming and stressful process. Perhaps, this explains why a recent survey found that 83 percent of consumers continue to feel overcharged in the auto repair process and rank the experience on-par with going to the dentist (with most women preferring to visit the dentist).

Blitzify, a new mobile application that connects customers and automotive service providers through a comprehensive mobile platform, is changing that. The Easton, PA-based first-of-its-kind startup is revolutionizing the way service providers and customers communicate by enabling consumers to get exact quotes from multiple providers and compare prices with real time data at the push of a button.

How to get a Blitzify quote:

1. You can start the quote process on the mobile app or on the Blitzify homepage by entering your vehicle information, choosing type of service needed and the city the repair will take place.  Or, you can click the “Start Quoting” button on any page on Blitzify to start the process.
    
2. To receive your quote, you will need to create an account.  The sign-up process is quick and easy, allowing you to automatically sign-up using your Facebook, Google Plus or Twitter account information from the website.
    
3. After creating your account, you can click the “Blitz It” button and the team of Blitzify gnomes will rapidly work on finding you four upfront price quotes, emailing web-users the results and appearing automatically to mobile app users.
    
4. Compare the quotes from service providers and look to see if any providers have “additional info” for further price transparency.

Service provider registration is free of charge. 

More than half of Americans mention Uber when hearing the term “shared mobility service” and Millennials are the ones paving the way for other generations as they are the most active users of this new type of service, according to a new research by ReportLinker.

Millennials, who have a higher comfort-level with ride-hailing services than older generations, demonstrated strong name recognition of top brands, with Uber (98%), Lyft (84%), and ZipCar (49%) at the top of their list. When asked about shared mobility services, the ride-hailing service was mentioned by 57% of respondents in unaided questions, and 96% of the time in aided responses but ride-hailing services are just one of several shared mobility options: 

• Car-sharing services, offer drivers the ability to lease an automobile for a few hours per day.

• Ride-sharing services, enable riders to share trips with others going the same way.

• Ride-hailing services, such as Uber, are notable for disrupting the taxi industry and are predicted to do the same to the automotive industry. These services enable passengers to hail freelance drivers using their own cars to transport riders on short trips.

• Bike-sharing services are similar to car-sharing, in which users pay nominal amounts to rent a bicycle for an hour or two.

Results of the survey show that: 

• Ride-hailing services are more popular than other types of mobility options and are used much more frequently than other ride-sharing services with 82% of respondents saying they have hailed a ride.

• Millennials said they will use ride-hailing services 70% of the time when going out for an evening with friends.

When asked about the reasons why they like to use such services 

• 64% of US respondents mentioned the ability to simply open an app and call a car to the nearest curb

• 35% said the efficiency of the experience

• and 28% said the reduced cost

When asked about the reason for their satisfaction: 

• 42% of respondents mentioned the wide accessibility of the service

• 29% mentioned the ease of payment

• and 22% chose the low cost of the service

Ride-hailing services, led by Uber, have significantly disrupted the landscape for personal travel. The automobile industry certainly recognizes this shift and what it potentially means for the future of automobile ownership. As a result, both traditional players like Toyota, and automotive startups such as Tesla have plans to enter the shared mobility market in the upcoming months . 

To see all results and read the full report, please click here. 

The following tips are great to give to customers who may be wondering how to prepare their vehicle for winter.

With cold weather on the way in many areas, it is essential to prepare your car, truck, or SUV for the winter months ahead. You also need to do this if you will be traveling through cold weather. If your vehicle is not ready for the drop in temperature, you could pay the price for not being prepared.

What should you do to get your car ready? Here are a few top tips.

1. Get your battery checked

There is nothing worse than being stranded during the holiday season at a shopping mall or on the side of a highway. It is important to get your vehicle’s battery checked, especially if it is over three years old.

Your dealership can see if there is any corrosion around the battery’s connection points and if it is up to the task of keeping your car going during winter.

2. Antifreeze

Your vehicle should have a 50-50 antifreeze and water mixture inside its radiator. Antifreeze may even “look healthy” but still need replacing. The antifreeze’s important additives could be worn out, which means it won’t protect your vehicle.

Experts say you should replace the antifreeze every two years, which should prevent any problems. It is always best to get your antifreeze checked when you get an oil change. Then, it can be replaced as soon as any signs of breakdown are identified and you can avoid any larger problems.

3. Tire pressure

When snow and ice hit the ground, it is difficult to get good traction on roads and highways. Having the correct tire pressure allows your vehicle to have the best possible traction in snow and ice.

With colder weather comes a drop in the air pressure of your tires. Look in the owner’s manual of your vehicle to see what the correct pressure is and make sure you top it up.

4. Oil change

It is important to make sure your car has the right oil for colder months and getting it replaced as the seasons change is important. Certain types of oil perform better in certain conditions. Your mechanic can let you know if a change is recommended. You need the correct thickness of oil as colder weather makes oil run thicker. Your vehicle’s life-blood can’t work properly if it is too thick, so make sure you get it changed if you are due.

5. Wiper blades

It seems simple enough, but if you can’t see the road or vehicles in front of you, there’s a great risk of an accident. The more it rains, snows, and sleets, the more use your wipers will get. Extreme weather situations make it increasingly important to have wipers that have a significant amount of life left.

Experts say that wiper blades should be replaced after just one year. So, make sure you have new ones ready to go.

Congratulations to Marissa Marazzi! She had one of the the most top exclusive blog posts in October: 10 Thoughts Millenials Have When Searching for a Car Online. We appreciate Marissa so much for sharing her insights!

Here's an interview with Marissa discussing her blog post in more depth.