Why I built DealerVLO

I run Simon's Service and Sales — a small used-car lot in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. I close maybe a deal a week on a good week. And for most of the last few years, the thing that slowed me down the most wasn't the inventory, the customers, or the deals.

It was the software.

What I was using

Common pain points independent used-car dealers face with traditional dealer management systems before switching to modern solutions.

A Windows desktop DMS that's been running on dealer lots since before I was born. A laptop with a USB dongle to authenticate. A printer that only worked half the time. Three folders per deal. A spreadsheet on the side because the software couldn't show me what I actually needed.

When I sold a car, I'd spend forty-five minutes printing forms, hand-writing the parts the software couldn't fill, and re-typing the customer's name onto the FTC Buyers Guide because the integration didn't work.

Every minute of that is a minute I'm not selling the next car.

What I wanted

Essential features an independent used-car dealer needs in a dealer management system to streamline daily operations.

A DMS that:

• Works on any device. Phone in the lot, laptop at the desk, iPad in the showroom.
• Fills out every form from the deal data. Bill of Sale, FTC Buyers Guide, Federal Odometer Disclosure, MA RMV-1, Damage Disclosure.
• Comes with a dealer website. My inventory is online the moment I add a car.
• Doesn't cost $200/month + per-seat fees + a setup charge + a training session.
• Doesn't require a Windows install or a dongle.

I couldn't find one. So I built it.

What's in DealerVLO today

Complete list of features built into DealerVLO, a modern dealer management system for independent used-car dealers.

• Inventory with VIN auto-decode (paste VIN, the form fills itself from NHTSA).
• Customer CRM. DL numbers encrypted at rest.
• Deal jacket with live totals — cash or finance, trade-in support, tax math.
• Federal forms — Bill of Sale, Buyers Guide, Odometer Disclosure.
• State title & registration forms, filled from the deal — all 50 states now (it started with just my RMV-1).
• A public dealer website per dealership. Bring your own domain.
• Lead inbox from the website contact form.

It runs my lot. Now I'm letting other dealers try it.

What's next

The roadmap is driven by what I need for my own deals. The state-forms gap I griped about above is closed — every state's title paperwork now fills from the jacket — and the CSV import for dealers leaving an old DMS shipped too (vehicles and customers, an afternoon's work). What's on the bench now: better mobile photo capture.

If you're a dealer and there's something blocking you from switching, tell me. I read every email.

— Chris