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Your service customers want to take control of their experiences. This eBook discusses how dealerships can win customers by providing them with flexibility, support, education and transparency. Discover actionable strategies that will help customers feel more empowered in the service drive in ways that drive conversion, more dollars per RO, and overall service revenue. 

What You’ll Learn:  

• Empowering Buyers with Flexibility: Discover how to give customers confidence with the ability to schedule appointments and see personalized service recommendations online and also check in online when they arrive. 

• Building Trust: Learn how you can speed up ASR approvals by sharing photos and videos of recommended repairs, clearly showing the value of your team’s expertise. 

• Increasing Transparency: See how tailored pricing menus, real-time status updates and real-time communications personalize the service experience and keep customers engaged. 

Download your copy now to learn more about the drivers of customer satisfaction during the financing process. 

How do you win beyond the offer without racing to the highest upfront number? In this quick-hitting 13‑minute For the Road Forward episode, host Jade Terreberry sits down with Micah Tindor to unpack why shifting consumer behavior demands that dealers adopt a long‑tail acquisition strategy—and how pairing that approach with Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer (KBB ICO) helps dealers win more trades, source the right vehicles, and build durable lifetime value.

Every car shopping journey has its highs and lows. On the positive side, it’s fun to do test drives and it’s exhilarating to drive off the lot in a new vehicle. But a lot happens in between those two highlights – and that’s where almost a quarter of car buyers consider bailing out altogether. According to Cox Automotive’s 2025 Drivers of Car Shopping Satisfaction Study, 24% of car buyers consider dropping out during their buying journey. 

Where do the negative feelings come in? Time spent sitting idle at the dealership continues to be the thing shoppers find most unpleasant. But according to those shoppers who considered abandoning their purchase, the other low points take place during negotiation and financing, including receiving a trade-in offer, figuring out what vehicle and options they can afford, and applying for credit. 

To keep more buyers moving forward and get them to the finish line, we can look to the four key drivers of shopper satisfaction: Control, Support, Education, and Transparency. Here is how those factors play into the F&I process for dealers and their customers. 

1. Give Buyers a Sense of Control 

Shoppers want flexibility and choice. Make sure you have the tools in place so they can get started online, complete their purchase the way that’s most convenient for them, and move at their own pace throughout their shopping journey.  

• Give shoppers the ability to apply for financing online to give them a head start no matter how and where they finalize their deal. 
• Take a collaborative approach with customers to guide them through the finance process with as little friction as possible. 
• Use the information that shoppers have provided to personalize the financing process and present the aftermarket products that make the most sense for them. 

2. Support Buyers by Making Every Interaction Count 

Informed buyers expect your staff to be helpful and knowledgeable. Make sure your team is equipped to deliver expert, personalized service at every step. 

• Ensure that your systems are integrated so that customer and deal information are consistent no matter how the customer began their shopping journey. 
• Be transparent about how the financing process works to set expectations up front. 
• Keep buyers engaged and informed throughout the buying process using automated updates as appropriate. 

3. Education: Knowledge is Power 

Deals can stall out when a buyer feels uncertainty. Make sure every step of the finance process is clear and informative so buyers feel confident in their decisions. 

• Present all disclosures in a timely manner and explain compliance steps in terms of the customer’s safety and protection. 
• Clearly explain finance terms, fees, and aftermarket options. 
• Build trust by continually educating buyers throughout the process and setting their expectations at each phase of the deal. 

4. Transparency Builds Trust and Boosts Satisfaction 

Trust drives loyalty. Keep pricing consistent and transactions error-free, while communicating openly at every stage. 

• Offer transparent, accurate trade-in appraisals to help car shoppers better understand their budget for the purchase. 
• Whether online or in-store, be sure to present aftermarket options consistently to every car buyer. 
• Use digital contracting with built-in functionality that checks data and catches errors. This helps you avoid re-contracting and speed up financing approvals and funding. 

By putting these solutions and processes in place, your dealership can help encourage more car buyers to complete their deals and drive off the lot happy. To learn more about how Dealertrack F&I solutions promote control, support, education, and transparency, take a self-guided demo. 

This Automotive News webinar led by Micah Tindor from Cox Automotive, focusing on current trade-in market trends, Q4 projections, and strategies for proactive used inventory acquisition. The session covers challenges like slowing sales pace, rising negative equity, affordability issues, and the impact of tariffs and EV tax credits. You will learn how to optimize acquisition channels, leverage data-driven solutions, and use Kelley Blue Book tools to navigate a changing automotive market.

By Micah Tindor, Assistant Vice President, Consumer Vehicle Disposal, Cox Automotive 

As dealers head into the final stretch of the year, the automotive market is anything but predictable. Inventory swings, affordability pressures, and shifting consumer behaviors are creating a complex environment—one that demands smarter, more agile strategies. In this blog, I’ll share insights from our recent Auto News webinar on how dealers can navigate these challenges, capitalize on seasonal opportunities, and build scalable systems that drive long-term success. Whether you’re managing trade-in complexities or rethinking your acquisition strategy, the tools and tactics we’ll explore can help you stay ahead of the curve.

Navigating Today’s Trade-In Market: Trends and Challenges 

Inventory pressures and trade-in challenges aren’t going away anytime soon. Trade-ins are more essential than ever, and dealers need to pay close attention to three key areas: EV values, affordability, and the growing number of consumers who are “underwater” on their loans. 

On the EV front, the removal of the EV tax credit for used vehicles means dealers must be sharp and careful when valuing EVs.  

Affordable inventory is tighter than ever. In September, the average transaction price (ATP) hit $50,080—the highest ever¹. Meanwhile, APRs remain high—over 13% for used vehicles and 9% for new—making it harder for consumers to find lower-cost vehicles². 

Many consumers who paid above MSRP during the pandemic are now underwater on their loans. Currently, 26.6% of consumers are in this position, up from 24.1% at the end of last year³.  

Seasonal Shifts: Opportunities and Risks in Q4

As we finish out Q4, dealers should be watching sales pace versus inventory levels. Through September, the used car sales rate slowed by 3.9%, and CPO sales dropped by 19.3%⁴. On the new car side, days supply has increased to 77 days—a normal seasonal trend, but one that requires close monitoring⁴. 

Dealers need to be aware of several factors impacting the market: 

• Tariffs are starting to show up, with OEMs unable to absorb the costs indefinitely. 
• The impact of EV tax credits going away. 
• The effect of the recent Fed rate cut, which hasn’t moved auto APRs. 

Every market is unique, so it’s critical for dealers to closely watch their own inventory levels and adjust acquisition plans to make the most of holiday and year-end buying trends. 

Building a Proactive Acquisition Strategy 

A proactive acquisition strategy starts with understanding your data—knowing which vehicles to target and their total ROI. There are seven acquisition channels at a dealership:  

• Auction
• Group transfer
• Off-lease
• Missed appraisal follow-up
• Trade
• Private seller
• Service lane

Dealers need to analyze their channel blend, gross ROI, and the effort required for each channel. The goal is to identify which acquisitions create a virtuous cycle of revenue generation and aggressively go after those vehicles. Dealers must know which channels to pursue, which cars deliver the most value, and then compensate their teams to drive success—creating a scalable acquisition system. Considering 5 of the 7 channels involve consumers, dealers also need to turn to solutions that help them acquire direct from consumer inventory more efficiently and effectively.

Turn to Scalable Solutions

Scalable solutions like Kelley Blue Book^® Instant Cash Offer empower dealers to source more vehicles directly from consumers, delivering superior look-to-book and cost-to-market outcomes compared to the competition.

Our new Offer Accelerator add-on allows dealers to increase their acquisition pipeline to align with their goals and objectives. Dealers can flex up during less stable inventory periods or in advance of campaigns—without a long-term commitment. 

Closing Thoughts

Smart strategies and scalable solutions are the keys to thriving amid inventory swings and seasonal shifts. To learn more about how Kelley Blue Book^® Instant Cash Offer and new tools like Offer Accelerator can help your dealership win in Q4 and beyond, request a demo today. 

SOURCE:

1. Kelley Blue Book 
2. Wards Auto 
3. Edmunds 
4. Cox Automotive data 

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Today’s car buyers are starting their financing journey online—before they ever connect with a dealer. That shift is reshaping how lenders, OEMs, and digital retail partners need to think about their role in the shopping experience. 

In the latest Forward-thinking Strategies podcast, Lender Strategist Andy Mayers explores how Cox Automotive’s Finance Services API is helping auto retailing clients meet this moment—and why it’s a must-have for anyone looking to grow and succeed in today’s expanded marketplace. 

The New Starting Line: Financing First 

According to recent Cox Automotive research, 88% of consumers want to complete some or all of their car-buying steps online. About half say they prefer to start by researching financing options first—and many begin that journey on websites other than dealerships. 

That’s a clear signal: financing has moved up the funnel. Lenders, OEMs, and digital retail partners who rely solely on dealer referrals are missing opportunities to engage shoppers earlier and more effectively.  

Many have read the tea leaves and reacted, leveraging Finance Services—an API that enables an online credit application—to pre-approve consumers for an auto loan, allowing them to walk straight into the dealership as contract-ready buyers. No lengthy F&I conversations. No time wasted. Just a faster, more confident path to purchase—and for lenders, a channel that supports customer acquisition, retention, and origination strategies. 

Providing Finance Approval Up-Funnel Delivers Value Across the Board 

For consumers: It delivers the convenience and control they expect from a modern digital shopping experience — especially in a market where affordability remains top of mind and time at the dealership is still their #1 source of frustration. 

For OEMs: It creates a seamless Tier 1 to Tier 3 experience. Consumers can get pre-approved for financing directly on the OEM site and move seamlessly into the dealership experience — financing in hand and ready to complete their vehicle purchase—delivering a more satisfying customer experience. 

For lenders: It opens a direct-to-indirect channel that captures early-stage shoppers and additional originations—driving internal efficiency, building brand value with customers, and strengthening dealer partnerships. 

For dealers: They receive finance-approved, contract-ready buyers—reducing time to close and increasing profitability. And because the API is fully integrated with Dealertrack, the entire process—from application to purchase—is streamlined and optimized. 

Built for Today, Ready for Tomorrow 

As more steps of the car-buying journey move online, Finance Services is built to scale. New-form OEMs like Tesla and Rivian, as well as digital-first retailers like Carvana, have already embraced fully online buying experiences and stand as testaments to this growing trend. 

Clients who allow consumers to apply for financing on their websites are answering the desires and expectations of car buyers today—and tomorrow. Meeting consumers when, where, and how they choose to shop maximizes untapped opportunities and provides a safe, controlled channel for growing originations and moving more metal. 

A Smarter Way Forward 

As Andy shared in the podcast, “You can’t sell many cars without financing. And Finance Services is the engine that makes that happen—online, in real time, and at scale.” 

It’s a simple solution with powerful impact: 
✔️ Consumer convenience 
✔️ Operational efficiency 
✔️ Business growth & profitability 

And it’s already powering thousands of transactions across the Cox Automotive network. 

Want to learn more? 

Consult with a Cox Automotive expert to explore how Finance Services can support your digital retail strategy. 

In just 5 minutes, hear how Finance Services helps you deliver ready-to-buy customers to your dealer partners. Support budget-conscious consumers with financing at the start of their journey—and open a powerful channel to boost originations and grow your business. 

0:04 
And we’re back. 

 
0:06 
I’m Greg Payne, Marketing Manager with Cox Automotive, and I’m joined once again by my colleague Andy Mayers, AVP of Dealer Track Lender Solutions. 

 
0:14 
Andy, thanks again for joining me Today. 

 
0:16 
We’re going to be discussing our next topic in the Small Bite series, Finance Services. 

 
0:22 
Now tell me if I’m wrong about this, but this tool actually allows customers to submit a credit application and get pre approved before they walk into the dealership. 

 
0:30 
Absolutely. 

 
0:31 
This is a great start Greg. 

 
0:32 
Maybe I can use a a new Co worker instead if you get out of the research business. 

 
0:38 
But yeah, all kidding aside, Finance Services definitely is the place where you convert a consumer that’s shopping into a buyer. 

 
0:48 
Because at this point in the process, the customer has already gone through and maybe gone through our payment services to figure how much they can afford. 

 
0:55 
But now they’re actually going to see if they can get financed for that, that capability or that vehicle they want with the amounts they want. 

 
1:01 
So when you think about what’s happening today, Finance Services empowers the consumer to do that. 

 
1:10 
Lot of digital retailing sites, lot of OEMs, lot of lender websites, even dealer websites are trying to to take this process of credit applications, which is a time consuming process and giving it as a self-service tool to the consumers. 

 
1:24 
So what it does is it allows us to connect our lender network and you know, our 1500 lenders to the, you know, to the ether, so to speak. 

 
1:33 
Anybody can connect to it by submitting a finance application. 

 
1:37 
Granted, it’s got to have the right data, it’s got the right disclosures and things like that, but but it allows the consumer to actually take this step and get it done before they walk into the dealership. 

 
1:47 
It also has fully integrated into our dealer track platform. 

 
1:50 
So anything you would do online, Greg, for an application perspective would be fully available to the dealer when they walk in and it actually provides responses back to the consumer. 

 
2:00 
Hey, congratulations, you’re approved. 

 
2:03 
Everybody has different ways of how they want to handle that. 

 
2:05 
It’s all dealer controlled. 

 
2:07 
The dealer set the policies for how much they want to send back and what they want to do with it. 

 
2:12 
But it does, you know, remove a critical stuff in the process. 

 
2:16 
Like if you think about it, you know, you’ll go in, a customer is going to submit an application. 

 
2:22 
If they walk in a store, they’re going to fill it out on paper. 

 
2:25 
Somebody’s going to retype it, then they’re going to submit it to a lender, then they’re going to wait for a decision. 

 
2:29 
All that can happen before the person walks in the dealership and that’s the beauty of the finance services and the other beauty of finance services, it really opens up our markets. 

 
2:39 
You know, in previous conversations we’ve talked about how channels have changed where customers are filling out applications. 

 
2:46 
Used to only be in a dealership. 

 
2:48 
Well, now it could be on a lender’s website and OEM said website, a captive website, a dealer website, even for direct lending, if people want to do it, they can capture that to get lender referral leads. 

 
3:00 
So I think finance services, the engine that powers that, it is truly the connectivity between the digital retailing and our lender network and parts of finance services that are extensions of that is the ability to take documents and send the dealers, you know someone doing stipulations. 

 
3:19 
So those are the things that are really important. 

 
3:22 
Any solution that’s going to digital retailing to be successful to transact and do the financing workflow is going to have to have finance services. 

 
3:29 
The beauty of this for our lenders is as a lender network, they don’t really have to do anything to implement finance services. 

 
3:36 
We do all the heavy lifting and get the applications to to them and get the decisions back to the originating party. 

 
3:42 
So it uses the same capability we have in our lender network today. 

 
3:46 
So like I said, finance services, it’s a critical step in the process. 

 
3:52 
Anybody that wants to automate and sell a car completely online is going to have to have credit application process and finance services fills that need. 

 
4:00 
The finance service is going to be in more table states as I see it, and it’s another great tool for consumer and origination conquest strategies. 

 
4:08 
Now, I know this experience is already very real because we’ve got EVOEMS like Tesla that are implementing the full experience entirely online. 

 
4:15 
And I know that our number of other clients as well are leveraging finance services to great success. 

 
4:20 
Yeah, absolutely. 

 
4:21 
We power a tremendous amount of online transactions. 

 
4:26 
Like I said, a lot of our lenders are starting to look at that as a consumer facing tool. 

 
4:33 
They’re using it to create leads, capture direct loans, convert them to direct to indirect. 

 
4:40 
Yeah, and the beauty of it for our lenders, like I said, if you’re on a lender network, you can receive and send decisions back. 

 
4:47 
But if you want to be on the front end and start collecting your own applications, we have solutions for that. 

 
4:53 
So I think it’s really exciting and it’s, it’s a critical API that, you know, like I said, can’t do financing, cannot sell a car without having an approval and that’s what finance does for us. 

 
5:04 
All right, well, I’m looking forward to our next succession, Andy, because what we’re going to be talking about next is alternative deal structures. 

 
5:11 
Now if I remember from our lender dealer relationship study, 70% of dealers said that alternative deal structures and having multiple approval structures is actually very beneficial to them. 

 
5:21 
So I’m looking forward to that discussion. 

 
5:24 
And thank you again, Andy, for joining us today. 

 
5:26 
And thanks to everyone in the lender audience for listening in. 

 
5:29 
Join us next time, as I said, as we discuss alternative deal structures.